# 


THE 


ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


Its  History,  Traditions,  Legends  and  Charms 


Covering  Jefferson,  Dodge,  Dane,  and  Rock  Counties,  Wisconsin, 
and  Winnebago,  Stephenson,  Boone,  Ogle,  Lee,  White- 
side, Henry  and  Rock  Island  Counties,  Illinois 


+e$— 


Supervising  Editor 

ROYAL  BRUNSON  WAY,  Ph.D. 

Professor  of  American  History  and  Political  Science,  Beloit  College 


IN  THREE  ROYAL  OCTAVO  VOLUMES 
ILLUSTRATED 

VOLUME  I 


CHICAGO 

THE  S.  J.  CLARKE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

1926 


9' 
w 

(  FOREWORD 

The  completion  of  the  History  of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  with  its  array 
of  allied  facts  and  its  background  of  legends,  traditions  and  primitive  peoples, 
is  a  positive  proof  that  the  development  of  the  original  plan  of  the  work  was 
based  on  practical  and  truthful  lines.  The  natural  trend,  contours  and  beauties 
of  the  Valley  determined  its  history  and  its  growth,  and  made  it  a  unity.  At 
the  same  time,  with  the  coming  and  the  operation  of  modern  American  gov- 
ernment, the  political  and  civil  divisions  into  counties  were  inevitable,  so  that 
the  physical  Valley  was  permeated  with  the  spirit  and  influences  of  both  Wis- 
consin and  Illinois. 

Recognizing  these  facts,  the  history  was,  in  conformity  with  the  initial 
prospectus,  projected  along  two  distinct  lines.  The  general  topical  chapters 
indicated  how  the  Rock  River  Valley  was  bound  together  as  a  whole;  the  por- 
tions relating  to  the  twelve  counties  covered  by  the  work  dealt  with  more  local 
and  circumscribed  developments.  Keeping  this  plan  in  mind,  the  reader  will 
be  able  to  trace  the  essential  facts  and  features  in  connection  with  his  home 
county,  and  at  the  same  time  get  a  chronological  perspective  of  it  in  its  rela- 
tion to  other  sections  of  the  Rock  River  Valley.  He  should  never  form  his 
judgment  as  to  completeness  or  accuracy  of  any  section  or  subject  in  which 
he  is  especially  interested  until  he  has  carefully  read  both  the  topical  and 
county  chapters  which  concern  him  most. 

In  the  progress  of  this  work,  close  and  cordial  cooperation  has  been  the 
outstanding  feature.  However  gratifying  this  fact  has  been,  there  are  degrees 
in  every  form  of  assistance.  Naturally,  Dr.  R.  B.  Way,  of  Beloit  College, 
the  supervising  editor  of  the  history,  is  uppermost,  and  not  only  his  broad 
scholarship  in  the  historical  field,  but  his  patience  and  cultured  personality, 
have  been  invaluable  as  the  strenuous  labors  of  the  enterprise  progressed.  Those 
of  our  Reference  and  Advisory  Board  to  whom  special  credit  is  also  due  for 
assistance  in  furnishing  data — in  some  cases,  which  has  never  been  published — 
and  for  valuable  suggestions  and  revisions,  may  be  mentioned  as  follows: 
Charles  L.  Fifield,  county  judge,  Janesville;  Dr.  William  A.  Maddox,  president 
of  Rockford  College  for  Women;  Professor  L.  A.  Fulwider,  principal  of  high 
school,  Freeport ;  Professor  A.  J.  Brumbaugh,  president  of  Mount  Morris  Col- 
lege; George  C.  Dixon,  Dixon;  Frank  E.  Stephens,  formerly  of  Dixon  and 
now  of  Sycamore;  Charles  Bent,  editor  and  historian,  Morrison;  Colonel  Charles 
G.  Davis,  lawyer,  Geneseo;  Leo  L.  Lowe,  editor  of  Star-Courier,  Kewanee; 
P.  S.  McGlynn,  editor  of  Moline  Dispatch;  Dr.  Gustav  A.  Andreen,  president 
of  Augustana  College,  Rock  Island,  and  Colonel  D.  M.  King,  commandant  of 
Rock  Island  Arsenal.  In  the  same  paragraph  with  these  acknowledgments 
of  assistance  from  members  of  our  formal  Reference  and  Advisory  Board,  the 
publisher  desires  to  thank  many  others  not  thus  pledged  who  have  volunteered 
on  the  contributory  force  to  help  the  work  along.  The  final  result  is  before 
the  public. 

THE  S  J.  CLARKE  PUBLISHING  CO. 
v 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


http://archive.org/details/rockrivervalleyi01wayr 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  LAND  AND  ITS  MAKING 

THE    GENERAL    CHARACTER    OF    THE    VALLEY THE    ORIGIN    OF    THE    WATERWAYS    OF 

WISCONSIN    AND    ILLINOIS THE    SOURCES    OF    THE    ROCK    RIVER    IN    WISCONSIN 

THE   FOUR   LAKES  OF   MADISON THE   YAHARA THE   COURSE   OF   THE   VALLEY   IN 

WISCONSIN  WITH  ITS  GENERAL  TOPOGRAPHY THE  ROCK  RIVER  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM 

— THE  HIGH  BLUFFS  AROUND  JANESVILLE  AND  BELOIT BIG  HILL  NEAR  BELOIT — 

THE   PITCH    OF   THE   LAND   AND   ELEVATION    WHERE    RIVER   LEAVES    WISCONSIN 

THE  PECATONICA,  SUGAR  AND  KISHWAUKEE BEAUTIES  AND  VARIETY  OF  LAND- 
SCAPE ALONG  RIVER  IN  ILLINOIS — THE  RUGGED  OUTCROPS  IN  ROCKFORD  REGION 

GRANDEURS   OF   THE    VALLEY    IN    OGLE   AND    LEE    COUNTIES — THE    GRAND    DETOUR 

REGION — THE  VALLEY  FROM  OREGON  TO  DIXON A  TRAVELER  OF  1836 — MARGARET 

FULLER'S  ENRAPTURED  PEN  PICTURE  OF  THE  REGION — THE  ADVOCACY  OF  THE 
SAVING  OF  THIS  SECTION  OF  THE  VALLEY  FOR  LANDSCAPE  LOVERS — THE  CREATION 

OF  A  STATE  PARK — THE  WHITE  PINE  WOODS  OF  OGLE  COUNTY WILLIAM  CULLEN 

BRYANT  THEREON — BEAUTIES  OF  THE  ROCK  ISLAND  SECTION  OF  THE  VALLEY — - 
BLACK  HAWK'S  TOWER — VAST  STRETCHES  OF  LANDSCAPE  AND  WATER  VIEWS  AT 
ROCK   ISLAND HOW  THE  VALLEY  CAME  TO  BE — ITS  GEOLOGICAL  HISTORY 3 

CHAPTER  II 
THE  PRIMITIVE  INHABITANTS  OP  THE  VALLEY 

ADVANTAGES    OF    THE   ROCK   RIVER    VALLEY   FOR    ABORIGINES — ITS    ATTRACTIVENESS — 

THE    GREAT    VARIETY    OF    WILD     ANIMALS FISH     IN     ITS    LAKES     AND    RIVERS — 

ABUNDANT  EVIDENCES  OF  PREHISTORIC  OCCUPANCY— THE  INDIAN  MOUNDS  AND 
VILLAGES   IN    THE   LAKE   DISTRICT    ABOUT    MADISON — TYPES    OF    MOUNDS — INDIAN 

fflTiL   AT  FULTON,  ROCK  COUNTY — INDIAN  VILLAGES  ON  LAKE  KOSHKONONG THE 

INDIANS   IN   AND   AROUND   MILTON MOUNDS    AT    AFTON — GROUPS    AT   BELOIT,   ON 

THE   BELOIT   COLLEGE  CAMPUS,    AT  JANESVILLE   AND  IN  THE  TOWN   OF  TURTLE 

CLASSES    OF    MOUNDS    IN    WINNEBAGO    COUNTY — BIRD    AND    TURTLE    MOUNDS    OF 

ROCKFORD BIRD   EFFIGIES   BELOW   ROCKFORD — PREHISTORIC   REMAINS  AT   OREGON 

AND   NEW   ALBANY  IN  THE  LOWER  VALLEY MOUNDS  IN   ROCK  ISLAND  COUNTY 

WHO  BUILT  THE  MOUNDS? — THE  RED  MEN  OF  THE  VALLEY ABORIGINES  LINKED 

WITH   THE   WISCONSIN  TRIBES — BLACK   HAWK  ON  INDIAN  LIFE  IN  THE  VALLEY 

vii 


viii  CONTENTS 

INDIAN  BALL  GAME  AS  DESCRIBED  BY  CATLIN CRANE  DANCE} — INDIAN  MIGRATIONS 

IN   THE  VALLEY — THE   WINNEBAGOES,   THE  ILLINOIS POTTAWATOMI THE  KICK- 

AI'OOS THE  SAUK  AND  THE  FOXES,  AND  THEIR  LONG  ALLIANCE — BLACK  HAWK'S 

VILLAGE,  ITS  LOCATION,  DESCRIPTION  AND  TRAILS  LEADING  THEREFROM — THE  FUR 

TRADE    OF    THE    SAUK    AND    FOX    INDIANS THE   VALLEYS    OF    THE    FOX    AND    THE 

ROCK,  THE  MOST  DIRECT  ROUTE  TO  THIS  GREAT  SAUK  VILLAGE — EXPLANATION  OF 
THE  CLASH  WITH   THE  WHITES PICTURE  OF  THE  PRIMITP7E  INDIAN  LIFE.  .  .  .24 


CHAPTER  III 
CONTACT  AND  CLASH  OF  THE  RACES 

FRENCH    CONTACT    WITH    THE    SIOUX    AND    ILLINOIS JEAN    NICOLET    AND    THE   WIN- 
NEBAGO  ALLOUEZ  IMPRESSED  BY  THE  ILLINOIS  AND  POTTAWATOMIE IN  CONTACT 

WITH   THE   SAUK   AND   FOXES THE  FOXES   AS    MISCHIEF    MAKERS MASSACRE   OF 

THE    FOXES    AND    MASCOUTEN     (1712) FOXES    BESIEGED    AT    BUTTE    DES    MORTS 

(1716) FOXES     STILL     BAR     THE     FRENCH — FRENCH     FORM     INDIAN     ALLIANCE 

AGAINST   THE   FOXES — THE   FOX   MASSACRE   OF    1730 KIALA,    THE   FOX    CHIEF,    A 

SCAPEGOAT — SAUK-FOX    ALLIANCE    CEMENTED — FRANCE   AND    ENGLAND    CLASH    IN 

THE  OHIO  VALLEY — ILLINOIS  COUNTRY  REFUSES  AID  TO  PONTIAC CAPTAIN  CARVER 

AND  THE  SAUK BIRTH  AND   EARLY   MANHOOD   OF   BLACK    HAWK BLACK    HAWK 

TURNS    HIS    BACK    ON    AMERICANS SAUK    AND    FOXES    DIVIDED    IN    FEALTY— THE 

TREATY  OF  1804 STRENGTH  OF  ILLINOIS  INDIANS  IN  1809 BLACK  HAWK  FAILS 

TO  CARRY  FORT  MADISON BLACK  HAWK'S  DISAPPOINTMENTS BLACK  HAWK  AND 

KEOKUK  CONTRASTED THE  BATTLE  OF  CAMPBELL 's  ISLAND ZACHARY  TAYLOR 's 

EXPEDITION    TURNED   BACK INDIAN   TREATIES   FOLLOWING    THE   WAR    OF    1812 

BLACK   HAWK   CONFIRMS    TREATY   OF    1804— THE   BUILDING   OF   FORT   ARMSTRONG 

REAL  PIONEERS  OF  THE  VALLEY — WEBB  's  TRIP  DOWN  THE  VALLEY — THE  MAJOR 

LONG    EXPEDITION KEOKUK    AND    THE    SAUK    AT    PRAIRIE    DU    CHIEN — KEOKUK 

AGAIN  AMERICA  's  GOOD  INDIAN  GENIUS 39 

CHAPTER  IV 
BLACK  HAWK'S  FLITTING  SHADOWS 

WHEN  THE  WHITES  CAME  TO  SAUKENUK APPEALS  TO  GOVERNOR  REYNOLDS — CALLS 

TO   VOLUNTEERS  AND   REGULARS STATE  MILITIA  PROMPTLY   RESPOND DIFFICUL- 
TIES IN  ORGANIZATION  OF  VOLUNTEER  ARMY ADVANCE  AGAINST  BLACK   HAWK'S 

TOWN FOUND  DESERTED BURNED  BY  VOLUNTEERS THE  WARRIOR 'S  DEFENSE — 

HE   PROCLAIMS   POLICY   OF   NON-RESISTANCE CONFERENCES   WITH    THE   PROPHET 

— GENERAL  GAINES   CALLS  A   COUNCIL   AT  ROCK   ISLAND BLACK   HAWK   AT   FIRST 

DEFIANT FINALLY  SIGNS  TREATY  OF  JUNE  30,  1831 AGREES  NEVER  TO  RECROSS 

THE  MISSISSIPPI GENERAL  GAINES  AND  GOVERNOR  REYNOLDS  RELIEVE  DISTRESS  OF 

BLACK  HAWK'S  BAND — ARMY  OF  REGULARS  AND  VOLUNTEERS   DISPERSES BLOODY 

REPRISALS    BETWEEN    SAUK   AND   FOXES,   SIOUX   AND    MENOMINEE BLACK   HAWK 

AND   PROPHET    FAIL   TO   WEAN    SHABBONA   FROM    THE   UNITED   STATES — LAST    AT- 


CONTENTS  ix 

tempt  to  break  keokuk 's  power black  hawk  recrosses  the  mississippi 

with  his  people; encamps  below  the  prophet  *s  villager — expresses  from 

qenebal  atkinson  sent  back — regulars  and  volunteers  again  organized 

to   pursue    black    hawk collapse   of    the   campaign colonel    henry 

Gratiot's  narrow  escape — reorganization  of  the  pursuit  expedition  under 

general  atkinson  and  governor  reynolds colonel  zachary  taylor  in 

active  command  of  regulars general  samuel  whiteside  brigadier  gen- 

ebal  of  volunteers — state  troops  leave  heavy  baggage  behind — set  out 
to  overtake  black  hawk  by  forced  marches — first  definite  news  as  to 
black  hawk  's  location  obtained  at  dixon  's  ferry 81 

CHAPTER  V 
BATTLING  AND  BATTERING  BLACK  HAWK 

GOVERNOR   REYNOLDS   SENDS   RANGERS   AFTER   BLACK    HAWK— STILLMAN    STARTS    FOR 
OLD  MAN'S  CREEK,  ABOVE  DIXON — COMMAND  ROUTED  BY  PART  OF  BLACK  HAWK'S 

BAND REFUGEES   FLEE   TO    DIXON 's   FERRY — ACCOUNT    OF   DISASTER    FROM    BOTH 

INDIAN     AND    AMERICAN    SOURCES SOBERING     EFFECT    ON     VOLUNTEERS AWAIT 

PROVISIONS  FROM  FORT  ARMSTRONG REUNITED  ARMY  UNDER  GENERAL  ATKINSON 

LEAVES  DIXON  's  FERRY  IN  PURSUIT  OF  BLACK  HAWK  AND  HIS  BAND SHABBONA  's 

SERVICE — THE  INDIAN  CREEK  MASSACRE — CAPTURE  OF  THE  HALL  SISTERS — THE 
MURDER  OF  ST.  VRAIN,  INDIAN  AGENT  AT  FORT  ARMSTRONG MUSTER-OUT  OF  VOL- 
UNTEERS  ONE  TWENTY-DAY  REGIMENT  REENLISTS — CAPTAIN  SNYDER 's  COMPANY 

AMBUSHED  AT  KELLOGG 's  GROVE — NEW  VOLUNTEER  ARMY  OF  THREE  THOUSAND 
FORMED — DISTURBANCES  IN  LEAD  DISTRICT — HEROIC  REPULSE  OF  BLACK  HAWK'S 

WARRIORS  FROM  APPLE  RrVER  FORT MAJOR  DEMENT 'S  SPY  BATTALION  SURPRISED 

BY    THE   SAUK    AT    KELLOGG 'S    GROVE MOST   OF   THE   AMERICANS    REACHED    THE 

FORT — SEVERAL  MEN  AND  MANY  HORSES  KILLED  AND  WOUNDED— ARMY  RE- 
SUMES ADVANCE  UP  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY — REACHES  LAKE  KOSHKONONG GOV- 
ERNOR REYNOLDS  LEAVES  FOR  HOME BLACK  HAWK'S  CAMP  DEFINITELY  LOCATED 

PURSUIT  BY  HENRY  AND  DODGE — THE  BATTLE  OF  WISCONSIN  HEIGHTS BLACK 

HAWK  CRUSHED  AS  A  WARRIOR — WITH  WARRIORS,  WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN  CROSSES 
THE  WISCONSIN — JUNCTURE  OF  REGULARS  AND  VOLUNTEERS  AT  HELENA BAT- 
TLE AND  MASSACRE  NEAR  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  BAD  AXE  AND  ON  THE  MISSISSIPPI 
— BLACK  HAWK  AND  SMALL  BAND  ESCAPE— GENERAL  HENRY,  THE  HERO  OF  THE 
WAR — ROBERT  ANDERSON  MUSTERS  OUT  TROOPS — CAPTURE  OF  BLACK  HAWK 
AND  THE  PROPHET — TREATIES  GROWING  OUT  OF  THE  WAR — BLACK  HAWK  AND 
OTHER  SAUK  LEADERS  TURNED  OVER  TO  KEOKUK — BLACK  HAWK  AND  THE  PROPH- 
ET TOUR  THE  EAST — THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  SAUK  WARRIOR  ON  HIS  IOWA 
RESERVATION     110 

CHAPTER  VI 
FORERUNNERS  OF  STABILITY 

PIONEERS     OF      PERMANENT      OCCUPANCY PIERRE      LAPORTE — LASALLIER — STEPHEN 

MACK THIEBAULT,  OR  THIEBEAU — BLACK  HAWK'S  VILLAGE   AND  WATCH   TOWER 


x  CONTENTS 

GEORGE    DAVENPORT THE    CLARKS,    THE   FIRST   WHITES   ON    THE    MAINLAND 

DAVENPORT  VS.    CLARK A   TRAGICALLY   LONELY   WOMAN— JUDGE    J.    W.    SPENCER 

DAVENPORT   AND   HIS  TRADE — TRAILS   FOR   THE   LEAD   REGIONS RD7AL    PIONEER 

INN    KEEPERS — FERRIES   AT  THE   ROCK   RrVER    CROSSINGS — ISAAC    CHAMBERS    AND 

JOHN    ANKNEY' — ENTER    THE    SUBSTANTIAL    JOHN    DIXON THE    FAMOUS    DIXON 

HOME SCOTT  VISITS  FATHER  DIXON 137 

CHAPTER  VII 
COUNTIES  ORGANIZED  AND  STABILIZED 

NORTHERN  ILLINOIS  BOUNDARY  GREAT  POLITICAL  DISTURBANCE — POLITICAL  EVOLU- 
TION   OF    THE   ILLINOIS    ROCK    RrVER    VALLEY THE    BUFFALO    GROVE    PRECINCT 

OGLE  COUNTY  FORMED RP7ALRY  BETWEEN  DIXON  AND  OREGON THE  FIRST  ROCK 

ISLAND  COUNTY CREATION  OF  OLD  WINNEBAGO  COUNTY THREE  CONGRESSIONAL 

DISTRICTS — LEGISLATIVE    REPRESENTATION WHITESIDE    COUNTY    IN    THE    FORM- 
ING  LIVELY    COUNTY     SEAT    CONTEST    IN     WHITESIDE — OLD    AND    NEW     HENRY 

COUNTY COUNTY   SEAT    CONTESTANTS — CARVING   OF  BOONE   COUNTY  FROM   WIN- 
NEBAGO  THE  COUNTY  NEVER   HAD  A  COUNTY  SEAT  FIGHT BELVIDERE  AND  THE 

COUNTY   BUILDINGS — LEE   COUNTY,    LAST    POLITICAL   DIVISION    OF    THE  VALLEY — 
DIXON   LOCATED   AS  THE  COUNTY   SEAT — LAND    OFFICE   MOVED   FROM    GALENA    TO 

DIXON COMMISSIONERS'  GOVERNMENT   ABANDONED   IN   ILLINOIS — ROCK   COUNTY, 

WISCONSIN,  FORMED — JEFFERSON  COUNTY  FORMED  IN  1836 — DODGE  COUNTY  ALSO 

TAKEN     FROM     MILWAUKEE MADISON,     THE     TERRITORIAL     CAPITAL    FOUNDED 

THE  COUNTY  OF  DANE   CREATED 155 

CHAPTER  VIII 
POLITICS  PRIOR  TO  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

THE  BLACK  HAWK  WAR  AND  POLITICS DEMOCRATS  FATHER  THE  CONVENTION  SYS- 
TEM— THE  VAN  BUREN  LEGISLATURE  OF  1836— ILLINOIS,  THE  STATE  CHAMPION 
OF  RAILROADS — SUSPENSION  OF  SPECIE  PAYMENTS — ILLINOIS  CENTRAL  LINE  IN 
THE  UPPER  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY COLLAPSE  OF  THE  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT  SYS- 
TEM— POLITICS  INVOLVED — ILLINOIS  &  MICHIGAN  CANAL  AND  THE  SECOND  ILLI- 
NOIS  CENTRAL THE   NOTED  CAMPAIGN   OF   1840 UPPER  ROCK   RIVER  VALLEY   OF 

ILLINOIS  STRONGLY  WHIG THE  CAMPAIGN  IN   WINNEBAGO   COUNTY WHIG   CON- 
VENTION  AT  DLXON'S   FERRY ANTI-DEMOCRATIC    SENTIMENT   IN   OGLE   COUNTY 

HOW   JUDGE  FORD  OF  OREGON  BECAME  GOVERNOR SPURNS   REPUDIATION— WHAT 

THE   FORD    ADMINISTRATION    ACCOMPLISHED THE   CONSTITUTIONAL    CONVENTION 

OF    1847 DELEGATION   FROM   THE  ROCK   RIVER  VALLEY- — JOHN    DEMENT,    OF    LEE 

COUNTY TAYLOR  FIRST  PROPOSED  FOR  PRESIDENT  BY  LEE  COUNTY  WHIGS CON- 
GRESSIONAL   REPRESENTATIVES    FROM    ROCK    RrVER    VALLEY LEGISLATIVE    REDIS- 

TRICTING OPPOSITION    TO    SLAVERY    EXTENSION     IN     ILLINOIS — ORIGIN     OF    THE 

REPUBLICAN  PARTY — E.   B.   WASHBURNE  FIRST   REPUBLICAN   CONGRESSIONAL   CAN- 
DIDATE— NORTHERN  ILLINOIS  GROWING  IN  POLITICAL  INFLUENCE REAL  BIRTH  OF 

REPUBLICANISM EDITORIAL    REPRESENTATIVES    FROM    ROCK    RP7ER    VALLEY THE 


CONTENTS  xi 

BU)OMINGTON    CONVENTION ROCK   ISLAND    COUNTY    HOTBED   OF   ABOLITIONISM 

T1IK    CAMPAIGN    OF    1856 LINCOLN    IN    OGLE    COUNTY — THE    LINCOLN-DOUGLAS 

DEBATES   OF   1858 — THE   MEETING    AT   FREEPORT — THE  CAMPAIGN   OF    1860 — THE 

POLITICS    OF    SOUTHERN    WISCONSIN ROCK    COUNTY,    A    WHIG    AND    REPUBLICAN 

STRONGHOLD — CHFEF  JUSTICE  WHITON  AND  THE  GLOVER  DECISION FIRST  REPUB- 
LICAN   CONVENTION    IN    JANESVILLE — DANE    COUNTY    OVERSHADOWED    BY    STATE 

POLITICS — POLITICAL  DODGE   COUNTY  AND   ITS  LEADERS DEMOCRATIC    JEFFERSON 

COUNTY     179 

CHAPTER  IX 
THE    TIES  THAT  BIND 

MEANS  OF  TRANSPORTATION  AND  COMMUNICATION EARLY  STEAMBOATS  AND  FERRIES 

- — THE    MILWAUKEE    &    ROCK     RIVER    CANAL PIONEER    RAILROAD    OF    THE    ROCK 

RIVER  VALLEY THE  GALENA  &  CHICAGO  UNION ITS  LIFE  SAVED  BY  COUNTIES  OF 

THE  UPPER  VALLEY FOUNDATION  LAID  OF  THE  CHICAGO  &  NORTHWESTERN  SYS- 
TEM  EXTENSION    OF    LINES    FROM    MILWAUKEE    INTO    SOUTHERN    WISCONSIN — 

DEVELOPMENT  OF   THE  CHICAGO,  MILWAUKEE  &   ST.   PAUL EXCITING   ADVENT  OF 

THE   MILWAUKEE  LINE  INTO   ROCKFORD THE    CHICAGO   &   ROCK   ISLAND  REACHES 

THE   MISSISSIPPI,  THROUGH   THE    LOWER  VALLEY THROWS   FIRST  BRIDGE   ACROSS 

THE  FATHER  OF  WATERS BECOMES  THE  CHICAGO,  ROCK  ISLAND  &  PACIFIC THE 

BURLINCTON   ROUTE   IN   THE   UPPER  ROCK   RIVER   VALLEY ITS   STERLING   BRANCH 

TO  ROCK  ISLAND THE  FREEPORT   DIVISION   OF  THE   ILLINOIS   CENTRAL THE  TRI- 

CITY  BRIDGES  AND  STREET  RAILWAYS — EARLY  NAVIGATION  OF  THE  ROCK  RrVER  IN 
WINNEBAGO,  OGLE  AND  LEE  COUNTIES — PROPOSED  SHIP  CANAL  FROM  LAKE  MICH- 
IGAN TO  THE  WATERS  OF  THE  UPPER  ROCK — THE  ILLINOIS  &  MICHIGAN  CANAL  AS 

A   GREAT    CHICAGO    FEEDER — THE   ERA    OF   PLANK   ROADS THE    HENNEPIN    CANAL 

AS  A  CUT-OFF  TO  THE  MISSISSIPPI LARGELY  AN  ENTERPRISE  OF  THE  ROCK  RIVER 

VALLEY — OPENED  TO  THE  PUBLIC  IN  1907 — EXTENSION  OF  HARD-SURFACED  ROADS 

THE  TIES    THAT   BIND   THE    VALLEY   TAPPED    BY    LINES   OF   ELECTRIC    CARS    AND 

AUTOS     218 

CHAPTER  X 
THE  RICHES  OF  THE  SOIL 

THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY,  A   HORN  OF  PLENTY — DEVELOPMENTAL   AGENCIES WISCON- 
SIN'S ENCOURAGEMENT  OF   STATE   FAIRS — AGRICULTURAL  WEALTH    OF   THE   ROCK 

RIVER   VALLEY GREAT   CROPS   OF   CORN,   OATS  AND   FODDER — THE  LIVE   STOCK   OF 

THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY — SOUTHERN  WISCONSIN  AS  THE  RICHEST  DAIRY  COUN- 
TRY IN  THE  WORLD — HISTORY  OF  THE  DAIRY  INDUSTRIES — RECLAMATION  OF 
ILLINOIS  OVERFLOWED  LANDS — THE  INLET  SWAMP  PROJECT ATTEMPT  TO  RE- 
STORE HORICON  MARSH  TO  THE  WAYS  OF  NATURE 240 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XI 

INDUSTRIES  AND  BANKS 

THE  INDUSTRIAL  STRENGTH  OF  THE  ROCK  RIVER  COUNTIES  AND  CITIES — FIRST  EXTEN- 
SIVE WATER  POWER  DEVELOPMENT  AT  ROCKFORD — THE  MANUFACTORIES  OF  ROCK- 
FORD  AND  DIXON ROCK  ISLAND  AND  ITS  INDUSTRIAL  PLANTS THE  FAMOUS  PLOW 

CITY THE  FIRST  WOOLEN,  PAPER  AND  COTTON  MILLS  ESTABLISHED  IN  SOUTH- 
ERN   WISCONSIN INDUSTRIES    OF    BELVIDERE,    STERLING    AND    ROCK    FALLS — KE- 

WANEE,  FREEPORT  AND  ROCHELLE — STATUS  OF  THE  BANKS  IN  ILLINOIS  AND  WIS- 
CONSIN  THE  PIONEER  INSTITUTIONS  OF  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY PRESENT  CON- 
DITION OF  NATIONAL  AND  STATE  BANKS  IN  DODGE,  ROCK,  DANE  AND  JEFFERSON 
COUNTIES,  WISCONSIN,  AND  WLNNEBAGO,  STEPHENSON,  BOONE,  OGLE,  LEE,  WHITE- 
SIDE, HENRY,  AND  ROCK  ISLAND  COUNTIES,  ILLINOIS 255 

CHAPTER  XII 
BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  THE  VALLEY 

THE    JUDICIARY    OF    ILLINOIS MEMBERS    OF    THE   SUPREME   COURT    FROM    THE    ROCK 

RIVER  VALLEY FLOYD  E.  THOMPSON,  JAMES  H.  CARTWRIGHT  AND  THOMAS  FORD 

THE  CIRCUIT  COURTS  AND  JUDGES — ALLEN  C.  FULLER  AND  CHARLES  E.  FULLER  OF 

BELVIDERE — THE  WISCONSIN   JUDICIARY- — EDWARD  V.   WHITON,    OF   JANESVILLE 

HARLOW  S.  ORTON  AND  SILAS  U.   PINNEY,  OF  MADISON JOHN  B.  CASSODAY,   ALSO 

OF  JANESVILLE — BURR  W.  JONES,  OF  DANE  COUNTY HERMAN  L.  EKERN,  ATTOR- 
NEY GENERAL,  OF  MADISON THE  LATE  ROBERT  M.  LA  FOLLETTE,  THE  WISCONSIN 

SENATOR WILLIAM  F.  VILAS,  ALSO  A  NATIONAL  CHARACTER — MATTHEW  H.  CAR- 
PENTER  JANESVILLE  AND  ROCKFORD,  THE  HOME  TOWNS  OF  FOUR  PIONEER  WOM- 
EN LAWYERS OTHER  NOTED  FIGURES  OF  ROCK  COUNTY  AND  THE  TWELFTH  CIR- 
CUIT— JUDGE  GEORGE  GRIMM  ON  "JUDICIAL  CONCILIATION" — CIRCUIT  JUDGES 
OF  WINNEBAGO  COUNTY- — THOMAS  C.  BROWNE,  BENJAMIN  R.  SHELDON  AND  WIL- 
LIAM   BROWN JOSEPH    M.   BAILEY,    OF    FREEPORT,    JOHN    V.    EUSTACE,    OF    DIXON, 

JAMES  H.   CARTWRIGHT,  OF  OREGON,  AND  OTHERS SELDEN   M.   CHURCH,   PIONEER 

AND   FIRST    COUNTY   JUDGE,    OF    ROCKFORD THE   BAR   OF    WINNEBAGO    COUNTY — 

CHRISTOPHER  M.  BRAZEE,  WILLIAM  LATHROP,  JAMES  L.  LOOP  AND  OTHERS GEN- 
ERAL STEPHEN  A.   HURLBUT,   WAR   ATTORNEY  GENERAL,    OF   BELVIDERE — THE  BAR 

OF   OGLE   COUNTY THOMAS  FORD  AND   EDWARD   S.   LELAND,    PIONEER   LAWYERS 

FAMOUS    TRIAL    AT    DIXON    OF    THE    BANDITTI    OF    THE    PRAIRIES JUDGE    THOMAS 

FORD  PRESIDES  OVER  THE  COURT — ONE  OF  THE  STRANGE  TRIALS  OF  HISTORY— LEE 
COUNTY  JUDGES  AND  LAWYERS — EDWARD  SOUTHWICK  AND  OTHER  PIONEER  ATTOR- 
NEYS  PROMINENCE    OF    COUNTY    IN    FURNISHING    CIRCUIT    JUDGES — SHERWOOD 

DIXON,  THE  FOUNDER  OF  FAMOUS  LAW  FIRMS — JAMES  M ' COY,  LONG  NESTOR  OF 
WHITESIDE  BAR — FRANK  E.  ANDREWS,  FATHER  OF  THE  HENNEPIN  CANAL  FEEDER 

HENRY  COUNTY  BENCH  AND  BAR GENERAL  JOHN  H.  HOWE — THE  NOTED  BISHOP 

HILL  MURDER — ROCK  ISLAND  COUNTY ITS  CIRCUIT  JUDGES  AND  LEADING  ATTOR- 
NEYS— J.  WILSON  DRURY  AND  WILLIAM  A.  MEESE — THE  MURDER  OF  COLONEL 
GEORGE   DAVENPORT — THREE   OF   THE   OUTLAWS   PUBLICLY    HUNG FIRST   PRIVATE 


CONTENTS  xiii 

KXl.<   I  TION    IN   BOCK  BLAND  COUNTY OTHER  CASES  AND  CRIMES TRIALS  OF  HOCK 

BLAND   VICE  GANG    275 

CHAPTER  XIII 
EDUCATIONAL  PROGRESS 

TIIK     FOUNDATION     OF     THE     WISCONSIN     SYSTEM ITS     STATE      UNIVERSITY — FIRST 

SCHOOLS  IN  MADISON — EDUCATION  IN  JEFFERSON,  FORT  ATKINSON  AND  WATER- 
TOW  \  THE  NORTHWESTERN  COLLEGE  AND  JEFFERSON  INSTITUTE — BEAVER  DAM, 
WAUPUN  AND  OTHER  DODGE  COUNTY  CITIES  AND  TOWNS — J ANESVILLE  AND  BELOIT 
AS  EDUCATIONAL  CENTERS  OF  SOUTHERN  WISCONSIN FREE  ACADEMY  AND  WIS- 
CONSIN   SCHOOL    FOR    THE    BLIND    AT    JANESVILLE — BELOIT    COLLEGE    AND    THE 

ROCKFORD    FEMALE   SEMINARY ROCKFORD    COLLEGE   FOR    WOMEN THE    ILLINOIS 

SCHOOL  FUNDS  AND   SYSTEM   OF    FREE   SCHOOLS— NORTHERN    ILLINOIS    FOREMOST 

IX     FOUNDING     IT — THE    SCHOOLS    OF    ROCKFORD FIRST    CONSOLIDATED     SCHOOL 

DISTRICT  IN  WINNEBAGO  COUNTY THE  PIONEER  SCHOOLS  OF  BELVIDERE — NEW- 
TON ACADEMY' — WOMEN  SUPERINTENDENTS  OF  SCHOOLS — FREEPORT  AND  STEPH- 
ENSON   COUNTY    INSTITUTIONS HISTORY    OF    THE    ROCK    RIVER    SEMINARY    AND 

MOUNT  MORRIS  COLLEGE — EARLY  PRIVATE  AND  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  OF  OGLE  COUNTY 

— FIRST  TEACHERS  AND  SCHOOLS  IN  LEE  COUNTY DIXON  COLLEGIATE  INSTITUTE 

AND    LEE   CENTER    ACADEMY WHITESIDE   COUNTY   TEACHERS    AND    INSTITUTES — ■ 

HENRY    COUNTY   AND   ITS   COLONIES — EARLY   EDUCATIONAL  PROGRESS    IN    MOLINE 

AND  ROCK  ISLAND — PAROCHIAL  SCHOOLS AUGUSTANA  COLLEGE  AND  THEOLOGICAL 

SEMINARY,   HOCK   ISLAND    306 

CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  CHURCHES  OF  THE  VALLEY 

liberal  beliefs  in  the  upper  section — early  churches  in  rock  county — 
madison  a  natural  religious  center — first  religious  services  and 
churches  at  the  capital, — rev.  moses  ordway  comes  to  beaver  dam socie- 
ties and  churches  formed  there,  as  well  as  at  horicon  and  juneau — st. 
Bernard's  catholic   church  at  watertown — metiiodists,    Presbyterians 

wd  other  protestants  establish   themselves st.    lawrence   catholic 

church  of  jefferson orthodox  churches  and  the  untversalists the 

methodists  organize  first  in  winnebago  county first  parsonage  in  rock 

river  conference} — the  morrills  of  rockford  and  congregationalism 

the  liberal  second  congregational  church second  pastor  a  cousin  of 

ralph  waldo  emerson the  first  baptist  church  and  revivalist  jacob 

kxapp — the  episcopalians,  unitarians,  univeksalists,  catholics  and  luth- 
erans— rockford  a  catholic  diocese — first  baptist  church  of  belvidere 

— pioneer  organization  west  of  chicago dr.  john  s.  king  and  professor 

set  1 1    s.    whitman the    presbyterians,    metiiodists,    universalists    and 

disciples  of  christ  at  the  county  seat  of  boone — missionary  work  of 


xiv  CONTENTS 

REV.    ARATUS    KENT    IN    STEPHENSON    COUNTY    AND    NORTHWESTERN    ILLINOIS — 

FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH    OF    FREEPORT — OTHER   DENOMINATIONAL   WORK 

ARATUS  KENT  HOLDS  FIRST  RELIGIOUS  SERVICES  IN  OGLE  COUNTY PIONEER  CON- 

GREGATIONALISTS  OF  GRAND  DETOUR — METHODISTS  ORGANIZE  FIRST   IN  OREGON 

REV.  BARTON  CARTWRIGHT — REV.  N.   J.  STROH,  THE  VENERABLE  FATHER  OF  LUTH- 

ERANISM RUSH    OF    MISSIONARIES    TO    INLET,    LEE    COUNTY,    EARLY    CENTER    OF 

CRIMEi — PIONEER  METHODISTS  TO  LABOR  IN  THE  DIXON  CIRCUIT THE  ROCK  RIVER 

ASSEMBLY — OTHER   CHURCH   ORGANIZATIONS RELIGIOUS    SERVICES   IN   WHITESIDE 

•      COUNTY  FIRST  HELD  AT  PROPHETSTOWN   BY  METHODIST   MISSIONARY CHURCHES 

FORMED    AT    LYNDON,    STERLING    AND    OTHER    PLACES    IN    COUNTY — METHODISTS 

ORGANIZE  IN  HANNA   TOWNSHIP,   HENRY   COUNTY THE  OLD  ROCK  RIVER   CHAPEL 

THE   WETHERSFIELD  COLONY — OVERFLOW   OF   ITS  CHURCHES  INTO   KEWANEE — 

CHURCHES  OF  ROCK   ISLAND  AND   MOLINE  SPLIT  ALONG  RACIAL  LINES GERMANS 

AND   SWEDES   ORGANIZE   SEPARATE   SOCIETIES SWEDISH   BAPTIST  AND   METHODIST 

CHURCHES   UNIQUE  IN   SECTARIAN   HISTORY FIRST   RELIGIOUS   SERVICES   IN   ROCK 

RIVER  VALLEY  HELD  AT  FORT  ARMSTONG THE  PRESBYTERIANS,  METHODISTS,  BAP- 
TISTS,   LUTHERANS    AND    CATHOLICS    OF    ROCK    ISLAND REV.    FATHER     JOHN    G. 

ALLEMAN  AND  HIS  FAITHFUL  MISSIONARY  WORK  IN  ROCK  ISLAND   COUNTY THE 

CHURCHES  IN  MOLINE: ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  ALTOGETHER  A  FERTILE  FIELD  IN  THE 

UPRAISING  OF  MORAL  AND  SPIRITUAL  FORCES 323 

CHAPTER  XV 
THE  PRESS  OF  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

NEWSPAPERS    TYPICAL    OF    THE   PEOPLE THE    PRESS    OF    MADISON THE    WISCONSIN 

ENQUIRER — JOSLAH  A.  NOONAN  AND  GEORGE  HYER — MADISON  EXPRESS  AND  WIS- 
CONSIN   STATE    JOURNAL DAVID   ATWOOD,   SO   LONG   VENERABLE   FATHER   OF    THE 

WISCONSIN  PRESS OTHER  MADISON  NEWSPAPERS THE  FOUNDING  AND  PROGRESS 

OF  THE  JANESVILLE  GAZETTE — THE  BELOIT  FREE  PRESS PIONEER  COLLEGE  PUB- 
LICATION, THE  ROUND  TABLE — THE  WATERTOWN  RECORDER — THE  ANZEIGER  OF 
WATERTOWN   BRINGS   OUT    CARL   SCHURZ,   THE   FAMOUS   GERMAN-AMERICAN   TO-BE 

DER    VOLKSZEITUNG    FOUNDED THE    JEFFERSON     BANNER — WISCONSIN    CHIEF, 

FORT   ATKINSON,  ONE   OF   THE  FIRST    TEMPERANCE   PAPERS   ISSUED   IN    WISCONSIN 

NEWSPAPERS   OF   BEAVER  DAM,   HORICON    AND   OTHER   DODGE    COUNTY    TOWNS 

OTHER  CURRENT  PUBLICATIONS  OF  DODGE,  JEFFERSON,  ROCK  AND  DANE  COUNTIES, 

WIS. TWO  OF  ROCKFORD'S  PIONEER  NEWSPAPERS  WRECKED BIRTH  AND  GROWTH 

OF     THE    REGISTER-GAZETTE — THE    ROCKFORD    MORNING     STAR    AND     J.     STANLEY 

BROWNE HOW    THE    FREEPORT    JOURNAL-STANDARD    CAME   TO    EXIST EMANUEL 

AND  JONATHAN  KNODLE  FOUND   THE  ROCK  RIVER  REGISTER  AT   MOUNT  MORRIS 

MOVED  TO  THE  MORE  PROMISING  GRAND  DETOUR — MOUNT  MORRIS  GAZETTE  TRANS- 
FERRED TO  OREGON STEPS  TAKEN  BEFORE  THE  INDEX  WAS  FOUNDED PRINTING 

AND  PUBLISHING  HOUSE  OF  THE   KABLE  BROTHERS NEWSPAPERS  OF   POLO THE 

REPORTER  AND   REPUBLICAN   OF   OREGON ROCHELLE    PRESS  ESTABLISHED   AT  THE 

OLD    TOWN    OF    LANE — THE    BELVIDERE    NEWSPAPERS THE    NORTHWESTERN    AND 

REPUBLICAN — THE  DIXON  TELEGRAPH  AND  OTHER  PAPERS  IN  LEE  COUNTY — 
WHITESIDE   COUNTY'S  FIRST  NEWSPAPER,   THE   INVESTIGATOR,   NOW    THE  FULTON 


CONTENTS  xv 

JOURNAL ALBANY  REVIEW — THE  STERLING  GAZETTE — THE  WHITESIDE  SENTINEL 

AND   CHARLES   BENT — THE  TAMPICO  TORNADO — THE   ECHO,   OP   PROPHETSTOWN 

KEWANEE  NEWSPAPERS  AND  THE  STAR-COURIER — TOE  GENESEO  REPUBLICAN  AND 

CAMBRIDGE    CHRONICLE ROCK    ISLAND    NEWSPAPERS    THE    FIRST    PUBLISHED    IN 

THE    ROCK    RIVER    VALLEY ROCK    ISLAND    BANNER    AND    STEPHENSON    GAZETTE 

THE  UPPER  MISSISS1PPIAN  AND  ADVERTISER — THE  ROCK  ISLAND  ARGUS  AND  UNION 
— SWEDISH-AMERJCAN  NEWSPAPERS — ORGANS  OF  THE  SECRET  SOCIETIES  AND  IN- 
DUSTRIES  THE  MOLINE  DISPATCH GAZETTE  VAN  MOLINE,  UNIQUE  FOREIGN  PUB- 
LICATION— PORT  BYRON  PUBLICATIONS,   PAST  AND  PRESENT 340 

CHAPTER  XVI 
THE  VALLEY  IN  FOUR  WARS 

THE    MEXICAN    WAR — ILLINOIS    IN    THE    CIVIL    WAR — THE    VALLEY    REGIMENTS — THE 

ROCK    RIVER   VALLEY    OF    WISCONSIN THE   SPANISH-AMERICAN    WAR THE    THIRD 

AND    SIXTH    REGIMENTS — ILLINOIS'    PARTICIPATION    IN    THE    WORLD    WAR — THE 

THIRTY-THIRD    DIVISION    AT    THE   FRONT THE   123RD   HEAVY   FIELD    ARTILLERY — ■ 

THE    SINEWS    OF    WAR WISCONSIN    ENTERS    THE    WORLD    WAR — THIRTY-SECOND 

DIVISION  AT  THE  FRONT1 — THE  HOME  DEFENSE: — THE  WISCONSIN  STATE  GUARD 
— WAR    FUND    CONTRIBUTIONS — THE    COLLEGE    WAR    SPIRIT 357 

CHAPTER  XVII 
ROCK  COUNTY,  WISCONSIN 

GEOLOGICAL  ORIGIN  OF  THE  COUNTY — TOPOGRAPHY  AND  DRAINAGE — AVERAGE  ELEVA- 
TION   OF    THE    WATER    POWER WINNEBAGO    INDIANS,    FIRST   KNOWN    SETTLERS — 

DISPUTED    INDIAN    CLAIMS    TO    THE    COUNTY FIRST    TREATY    FOR    LANDS    IN    THE 

VALLEY SUBSEQUENT    TREATIES    SECURING    TO    THE    UNITED    STATES    COMPLETE 

POSSESSION  OF  THE  VALLEY — THIBAULT,  FIRST  WHITE  MAN  TO  SETTLE  IN  THE 
COUNTY — THIBAULT  ON  SITE  OF  TURTLE  VILLAGE — FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  JANES- 
VILLE— HENRY     F.     JANES EARLY     HISTORY     OF     JANESVILLE LAND     CLAIMS 

SQUATTER    PRACTICES JANESVILLE  *S    DEVELOPMENT — ROCK     COUNTY    ORGANIZED 

IX  1839 — JANESVILLE  AS  COUNTY  SEAT — JANES,  THE  FIRST  POSTMASTER  OF 
J ANESVILLE — COURTHOUSE,  1841 EARLY  SCHOOLS — CHURCH  HISTORY  OF  JANES- 
VILLE— FIRST  JANESVILLE  GAZETTE,  1845,  WHIG  NEWSPAPER. — STEAMBOAT  NAV- 
IGATION   OF    THE   ROCK — JANESVILLE    IN    THE    '40s JANESVILLE    INCORPORATED 

AS  A  CITY  IN  1853 GROWTH  TO  1861 — JANESVILLE  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR POST- 
WAR   INDUSTRIAL    DEVELOPMENT — GROWTH    IN    THE     '90S — JANESVILLE    IN    THE 

TWENTIETH    CENTURY;    JANESVILLE    OF    TODAY FIRST    SETTLEMENT    OF    BELOIT, 

1835 — CALEB  BLODGETT DR.  HORACE  WHITE  AND  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  EMIGRA- 
TION   SOCIETY EARLY    BELOIT    FERRY — ORIGIN    OF    THE    NAME,     BELOIT OTHER 

PROMINENT  EARLY  SETTLERS,  1837-1840 SEVERAL  " FIRST  THINGS" BELOIT  IN- 
CORPORATED   AS    A    VILLAGE    IN    1846 EARLY    STATE    STREET    IN    BELOIT — EARLY 

MANUFACTURES  OF  BELOIT — CHURCH  HISTORY — EARLY  SCHOOLS  AND  SCHOOL 
TEACHERS — BELOIT    COLLEGE    CHARTERED    IN    1846 ITS    ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY 


xvi  CONTENTS 

DEVELOPMENT  OP  BELOIT   AS  AN   INDUSTRIAL   CITY MANUFACTURING   PLANTS   OP 

YESTERDAY    AND    TODAY BELOIT    BANKS BELOIT    OF    THE   PRESENT — BELOIT    IN 

WAR OTHER  SETTLEMENTS  IN    THE  COUNTY CLINTON,   SHOPIERE,  FULTON  AND 

EDGERTON MILTON   AND   MILTON   COLLEGE EMERALD  GROVE   AND  EVANSVILLE — 

OTHER    VILLAGES     371 

CHAPTER  XVIII 
DANE  COUNTY,  WISCONSIN 

FIRST   SETTLERS  IN  THE  LEAD  REGION MADISON,   WISCONSIN,   AND   DANE   COUNTY — 

OLD  CAPITOL  OCCUPIED EARLY  CHURCHES  AND  GOVERNORS — WISCONSIN  A  STATE 

STATE   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  AND  UNIVERSITY — CIVIL  WAR  MATTERS DEATH   OF 

DOTY,  DODGE  AND  RANDALL CAPITOL  AND  STATE  UNP7ERSITY  MATTERS PROM- 
INENT  WISCONSIN    PEOPLE   PASS   AWAY — GOLDEN   JUBILEE   OF    FIRST    UNIVERSITY 

GRADUATING   CLASS LEGISLATURE  APPROPRIATIONS   FOR  NEW   CAPITOLr — OPENING 

OF  STATE  GENERAL  AND  MEMORIAL  HOSPITALS THE  CITY  OF  MADISON — STOUGH- 

TON  AND  OUTSIDE  VILLAGES DANE  COUNTY,   AGRICULTURALLY   CONSIDERED .  .  439 

CHAPTER  XIX 
DODGE  COUNTY,  WISCONSIN 

DODGE    COUNTY    CREATED    AND    ORGANIZED BEAVER    DAM HORICON JUNEAU    AND 

OTHER  POINTS DODGE  COUNTY  AS  A  WHOLE 446 

CHAPTER  XX 
JEFFERSON  COUNTY 

FORMATION  OF  THE  COUNTY EARLY  SCHOOLS THE  PIONEER  CHURCHES THE  CITY 

OF    WATERTOWN THE   CITY    OF    FORT    ATKINSON THE    HOARD    INTERESTS — THE 

DWIGHT  FOSTER  PUBLIC  LIBRARY WATERLOO  AND  PALMYRA COMPARATIVE  DAIRY 

STRENGTH    OF    THE    COUNTY    452 

CHAPTER  XXI 
WINNEBAGO   COUNTY,  ILLINOIS 

ITS    TOPOGRAPHY    AND    SCENERY INDIAN    TRIBES TREATIES    MADE    BY    THE    UNITED 

STATES — THE  INDIANS  " FLOATS" — STEPHEN  MACK,  THE  FIRST  SETTLER MACK'S 

CAREER — IIONONEGAH,  HIS  INDIAN  WIFE — GERMANICUS  KENT,  THATCHER  BLAKE, 
DANIEL  S.  HAIGHT  AND  OTHER  PIONEERS  IN  THE  EARLY  SETTLEMENT  OF  ROCK- 
FORD — EARLY    COUNTY    ORGANIZATION CONTEST    OVER    THE    LOCATION    OF    THE 

COUNTY   SEAT COURTHOUSE   AND   JAIL   ERECTED   IN    1844 — ROAD    IMPROVEMENTS 


CONTENTS  xvii 

—EARLY  ECONOMIC  LIFE SQUATTER  SOVEREIGNTY  AND  THE  POPULAR  REGULA- 
TION   OP   LAND   DISPUTES FIRST    PUBLIC   LAND  SALE   IN    THE  COUNTY   IN    1839 

ROCKFORD  AND  ROCKTON  IN  1844 EARLY  STAGE  COACH  ROUTES — EARLY   HOTELS 

IN  ROCKFORD — TOWNS  PROJECTED  IN  WINNEBAGO  COUNTY  IN  THE  '30s — ROCK- 
FORD  INCORPORATED  AS  A  VILLAGE  IN  1839;  AS  A  CITY  IN  1852 — THE  COUNTY 
IN  THE  SECESSION  MOVEMENT  OF  THE  EARLY  '40S — EFFORTS  FOR  THE  IM- 
PROVED  NAVIGATION   OF   THE   ROCK  RIVER — THE   BANDITTI   OF  THE   PRAIRIES   AND 

THE  REGULATORS — EARLY  ELECTIONS — THE  POLISH   CLAIMS WINNEBAGO  IN  THE 

STATE  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION  OF  1847 — THE  REORGANIZED  COUNTY  GOV- 
ERNMENT— PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTIONS   OF   THE    '50s THE   FOUNDATION    OF    ROCK- 

FORD's  INDUSTRIES — EARLY  CHURCH  HISTORY — A  VIEW  OF  ROCKFORD  IN  1844 
— RAILROAD  HISTORY ROCKFORD  SEMINARY  AND  ROCKFORD  COLLEGE CHRONO- 
LOGICAL SKETCH  OF  ROCKFORD,  1881-1925 MANUFACTURING  GROWTH  OF  ROCK- 
FORD  POLITICS     SINCE    1861 MUSIC     IN     ROCKFORD — ROCKFORD 'S     PARKS     AND 

RECREATIONAL     FACILITIES — THE     LIBRARY     AND     ROCKFORD  *S     CITY     PLAN THE 

SWEDISH  ELEMENT  IN  ROCKFORD OTHER  PARTS  OF  THE  COUNTY — THE  VIL- 
LAGES OF  PECATONICA,  ROCKTON,  ROSCOE,  DURAND,  WINNEBAGO  AND  OTHERS — 
THE  OUTSTANDING    FEATURES   OF   THE  COUNTY   TODAY 462 


CHAPTER  XXII 
BOONE  COUNTY,  ILLINOIS 

PHYSICAL   FEATURES    OF    BOONE BELVIDERE    PRECINCT,    FATHER    OF    THE    COUNTY 

BELVIDERE    SETTLED THE    TOWN    PLATTED THE    CREATION    OF    BOONE    COUNTY 

— FIRST  OFFICERS  AND  LEGISLATION— COUNTY  SEAT  LOCATED COURTHOUSE  COM- 
PLETED— COUNTY    EXTENDED    WESTWARD THE    DEVELOPMENT    OF    BELVIDERE 

CHANGE   IN    COUNTY    ORGANIZATION BELVIDERE    UNDER    CORPORATE    FORM BEL- 
VIDERE OF  THE  PRESENT — OUTSIDE  OF  BELVIDERE 526 

CHAPTER  XXIII 
STEPHENSON  COUNTY 

THE  GODFATHER  OF   STEPHENSON   COUNTY FIRST  SETTLERS PERMANENT   SETTLERS 

AND    SETTLEMENTS — THE    PAPER    TOWN    OF    RANSOMBERG THE    REAL    TOWN    OF 

FREEPORT ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    COUNTY ORIGINAL    ELECTION    PRECINCTS — ■ 

FREEPORT  SELECTED  AS  THE  COUNTY  SEAT — THE  EPOCHAL  YEAR,   1837 THOMAS 

J.  TURNER — TAXES  AND  WEALTH  OF  THE  COUNTY  IN  1838 IMPROVEMENTS  CEN- 
TERING    IN     FREEPORT,     1838-40 COMING     OF     THE     NORWEGIANS ONECO     AND 

ORANGEVILLE — THE     VILLAGE     OF     WINSLOW — CEDARVILLE ANOTHER     DEVELOP- 
MENTAL YEAR,  1850 — FREEPORT  INCORPORATED  AS  A  TOWN CHOLERA  IN  1850-52 

— THE  VILLAGE  OF  LENA — DAVIS  AND  DAKOTA ROCK  CITY— RIDOTT — VILLAGES  OF 

LATER  FOUNDING  AND  GROWTH — FREEPORT's  GROWTH  FOR  FORTY  YEARS HORATIO 

C.    BURCHARD — THE    PANIC     OF     1857 THE    FREEPORT    OF    TODAY STEPHENSON 

COUNTY,   AGRICULTURALLY   CONSIDERED 540 


xviii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XXIV 

■ 
OGLE  COUNTY 

in  the  highway  op  travel  to  the  lead  mines woods  and  groves  of  the 

county  attract  settlement — stephen  mack  and  leonard  andrus other 

pioneers  op  the  grand  detour  region john  deere  and  leonard  andrus 

establish  plow  works the  village  once  a  trade  and  industrial  center 

now  a  quiet  rustic  village  in  a  wonderfully  picturesque  region buf- 
falo grove  selected  as  the  special  half-way  station  to  the  mines— isaac 
chambers  and  john  ankney  open  road  houses — other  settlers  at  the 
grove — the  kellogg  and  bolles  trails — buffalo  grove  post  office  and 
village — john  phelps  and  oregon  as  against  john  dixon  and  dixon  's  ferry 

ogle    county   formed   and   named   by   thomas   ford oregon    selected 

as  the  county  seat courthouse  and  jail  erected the  village  as  de- 
scribed by  colonel  b.  f.  sheets margaret  fuller 's  visit  to  oregon  in 

1843 her  poetical  descriptions  of  the  fascinating  region eagle 's  nest, 

ganymede's  spring  and  margaret  fuller's  island — dedication  in  1880 — the 

artists'  colony  and  lorado  taft's  statue  of  black  hawk the  oregon  of 

today memorial  boulders  in  the  oregon  region the  canada  settlement 

the  founding  of  mount  morris the  maryland  colony rock  river  sem- 
inary  prominence  of  the  hitts  in  the  establishment  of  both  seminary 

and  village — development  of  mount  morris  college — first  settlements  in 

eastern  ogle  county the  pioneers  of  jefferson  and  hickory  groves,  flagg 

township first  settlers  on  site  of  rochelle — village  of  lane,  the  fore- 
runner of  city  of  rochelle present-day  description byron  and  the  re- 
gion roundabout the  " perfectionists" villages  in  the  northern  and 

northwestern  sections ogle,  a  fine  live  stock  county — noted  for  its 

superior  breeds — leading  raisers  of  pedigreed  stock model  agricultural 

estates  of  the  rock  river  valley sinnissippi  and  rock  river  farms.  .  .568 

CHAPTER  XXV 
LEE  COUNTY 

THE    KEY-NOTE    INTERIOR    COUNTY PHYSICAL    LEE    COUNTY — SETTLEMENT    BEFORE 

THE  BLACK  HAWK  WAR — ALSO  "DAD   JOE"   SMITH FATHER  DIXON,   THE  INDIAN 

TRADER — FROM    THE   BLACK    HAWK    WAR    TO    COUNTY    ORGANIZATION PAW    PAW 

GROVE     AND     VILLAGES DIXON 'S     FERRY     IN     1836-38 DIXON,     POLITICAL     SEAT 

OF    LEE    COUNTY COUNTY     RULE    OF    COMMISSIONERS'    COURT — PERIOD    LEADING 

TO  DIXON  'S  CITYHOOD — DR.  OLIVER  EVERETT INCORPORATED  AS  A  VILLAGE — BUILD- 
ING OF  THE   DAM  AND  EARLY   MILLS — INCORPORATED   AS    A  TOWN NORTH  DIXON 

AND  THE  DIXON  AIR  LINE} — NOW  COMES  THE  CITY  OF  DIXON THROUGH  TWO  DEC- 
ADES— DEATH  OF  FATHER  DIXON THE  DIXON  OF  THE  PRESENT — LEADING  OUT- 
SIDE  VILLAGES PROGRESSIVE  ORGANIZATION   OF   THE  TOWNSHIPS 604 


CONTENTS  xix 

CHAPTER  XXVI 

WHITESIDE  COUNTY 

water  courses  and  drainage — name  and  organization  of  county — commence- 
ment op  the  county  seat  fight — then  sterling  gains  a  point — lyndon 

again  to  the  front a  futile  compromise — sterling  holds  the  county 

seat  for  eight  years real  permanent  county  seat township  organ- 
ization— swamp  lands  of  the  county the  coming  of  the  railroads — 

pioneer  agricultural  society — early  villages  of  the  county — the  vil- 
lage of  fulton — first  newspapers  in  whiteside  county — sterling  and 
rock  falls two  cities  in  a  nutshell the  city  op  morrison — incorpo- 
rated as  a  city — county  buildings — morrison  of  the  present — morrison 
municipal  building — charles  bent  and  the  whiteside  sentinel prophets- 
town — albany  and  erie — lyndon  and  tampico — whiteside  county  in  the 
wars — whiteside's  standing  agriculturally 630 

CHAPTER  XXVII 
HENRY  COUNTY,  ILLINOIS 

OLD  HENRY  COUNTY SIMPLE  LOCATION  OF  COUNTY  SEAT — GENESEO  REPLACES  RICH- 
MOND DOUBLE-HEADED  COUNTY  SEAT — CAMBRIDGE,  THE  COUNTY  SEAT — CHURCHES 

AND  SCHOOLS  OF  THE  COUNTY— THE  FOUNDERS   OF   THE  BISHOP   HILL    COLONY 

THE  JANSONITES  LEAVE  SCANDINAVIA SITE  OF  BISHOP  HILL  COLONY  SELECTED 

THE  SETTLEMENT  GROWS — THE  CHOLERA  AND  GOLD  FEVER — THE  MURDER  OF  ERIC 
J  ANSON — OLSON    SUCCEEDS    JANSON — THE    LAWS    OF     THE    COLONY — ASSISTS    IN 

FOUNDING  GALVA — PROGRESSIVE  DISSOLUTION SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION — - 

CONNECTING  EDWIN  A.  OLSON,  U.  S.  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY — THE  CITY  OF  KEWANEE 
OUTSIDE  OF  KEWANEE — AS  AN  AGRICULTURAL  COUNTY 657 

CHAPTER  XXVIII 
ROCK  ISLAND  COUNTY,  ILLINOIS 

ROCK     ISLAND     COUNTY     ESTABLISHED     POLITICALLY STEPHENSON     BECOMES     ROCK 

ISLAND DEVELOPMENT   OF    PRESENT    CITY ROCK    ISLAND    SCHOOLS — AUGUSTANA 

COLLEGE  AND  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  INSTITUTION- 
JENNY    LIND    ASSISTS— ILLINOIS     STATE    UNIVERSITY     ESTABLISHED AUGUSTANA 

SYNOD  ORGANIZED — INSTITUTION  OPENED  IN  CHICAGO — THE  PAXTON  PERIOD — 
STRUCTURAL  EXPANSION  AT  ROCK  ISLAND THE  MUSEUM THE  DENKMANN  ME- 
MORIAL   LIBRARY — THE   WORLD   WTAR   PERIOD- — THE   NEW   SEMINARY    BUILDINGS — 

SCHOLASTIC     EXPANSION SCOPE    OF    THE    INSTITUTION — PRESENT     STATUS     AND 

MOLDING  FORCES PARKS — CHURCHES — SOCIETIES,  ASSOCIATIONS  AND  BENEVOLENT 

ORDERS THE  ROCK  ISLAND  ARSENAL NEW  STRONGHOLD  IN  THE  MISSISSIPPI  VAL- 
LEY— THE  BUILDING   OF  FORT  ARMSTRONG A   NUCLEUS  OF   SETTLEMENT — STUM- 


xx  CONTENTS 

BLING   BLOCKS   IN    THE   WAY    OF    THE    ORIGINAL   PLAN — ARSENAL    COMMANDANTS 

PRIOR    TO    THE   WORLD    WAR — THE    MILITARY    PRISON     (1863-65) CONSTRUCTION 

BASIS  LAID  BY  GENERALS  RODMAN  AND  FLAGLER — THE  NEW  BRIDGE  BETWEEN  ROCK 

ISLAND    AND    DAVENPORT DEMANDS    OF    THE    SPANISH-AMERICAN     WAR — WORLD 

WAR   EXPANSION — THE   SAVANNA   PROVING    GROUND WAR   SUBSCRIPTIONS — MILI- 
TARY  PERSONNEL/ — CIVILIAN   AND   MILITARY   GUARD BRIGADIER   GENERAL  GEORGE 

W.  BURR COLONEL  HARRY  B.  JORDAN COLONEL  D.    M.   KING POST-WAR  ACTIVI- 
TIES AND  PRESENT  STATUS WATER  POWER,  THE  DECISIVE  FACTOR — PEN  PICTURE 

OF    PRESENT-DAY    ARSENAIi NEWSPAPERS    AND    BANKS — THE    CITY   OF    MOLINE 

MOLINE  AS  A  CORPORATION THE  CITY  OF  THE  PRESENT — MOLINE 's  NEWSPAPERS 

— PUBLIC      DEPARTMENTS     AND     INSTITUTIONS THE     PUBLIC      PARKS BANKS 

CHURCHES    AND   SOCIETIES EAST   MOLINE — MINOR   POINTS TOWNSHIPS    OF    THE 

COUNTY    680 

CHAPTER  XXIX 
CHRONOLOGY  RELATING  TO  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 728 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Portrait  of  Supervising  Editor,  R.  B.  Way Frontispiece 

Black  Hawk  Monument — Reflecting  the  Cliann  and  Grandeur  of  the  Valley 2 

Views  in  Ogle  County 's  piney  woods 5 

Beauties  of  Rock  River  at  Grand  Detour 9 

In  the  piney  woods  of  Ogle  County 13 

Steamboat   Rock   and   "Whipple   Cave 17 

The  A'rch  at  the  pines,  Mount  Morris 21 

River  scene  near  Horicon 21 

Black   Hawk  Monument  from  Liberty   Hill 23 

Lily  beds  in  Kishwaukee  River 38 

Fort  Armstrong  as  built  in  1816 83 

Site  of  old  Fort  Armstrong,  looking  down  the  Mississippi 83 

Wabokiesshiek   (White  Cloud  "The  Prophet ") 91 

(iovernor  Thomas  Ford 99 

Black   Hawk  in  civilian  attire 135 

•John  Dixon,  founder  of  Dixon 151 

Structo  Manufacturing  Company 's  plant,  Freeport 154 

Present-day  Horicon   from   the   River 178 

Opening  of  the  Hennepin  Canal  at  Rock  Falls,  1907 229 

Remains   of   first   Mississippi   River   bridge 229 

Dam  and  power  house,  Dixon 239 

Old  Tremont  House,  Watertown 241 

Views  of  the  McCormick  Rock  River  Farms 247 

A  model  farm  in  the  valley — Sinnissippi,  near  Oregon 251 

Horicon  Marsh  in  a  state  of  nature   (1908) 254 

Main    Street,   Janesville,   in    1855 257 

John  Deere,  founder  of  Deere  Plow  Works 259 

First  location  of  L.  C.  Hyde  &  Brittan,  Beloit ■ 261 

Original  bank  building,  People's  Trust  and  Savings  Bank,  Molinc 261 

Moline  's    early    financiers 263 

Charles  H.  Deere,  J.  M.  Gould,  J.  S.  Gilmore 263 

Industrial  centers  of  the  lower  valley 265 

Rock  Island  early  day  bankers 267 

J.  F.  Robinson,  Morris  Rosenfield,  P.  L.  Mitchell;  T.  J.  Robinson 267 

Old   Second  National   Bank 269 

Rockf ord  's  first  bank,  opened  in  1848 269 

Thomas  D.  Robertson,  one  of  Rockf  ord 's  master  financiers 271 

The  Old  Mill,  Morrison 274 

Home  of  Colonel  George  Davenport,  built  1833 — restored  1906 303 

The  Rock  River,  near  Janesville 322 

Janesville  in  1862 — Hyatt  House  and  first  tobacco  warehouse 377 

St.   Mary 's   Catholic   Church,   Janesville 379 

Josiah  F.  Willard,   father  of  Frances  Willard 383 

The  Willard  home,  near  Janesville 383 

Lake  Koshkonong,  upper  waters  of  the  Rock  River 387 

Frances  Willard  School,  three  miles  south  of  Janesville 387 

Aerial  view  of  Janesville,  Wisconsin 391 

Beloit  in   1870 397 

Beloit  College  in  1870 403 

Emerson  Hall,  women 's  campus,  Beloit   College 403 

Main   campus,   Beloit  College,  Beloit 407 

Oldest   necklace  in  the  world 411 

Bird 's  eye  view  of  Beloit 419 

The  State  Capitol  at  Madison 441 

xxi 


xxii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Courthouse   and  grounds,   Juneau 447 

Dodge   County   Home,   Juneau 447 

Mayville   High    School 449 

John  May,  founder   of  Mayville 449 

Alvin  Foster,  pioneer  settler  of  Mayville    449 

Beaver   Dam,    1888 451 

Van  Brunt   (Deere)    plant,  Horieon 451 

Watertown    in    1860 453 

Panoramic  view  of  Watertown,  looking  northeast,  1886 453 

High    school,    Fort    Atkinson 457 

View  of  Hoard 's  creameries,  Ft.  Atkinson,  from  the  river 457 

View  on  Rock  River,  from  Main  Street  Bridge,  Watertown 461 

Thatcher  Blake,  one  of  the  founders  of  Rockf ord 465 

Winnebago    County   Courthouse 475 

In  the  heart  of  Sinnissippi  Park,  Rockford 475 

Public  library,  Rockford 483 

Memorial   Hall,   Rockford 483 

Anna  P.  Sill,  founder  of  Rockford  Seminary 495 

Rockford  College  in  1852 495 

Typical  buildings  of  Rockford  College,  Adams  Hall  and  Lathrop  Hall 501 

Rockford,    condensed,    from    above 513 

Kishwaukee  River  in  the  Belvidere  region   (The  Bend  and  the  mill  race) 527 

National    Sewing  Machine   Company,    Belvidere 535 

High    school,    Belvidere 535 

Stephenson  County's  first  courthouse,   1840 541 

Courthouse   today,    Freeport 541 

Historic  boulder  at  Freeport 551 

Krape  Park,  Freeport 563 

Public  library,   Freeport 563 

Ogle  County  Courthouse,  Oregon 569 

Ogle  County  Courthouse  of  1848 569 

First  steel  plow  factory  in  the  United  States 572 

Margaret  Fuller  Island,  near  Oregon 579 

Historic  cedar  on  Eagle 's  Nest  Bluff 579 

Eagle 's  Nest,  camp  house,  artists'  colony 583 

Site  of  artists'  colony  on  Rock  Biver 583 

Old  stone  quarry,  Roehelle 587 

South  Park  Street,  Mount  Morris 587 

Science  building,  Mount  Morris  College 591 

College  campus,  Mount  Morris  College 591 

City  hall,   Roehelle 595 

Post  office,  Roehelle 595 

Seventh   Street,  looking  north,  Roehelle 597 

Township    High    School,    Roehelle 597 

Lee  County   Courthouse,  Dixon 605 

Governor  Charter's  log  cabin  at  Hazelwood,  Lee  County 605 

How  Dixon  appeared  in  1832 611 

Aerial  view  of  Dixon 625 

Detail  picture  of  Sterling  water  power 633 

Third    Street,    Sterling,    in   1868 633 

Looking  along  Second  Street,  Rock  Falls 637 

View   on  Main  Street,  Morrison 637 

Picture  of   Sterling  from  above 641 

Central    School,    Sterling 643 

Y.  M.  C.  A.  building,  Sterling 643 

Courthouse  and  other  County  buildings,  Morrison 647 

High   school,  Morrison 647 

Municipal    building,    Morrison 649 

Business  street,  looking  east,  Morrison 651 

Business  street,  looking  west,  Morrison 651 

Soldiers '    monument,    Sterling 655 

High    school,    Cambridge 659 

County    courthouse,    Cambridge 659 

P.   Hammond,   Genesee   Centenarian    (1876) 663 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xxiii 

The  Kewanee  Boiler  Works,  Kewanee 669 

Kewanee  schools   (throe   buildings) 675 

Northeast     I 'ark,    Kewanee 677 

The  municipal   building,  Moline 681 

Thinl   Avenue  and  Nineteenth  Street,  Rock   Island 681 

Dr.   T.  N.   Hassclquist 685 

Augustana  College  and  Theological  Seminary,  Rock  Island 689 

New    seminary   buildings,   Augustana   College 69."? 

First  permanent  arsenal  building  and  rear  view  of  original  arsenal  shops 699 

Flying  over  Rock  Island 707 

New  and  old  types  of  buildings  at  Rook  Tsland  arsenal 717 

Arsenal   employes  celebrating  Armistice  Bay,   1918 721 

Grave   of   General    Thomas   J.    Rodman 721 

Mnyville    in    1860 731 

Main    Street,    Juneau. 740 


REFLECTING  ON  THE  CHARM  AND  GRANDEUR  OF  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 
Black  Hawk  as  idealized  in  Lorado   Taft's  heroic  statue  near   Oregon 


History  of  the  Rock  River  Valley 

CHAPTER  I 
THE  LAND  AND  ITS  MAKING 

THE    GENERAL    CHARACTER    OF    THE    VALLEY — THE    ORIGIN    OF    THE    WATERWAYS    OF 

WISCONSIN    AND    ILLINOIS THE    SOURCES    OF    THE    ROCK    RIVER    IN    WISCONSIN 

THE   FOUR   LAKES  OF   MADISON THE   YAHARA THE   COURSE   OF   THE  VALLEY  IN 

WISCONSIN  WITH  ITS  GENERAL  TOPOGRAPHY THE  ROCK  RIVER  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM 

— THE  HIGH  BLUFFS  AROUND  JANESVILLE  AND  BELOIT BIG  HILL  NEAR  BELOIT — 

THE   PITCH    OF   THE   LAND   AND    ELEVATION    WHERE    RIVER  LEAVES   WISCONSIN 

THE   PECATONICA,   SUGAR   AND   KISHWAUKEE BEAUTIES   AND   VARIETY    OF   LAND- 
SCAPE ALONG  RIVER  IN  ILLINOIS — THE  RUGGED  OUTCROPS  IN  ROCKFORD  REGION 

GRANDEURS   OF   THE    VALLEY    IN    OGLE   AND    LEE    COUNTIES — THE    GRAND    DETOUR 

REGION THE  VALLEY  FROM  OREGON  TO  DIXON A  TRAVELER  OF  1836 MARGARET 

FULLER'S    ENRAPTURED    PEN    PICTURE    OF    THE    REGION THE   ADVOCACY    OF   THE 

SAVING  OF  THIS  SECTION  OF  THE  VALLEY  FOR  LANDSCAPE  LOVERS — THE  CREATION 

OF  A  STATE  PARK — THE  WHITE  PINE  WOODS  OF  OGLE  COUNTY WILLIAM  CULLEN 

BRYANT   THEREON BEAUTIES   OF   THE   ROCK   ISLAND   SECTION    OF   THE   VALLEY 

BLACK  HAWK'S  TOWER — VAST  STRETCHES   OF  LANDSCAPE  AND   WATER   VIEWS  AT 
ROCK  ISLAND HOW   THE  VALLEY   CAME  TO  BE ITS  GEOLOGICAL   HISTORY. 

The  Rock  River  Valley  in  Wisconsin  is  the  drainage  basin  of  all  southern 
Wisconsin,  south  of  a  line  drawn  from  Lake  Winnebago,  southwesterly  along 
the  main  axis  of  the  Wisconsin  River.  The  Valley  includes  the  lakes  of  the 
Madison  and  Oeonomowoc  systems,  and  receives  the  rainfall  nearly  to  the  doors 
of  Milwaukee.  It  reaches  to  within  six  or  seven  miles  of  lakes  Winnebago  and 
Green ;  and,  in  one  place  on  the  east,  to  within  three  miles  of  the  main  stream 
of  the  Fox  in  Illinois.  The  singular  physical  fact  is  that  the  watershed  should 
be  so  near  Lake  Michigan  along  the  Milwaukee  margin ;  and,  so  near  the  Fox- 
Wisconsin,  whence  the  valleys  of  the  three  come  in  touch. 

In  its  lower  ranges,  the  valley  of  the  Rock  trenches  on  the  valley  of  the 
Illinois ;  the  watershed  between  the  two  being  within  a  dozen  miles  of  the  Illinois. 
Before  reaching  the  Mississippi,  it  crosses  the  northern  coal  fields  of  the  state. 
It  finally  narrows  until  it  empties  into  the  Father  of  Waters  below  the  city 
of  Rock  Island.  Just  before  it  reaches  the  Mississippi,  it  forms  the  basin  of 
the  Hennepin  Canal  for  several  miles. 

There  are  few  regions  which  are  the  equal  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  in 
general  fertility.  The  lands  are  owned  by  those  tilling  them  to  a  greater  degree 
than  in  most  sections  of  the  West.  The  flourishing  cities  of  Rock  Island,  Dixon, 
Vol.  I— 1 


4  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Sterling,  Belvidere,  Freeport,  Rockford,  Beloit,  Janesville,  Fort  Atkinson,  Jef- 
ferson, Watertown  and  Madison  are  the  chief  collecting  and  distributing  places 
of  the  Valley. 

The  story  of  the  nation  for  the  first  three  hundred  years  has  been  the  story 
of  the  Rock  River  Valley  for  seventy-five  years.  There  have  been  the  same 
changes  in  the  circumscribed  area  though  swifter  and  with  less  delay  between 
the  different  stages.  Indian  hunting  ground  has  changed  to  battlefield;  battle- 
field has  smiled  and  blossomed  under  the  pioneer's  plow;  and,  in  turn,  the 
pioneer's  cabin  has  been  replaced  by  the  factory,  the  mill  and  the  comforts 
of  city  life — all  within  the  memory  of  man.  This  rapidity  of  development 
has  been  due  largely  to  the  location  of  the  Valley. 

ORIGIN   OF   THE  WATERWAYS 

The  waterways  of  Wisconsin  are  determined  by  the  great  mass  of  ancient 
crystalline  rocks  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state.  This  central  mass  is  the 
highest  land  in  the  state.  The  rock  layers  gently  dip,  or  slope,  towards  the 
north,  south,  southeast  and  southwest;  thereby,  forming  the  four  watersheds 
so  that  the  waters,  falling  upon  the  rocks,  are  shed  in  four  directions.  These 
watersheds  direct  the  streams  northerly  into  Lake  Superior,  southeasterly  into 
Lake  Michigan,  to  the  south  into  the  Wisconsin  River,  and  to  the  southwest 
directly  into  the  Mississippi. 

The  sloping  of  the  land  mass  in  Illinois  southwesterly  from  Lake  Michigan 
gave  the  direction  to  the  Illinois  waterway.  The  valley  of  Green  Bay-Lake 
Winnebago-Fox-Rock  rivers,  were  originally  one  system  and  furnished  a  won- 
derful, natural  passage  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  Mississippi.  The  Rock 
River  Valley  is  but  an  extension  of  that  of  Green  Bay;  the  two  forming  one 
great  trough.  The  Horicon  basin,  the  source  of  the  Rock  River,  is  only  a 
repetition  of  Lake  Winnebago. 

SOURCES  OF  THE  ROCK  RIVER 

The  east  branch  of  the  Rock  joins  the  main  river  in  the  Horicon  marsh. 
From  the  Horicon  marsh,  the  Rock  follows  southward  the  ledge  of  Niagara 
limestone,  as  close  as  the  drift  accumulations  permit,  until  it  reaches  Ocon- 
omowoc.  Here  it  turns  abruptly  and  flows  to  the  northwest  until  it  reaches 
Watertown,  where,  bending  to  the  southward,  it  follows  this  course  bearing 
to  the  west. 

The  western  source  of  the  Rock  River  is  the  valley  of  the  Yahara,  or  Cat- 
fish River  with  its  beautiful  chain  of  lakes  in  Dane  County.  From  this  Lake 
Basin,  before  the  ice  age,  a  stream  flowed  southeast  to  join  what  then  corre- 
sponded to  the  Rock  River.  The  four-gemmed  necklace  of  lakes  around  Madi- 
son, with  the  Yahara  or  Catfish  as  the  connecting  link,  bears  the  Indian  names 
of  Kegonsa,  Waubesa,  Monona  and  Mendota.  These  were  formerly  known  by 
number  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  reached  in  traveling  upstream ;  Lake 
Kegonsa  being  First  Lake  and  Mendota,  Fourth.  Longfellow  thus  character- 
izes them : 


GO 


o 

r1 
a 

Q 

C 
— 

Kj 
GO 


2 


O 

o 


6  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

THE  FOUR  LAKES  OF  MADISON 

"Four  limpid  lakes, — four  Naiades 
Or  sylvan  deities  are  these, 

In  flowing  robes  of  azure  dressed ; 
Four  lovely  handmaids,  that  uphold 
Their  shining  mirrors,  rimmed  with  gold, 

To  the  fair  city  in  the  West. 

By  day  the  coursers  of  the  sun 
Drink  of  these  waters  as  they  run 

Their  swift  diurnal  round  on  high; 
By  night  the  constellations  glow 
Far  down  the  hollow  deeps  below, 

And  glimmer  in  another  sky. 

Fair  lakes,  serene  and  full  of  light, 
Fair  town,  arrayed  in  robes  of  white 

How  visionary  ye  appear! 
All  like  a  floating  landscape  seems 
In  cloud-land  or  the  land  of  dreams, 

Bathed  in  a  golden  atmosphere." 

THE  YAHARA 

The  Catfish  River,  as  the  outlet  of  the  four  lakes,  enters  the  Rock  River 
eleven  and  one-half  miles  below  the  foot  of  Lake  Koshkonong.  Here  occurs 
the  junction  of  the  eastern  and  western  head  valleys  of  the  Rock. 

The  Yahara,  now  a  branch  of  the  Rock  River,  is  presumably  the  beheaded 
remnant  of  the  Wisconsin.  When  the  original  Wisconsin  first  began  to  flow, 
after  the  region  had  been  uplifted  from  the  ocean,  it  acquired  its  course  as 
a  consequence  of  the  southward  dip  of  the  sedimentary  rocks.  The  dipping 
of  the  rocks  made  a  topographic  surface  upon  which  a  southward  course  past 
Madison  became  natural,  especially  as  the  axis  of  the  arch  lay  west  of  Merri- 
mack, Sauk  County.  The  diversion  of  the  Wisconsin  to  its  present  westward 
course  may,  then,  have  been  accomplished  by  the  headwater  erosion  on  the 
part  of  the  short  stream,  along  the  Wisconsin  Valley,  which  we  may  call  the 
Kickapoo-Wisconsin. 

COURSE  OF  THE  VALLEY  IN  WISCONSIN 

The  Rock  River  Valley  of  Wisconsin  is  a  part  of  the  Eastern  Ridges  and 
Lowlands  of  Wisconsin.  It  has,  in  the  main,  a  fairly  level  topography,  fertile 
soil  and  favorable  climate.  The  geographic  province  of  the  Eastern  Ridges 
and  Lowlands,  of  which  the  Rock  River  Valley  is  a  part,  includes  all  between 
Lake  Michigan  and  its  western  Upland  and  Central  Plain.  On  its  western 
boundary,  it  follows  the  contact  of  the  Cambrian  sand  shore  with  the  Lower 
Magnesian  limestone  from  Menominee  River  in  Marinette  County  to  the  Wis- 
consin River  in  Sauk  and  Columbia  counties,  near  Prairie  du  Sac. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  7 

From  this  point  southward  to  Illinois,  the  boundary  is  (a)  a  terminal 
moraine  at  the  edge  of  the  latest  Drift  sheet,  and  (b)  the  Rock  River  below 
Janesville.  Its  general  topographic  features  consist  of  (a)  a  ridge  of  Lower 
Magnesian  limestone  on  the  west;  (b)  lowlands  of  Galena — Trenton  limestone, 
containing  Green  Bay,  Lake  "Winnebago  and  the  Rock  River;  (c)  the  upland 
of  Niagara  limestone  adjacent  to  Lake  Michigan;  (d)  Lowland  of  Devonian 
shale  in  the  valley  occupied  by  Lake  Michigan. 

TITE  ROCK   RIVER  DRAINAGE   SYSTEM 

The  chief  streams  of  the  Wisconsin  Rock  River  System  are  the  Yahara, 
Crawfish  and  the  main  Rock  River  on  the  East,  and  the  Pecatonica  and  Sugar 
rivers  on  the  western  uplands.  Thus  the  drainage  system  is  about  equally 
divided  between  the  glaciated  and  the  driftless  territory. 

The  Pecatonica  has  no  lakes  interrupting  its  course  and  its  tributaries  are 
close-set,  thoroughly  draining  the  countiy  through  which  they  flow.  It  has 
no  swamps  except  in  the  flood  plains  of  the  main  stream.  The  Sugar  River 
Valley  is  occupied  by  the  vast  floods  of  water  from  the  melting  continental 
glacier.  The  deposits  of  sand  and  gravel,  made  near  Brodhead,  descend  at 
the  rate  of  two  and  one-half  feet  per  mile.  The  eastern  tributaries  of  the 
Sugar  River,  as  well  as  the  southern,  all  rise  in  the  uplands  which,  covered 
with  older  drift,  now  worn  thin,  almost  disappear  in  places  only  to  reappear 
below. 

The  Yahara  River  is  in  complete  contrast  to  the  Pecatonica.  The  Yahara 
is  interrupted  by  lakes  and  has  few  tributaries.  There  are  broad  undrained 
interstream  areas  including  numerous  swamps.  Its  drainage  is  aimless  and 
unsystematic,  with  the  grade  not  perfected  as  in  the  Pecatonica.  The  Yahara 
rises  northwest  of  Lake  Mendota  to  an  elevation  of  100  feet,  flows  through 
extensive  swamps  when  the  channel,  almost  disappearing,  reappears  below. 
From  Lake  Mendota  to  Lake  Kegonsa,  the  Yahara  descends  six  hundred  feet 
in  eight  and  six-tenths  miles;  but  only  a  few  feet  of  this  distance  is  in  a 
channel.  For  the  greater  distance  it  is  lost  in  the  waters  of  Lakes  Mendota, 
Monona,  "Waubesa  and  Kegonsa.  Between  Lake  Kegonsa  and  the  city  of 
Stoughton,  Dane  County,  the  grade  is  decidedly  steeper,  and  the  valley  has 
been  more  deeply  eroded  in  the  glacial  deposits.  From  Lake  Kegonsa  to  its 
confluence  with  the  main  Rock  River  north  of  Janesville,  the  Yahara  has  a 
grade  of  nearly  four  feet  to  the  mile. 

The  lake  basin,  which  interrupts  this  stream,  is  twenty  to  seventy  feet  deep ; 
so  that,  until  the  river  has  destroyed  these  lakes,  by  cutting  down  their  out- 
lets or  filling  their  basins,  the  stream  cannot  be  perfected.  The  stream  was 
revolutionarily  modified  by  the  continental  glacier,  which,  by  erosion  and  de- 
posit, formed  a  series  of  boat-shaped  depressions  which  contain  the  present 
lakes. 

Around  the  shores  of  the  Yahara,  boulders  and  ramparts  were  dropped  by 
the  ice  in  favorable  localities.  The  shore  line  includes  rock  cliffs,  drift  bluffs, 
beaches,  barriers  and  split.  In  the  region  southwest  of  Madison,  there  are 
abandoned  stream  channels  which  wTere  occupied  by  glaciated  waters;  but  now 
by  tiny  streams  far  too  small  to  have  cut  channels.     One  of  these  may  be  seen 


8  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

about  three  miles  east,  and  another  three  and  one-half  miles  southwest  of 
Oregon,  Ogle  County. 

Lake  Wingra,  near  Madison,  has  been  filled  until  it  is  nearing  extinction, 
being  now  less  than  fourteen  feet  deep.  This  was  known  as  Magra,  which  is 
translated  Dead  Lake.  While  vegetation  contributed  to  the  filling  of  the  lake, 
the  chief  cause  was  the  accumulation  of  marl,  made  up  partly  of  the  shells 
of  small  animals. 

The  main  Rock  River,  as  stated,  has  its  head  waters  in  Fond  du  Lac  County, 
a  few  miles  southeast  of  Lake  Winnebago.  It  has  a  length  of  154  miles  in 
Wisconsin  and  an  e^vation  of  1,000  feet  at  its  headwaters.  It  descends  with 
a  grade  of  one  and  four-fifths  feet  per  mile,  leaving  the  state  at  Beloit  only 
731  feet  above  the  sea  level.  Its  course  is  entirely  in  glaciated  territory  and 
mostly  in  the  great  lowland  of  Trenton  limestone  which  extends  north  and 
south,  parallel  to  the  Niagara  escarpment.  The  northern  part  of  the  same 
lowland  is  occupied  by  Lake  Winnebago,  the  Fox  River  and  Green  Bay.  The 
Rock  is  interrupted  in  its  course  by  only  three  basins:  Lake  Koshkonong,  the 
mill  pond  at  Hustisford,  Dodge  County,  and  the  Horicon  Marsh. 

The  Crawfish  and  Bark  rivers,  tributaries  of  the  Rock,  contain  such  lakes 
as  Beaver  Lake,  Oconomowoc  and  Ripley.  There  are  vast  areas  of  swamps 
and  woodlands  along  the  main  stream,  so  that  the  run-off  of  the  Rock  River 
basin  is  somewhat  regulated.  The  Rock  River,  near  Janesville  and  Beloit,  was 
displaced  from  its  preg'acial  course  by  the  continental  ice  sheet.  Its  preglacial 
position  is  proven  to  have  been  east  of  Janesville  and  Beloit;  whereas  it  now 
lies  to  the  west. 

HIGH    BLUFFS    AROUND    JANESVILLE    AND   BELOIT 

Around  Janesville  and  Beloit  are  bluffs  of  considerable  elevation  from 
which  sweeping  views  up  and  down  the  valley  are  obtainable.  About  two  miles 
north  of  Beloit,  Big  Hill  looms  above  all  other  elevations  and  is  so  cherished 
that  persistent  efforts  to  save  it  as  a  park  are  now  about  to  be  realized. 

As  the  pitch  of  the  land  in  Wisconsin  gives  the  Rock  a  southwesterly  di- 
rection; so  in  Illinois,  the  land  surface  gently  sloping  towards  the  south  and 
southwest,  again  gives  that  direction  to  the  stream. 

The  Pecatonica,  Sugar  and  Kishwaukee  are  the  first  large  tributaries  to 
the  Rock  in  northern  Illinois.  The  Pecatonica  comes  from  the  west,  flows  in 
a  general  east  and  north  direction  for  about  twenty  miles,  when  it  empties  its 
turbid  waters  into  the  bright,  flashing  current  of  the  Rock  near  the  town  of 
Rockton.  Its  course,  through  both  Stephenson  and  Winnebago  counties,  is  a 
tortuous  and  muddy  one.  Sugar  River,  coming  from  the  northwest,  empties 
into  the  Pecatonica  near  Shirland,  Winnebago  County.  So  lazily  do  these  two 
streams  run,  that  neither  affords  any  water  power.  The  Kishwaukee,  with  the 
union  of  its  two  branches  in  the  southeastern  corner  of  Winnebago  County, 
flows  westward  into  the  Rock. 

WHERE  THE  RIVER  ENTERS  ILLINOIS 

In  Illinois  the  Rock  River  is  unique  in  the  beaut}*  and  variety  of  its  land- 
scape.    From  its  entrance  into  the  state  at  Beloit,  near  the  center  of  the  Wis- 


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10  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

consin  line,  to  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi  below  Rock  Island,  it  presents, 
through  its  course  of  150  miles,  a  succession  of  pictures  varying  in  character 
and  effect.  The  valley  is  narrow,  with  rugged  hills  or  precipitous  cliffs  where 
the  river  follows  its  glacial  course.  The  hills  and  the  valleys  are  throughout 
its  length  heavily  wooded  for  the  most  part.  Occasionally,  however,  a  naked 
hillside,  with  eroded  gullies,  stands  an  object  lesson  of  the  folly  of  deforestation. 

THE  GRAND   DETOUR   REGION 

The  Rock,  upon  entering  Illinois,  runs  nearly  due  south  to  Rockford;  then, 
bending  gradually  to  the  west,  enters  Ogle  County  after  affording  fine  water 
power  to  Beloit,  Rockton  and  Rockford.  Rugged  outcrops  of  limestone  are 
seen  in  the  Rockford  region.  The  section  between  Oregon  and  Dixon,  known 
as  the  "Grand  Detour  region"  from  the  quaint  and  interesting  village  of  that 
name  midway  between  the  other  two  towns  mentioned  above,  contains  a  wealth 
of  beautiful  and  interesting  features.  "Here  are  majestic  hills,  sweeping  vistas 
of  island-studded  river,  abrupt  cliffs  of  sandstone  or  limestone,  and  luxuriant 
and  varied  forest  growth."  The  village  takes  its  name  of  Grand  Detour  from 
the  great  bend  or  leap  in  the  river  at  this  point,  which  the  early  French 
explorers  termed  the  "grande  detour."  In  a  sweep  of  three  and  one-half 
miles,  the  river  returns  within  a  half  mile  of  itself;  and  the  village  is  situated 
on  the  narrow  neck  with  the  same  river  as  its  eastern  and  western  boundaries. 

THE    VALLEY    FROM    OREGON    TO    DIXON 

A  strip  of  the  river  bank,  varying  from  a  few  feet  to  a  mile  in  depth,  and 
extending  for  five  miles  up  and  five  miles  down  the  river  from  Grand  Detour, 
includes  some  of  the  loveliest  scenery  in  the  Middle  West.  Down  the  river  from 
the  village,  the  right  bank  furnishes  a  series  of  splendid  wooded  bluffs  with 
a  number  of  cliffs  of  St.  Peters  sandstone,  rising  sheer  from  the  river  inter- 
estingly sculptured  by  water  and  weather.  The  sweeping  panoramic  view  from 
the  last  one,  Green  Rock,  is  of  unusual  charm.  A  little  farther  on,  the  bluffs 
are  broken  by  the  valley  of  Pine  Creek,  a  stream  flowing  picturesquely  through 
the  white  pine  grove  of  Ogle  County.  The  high  ground  begins  again  beyond 
Pine  Creek  and  continues  to  Dixon.  South  of  Dixon,  the  bluffs  are  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  river,  with  a  number  of  fine  rocky  cliffs  of  which  the  Whirl- 
pool Rock  is  the  most  conspicuous.  "This  massive  wall  of  sandstone  is  di- 
rectly in  the  westerly  course  of  the  river  at  the  southern  part  of  its  loop  and 
deflects  it  suddenly  to  the  north  through  a  narrow  channel."  A  group  of 
white  pines  crowns  the  headland  here. 

North  of  the  village,  the  river  road  "to  Oregon  is  unusually  interesting 
as  it  skirts  the  west  bank  of  the  river  a  portion  of  the  way,  with  a  fine  view 
of  the  wooded  bluffs  on  the  farther  side. ' '  About  five  miles  from  Grand  Detour, 
the  valley  narrows  and  the  rounded  hills,  bounding  the  valley  on  the  west, 
are  replaced  by  a  group  of  steep  cliffs  of  sandstone,  rising  from  the  water's 
edge  and  extending  about  half  a  mile.  Professor  Pattee  informs  us  that  geolog- 
ical lore  explains  that  this  marks  an  old  divide  through  which  the  river  has 
cut  its  way  in  relatively  recent  times. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  11 

('astir  Rock,  the  most  northern  of  these  roek  masses,  is  a  detached  pyramid 
of  bare  sandstone;  while  Prospect  Rock,  the  more  imposing  of  the  cliffs,  is 
the  exposed  end  of  a  long  ridge  running  at  right  angles  to  the  river.  Excep- 
tional are  the  views  from  these  cliffs;  Castle  Rock  with  its  position  at  the 
bend  of  the  river,  displays  a  sweeping  panorama  including  both  the  up-stream 
ami  the  down-stream  views;  but  the  sight  from  Prospect  Rock,  looking  south 
down  the  river,  is  by  all  odds  the  best  of  all  of  the  splendid  views  of  this  much 
favored  region. 

A  miniature  archipelago  of  willow-covered  islets  is  a  fascinating  element  of 
the  picture  which  includes  another  cliff  in  the  foreground,  the  heavily  wooded 
and  rounded  hills  of  the  left  bank,  and  the  extended  prospect  down  the  river 
valley  to  the  far  hills  at  the  horizon.  As  a  result  of  the  rugged  and  broken 
character  of  its  topography,  the  Castle  Rock  is  in  a  more  natural  state  than 
any  oilier  portion  of  the  district.  Unbroken  woods  cover  the  abrupt  hills 
and  deep  ravines  to  the  depth  of  a  mile  back  from  the  river. 

A   TRAVELER   OF    1836 

In  1836  a  traveler  wrote  thus  of  the  Oregon  region  in  the  New  York  Star : 
"The  bluff  which  follows  the  river  until  it  reaches  the  city  leaves  it  and  falls 
back  for  a  mile,  forming  a  half  circle,  and  meets  it  again  just  below  in  pic- 
tures! pie  grandeur.  The  situation  of  Oregon  itself  has  forcibly  reminded  me 
of  Palermo,  the  capital  of  Sicily,  surrounded  on  the  land  by  a  chain  of  moun- 
tains, forming  a  complete  amphitheatre  which  has  been  poetically  called  the 
"Conco  L'Ora'  or  The  Golden  Shell.  The  banks  of  the  Rock  River  are  not 
so  high  as  those  in  the  Sicilian  landscape ;  but  contrasted  with  the  wide  ex- 
panse of  country  around,  are  quite  as  effective  and  more  rich  in  fertile  charms. 
The  swelling  of  the  prairies,  gemmed  with  wild  flowers  of  every  hue,  the 
stately  forest,  and  valleys  interspersed  with  shady  groves  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river  surrounding  Hyde  Park,  from  which  we  started,  the  wild  and 
bounding  deer  in  great  numbers — form  features  rarely  to  be  met  with  in  a 
single  glance  of  the  eye,  either  in  this  or  any  other  country;  and  amidst  all 
these  beauties, 

'The  river,  nobly  foams  and  flows, 
The  charm  of  this  enchanted  ground 
And  all  its  thousand  turns  disclose 
Some  fresher  beauty  varying  round. ' 

"In  this  section,  the  scenery  along  the  Rock  gives  resemblance  to  the  old 
feudal  castles  of  England,  as,  half  ruined,  moss-covered  and  ivy-draped,  they 
are  preserved  to  us  in  pictures."  The  limestone  bluffs,  covered  half-way  up 
their  steep  sides  with  the  accumulation  of  ages,  "look  like  mural  escarpment 
and  cyclopean  walls  among  the  wild  hills.  The  sandstone  cliffs  of  varying  hues 
now*  glancing  like  snow  peaks  in  the  sunshine,  or  glowing  like  balls  of  flame 
or  yellow,  when  stained  with  red  oxide  of  iron,  are  weathered  into  all  sorts 
of  fantastic  shapes.  The  rounded  tower-like  casemated  mosses  stand  out  in 
bold  relief  at  the  Indian  Pulpit,  three  or  four  miles  below  Oregon,  and  at 
other  places  along  this  heavy  outcrop  of  the  St.  Peter's  limestone." 


12  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

MARGARET   FULLER 's  PEN  PICTURE 

Margaret  Fuller,  enraptured  with  the  view,  wrote  thus  of  it:  "Here  swelled 
the  river  in  its  boldest  course,  interspersed  by  halcyon  isles  on  which  nature 
had  lavished  all  her  prodigality  in  tree,  vine  and  flower,  banked  by  noble 
bluffs,  three  hundred  feet  high,  their  sharp  ridges  as  exquisitely  definite  as 
the  edge  of  a  shell,  their  summits  adorned  with  those  same  beautiful  trees, 
and  with  buttresses  of  rocks  crested  with  old  hemlocks  which  wore  a  touch- 
ing and  antique  grace  amidst  the  softer  and  more  luxuriant  vegetation.  Lofty 
natural  mounds  rose  amidst  the  rest  with  the  same  lovely  and  sweeping  outline 
showing  everywhere  the  plastic  power  of  water.     *     *     * 

"Not  far  from  the  river  was  a  high  crag  called  the  Pine  Rock,  which  looked 
out,  as  our  guide  observed,  like  a  helmet  above  the  brow  of  the  country.  It 
seems  as  if  the  water  left  here  and  there  a  vestige  of  forms  and  material  that 
preceded  its  course  just  to  set  off  its  new  and  richer  designs.  The  aspect  of 
this  country  was  to  me  enchanting  beyond  any  I  have  ever  seen,  from  its  ful- 
ness of  expression,  its  boldness  and  impassioned  sweetness.  Here  the  flood 
of  emotion  has  passed  over  and  marked  everywhere  its  sweetness  by  a  smile. 
The  fragments  of  rock  touch  it  with  a  wildness  and  liberality  which  gives 
just  the  needed  relief.     I  should  never  be  tired  here." 

From  Oregon  to  Sterling  the  surface  is  very  rolling  and  undulating.  Fre- 
quently deep  ravines  are  cut,  on  the  sides  of  which  the  rocks  are  often  exposed 
to  view.  The  banks  of  the  Rock  and  its  tributaries  present  frequently  bold 
precipitous,  perpendicular  bluffs  of  rock  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  feet  high. 

THE    CREATION    OP    A    STATE    PARK 

Very  appropriately  "The  Friends  of  our  Native  Landscape"  advocate  the 
saving  of  this  section  of  the  valley  by  establishing  a  state  park  area.  In  a  re- 
cently published  report,  they  urge  the  necessity  of  immediate  action.  Already 
men  of  wealth,  appreciating  the  beauty  of  Rock  River,  have  acquired  estates 
of  large  area.  Unfortunately,  the  wooded  sections  are  being  reduced  every 
year  in  the  interest  of  fire-wood  and  increased  areas  for  cultivation. 

The  region  is  very  accessible  to  nature  lovers.  It  can  be  reached  in  a  few 
hours  from  almost  any  point  in  the  northern  half  of  the  state ;  the  main  lines 
of  the  Chicago  &  North  Western  and  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  cross- 
ing the  state  from  east  to  west,  land  passengers  at  Dixon  and  Oregon,  between 
which  the  proposed  park  area  is  located. 

THE    WHITE   PINE    WOODS    OF   OGLE    COUNTY 

In  Ogle  County,  also,  there  lies  the  White  Pine  Forest  of  one  thousand  acres, 
nine  miles  from  Oregon  and  seven  miles  from  Polo.  The  tract  is  traversed  by 
Pine  Creek,  which,  rising  farther  up  in  Ogle  County,  flows  in  a  winding 
course  of  twenty-five  miles,  emptying  into  Rock  River  several  miles  from  the 
forest  and  just  below  the  curious  hend  in  the  river  at  Grand  Detour.  The 
creek,  at  the  White  Pine  Forest,  reaches  the  height  of  its  picturesque  beauty 
as  it  flows  by  the  high,  rocky,  vine-and-flower-covered  banks,  mirroring  them  in 


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14  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

its  clear  waters  as  it  journeys  by.  "Old  settlers,  who  came  to  the  region  about 
1840,  say  that  white  pines  were  found  then  pretty  much  all  along  the  east 
bank  of  the  creek  and  extending  out  to  a  breadth  of  sometimes  half  a  mile 
and  more.  It  is  chiefly  on  the  east  bank  that  the  white  pine  is  now  found.  Red 
cedar  is  found  also  in  this  tract,  but  mainly  on  the  west  side  of  the  creek. 
The  American  yew,  or  ground  hemlock,  the  third  evergreen  growing  in  this  tract, 
is  found  mostly  on  the  east  side  of  the  stream,  creeping  and  hanging  in  long 
dark  festoons  over  far  stretches  of  the  rocky  wall. 

"In  October  the  brilliant  colors  of  the  hardwoods  (which  are  intermixed 
Avith  the  evergreens  over  most  of  this  tract)  mingled  with  the  soft,  rich  green 
of  the  white  pines  and  the  young  growth  make  a  picture  of  entrancing  loveliness. 
The  white  pine  and  red  cedar,  procured  from  Pine  Creek,  were  planted  around 
the  early  homes  of  the  settlers,  both  in  town  and  country,  for  protection  from 
the  fierce  storms,  and  for  their  beauty.  The  groups  of  these  evergreens,  as 
they  surround  the  homes  and  dot  the  landscape,  are  today  an  evidence  of  the 
houses  in  which  once  lived  pioneer  families."  A  persistent  advocacy  since 
1903  for  the  setting  aside  of  this  White  Pine  Forest  as  a  state  park  has,  un- 
fortunately, thus  far  not  been  successful. 

"William  Cullen  Bryant,  the  poet,  wrote  June  21,  1841:  "I  have  just  re- 
turned from  an  excursion  to  Rock  River,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  our  west- 
ern streams.  It  flows  through  high  prairies.  The  banks  on  either  side  are  high 
and  bold ;  sometimes  they  are  perpendicular  precipices,  the  bases  of  which  stand 
in  running  water.  Sometimes  they  are  steep,  grassy,  or  rocky  bluffs  with  a 
piece  of  alluvial  land  between  them  and  the  streams;  sometimes  they  rise  by 
gradual  and  easy  ascent  to  the  general  level  of  the  region ;  and  sometimes  this 
ascent  is  interrupted  by  a  broad,  natural  terrace.  Majestic  trees  grow  solitarily, 
or  in  clumps,  on  the  grassy  acclivities,  or  scattered  in  natural  parks  along  the 
lower  lands  upon  the  river,  or  in  thick  groves  along  the  edge  of  the  high  country. 
Back  of  the  bluffs,  extends  a  fine  agricultural  region,  rich  prairies  with  undulat- 
ing terraces  interspersed  with  groves.  At  the  foot  of  the  bluffs  break  forth 
copious  springs  of  clear  water  which  hasten  in  little  brooks  to  the  river.  In  a 
drive  which  I  took  up  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  I  saw  three  of  these; 
the  first,  the  spring  which  supplies  the  town  of  Dixon  with  water  *  *  *  The 
next  is  a  beautiful  fountain  rushing  out  from  the  rocks  in  the  midst  of  a  clump 
of  trees,  as  merrily  and  in  as  great  a  hurry  as  a  boy  let  out  from  school. ' ' 

BEAUTIES  OP  ROCK  ISLAND  SECTION 

The  peculiar  topography  of  the  country  about  Rock  Island  imparts  great 
variety  and  beauty  to  the  scenery.  Ascending  the  high  tableland  which  forms 
the  divide  here  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Rock  rivers  and  which  termi- 
nates in  a  single  lofty  bluff  overlooking  the  point  of  their  juncture,  the  valleys 
of  both  sides  are  distinctly  seen.  One  discerns  clearly  from  here  the  cities  of 
Rock  Island  and  Davenport,  and  away  to  the  southwest  along  the  sloping  bluffs, 
one  sees  the  smoke  of  Muscatine,  Iowa,  thirty  miles  away. 

"Lifting  itself  abruptly  from  Rock  River  to  the  height  of  about  two  hundred 
feet,  is  'Black  Hawk's  Watch  Tower,'  an  eminence  from  which  the  famous 
Sac  warrior  viewed  the  troops  sent  against  him     *     *     *     as  they  deployed  in 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  15 

the  valley  about  ten  miles  distant.  A  clear  view  of  the  valley  is  visible  from 
here.  The  observer  sees  across  the  river  the  thriving  town  of  Milan  and  the- 
intervening  islands  covered  with  their  groves  of  stately  elms  and  the  shim- 
mering waterfalls  of  the  four  separate  channels." 

Here  about  Rock  Island  the  scenery  is  unsurpassed.  Rock  Island,  itself, 
has  an  impressive  appearance,  rising  out  of  the  Mississippi  a  solid  rock  of  im- 
posing height.  Having  a  length  of  several  miles  and  a  width  of  three-quarters 
of  a  mile,  the  rocks  are  covered  with  fertile  soil.  "Washing  around  its  base 
with  a  rapid  current  of  pure  and  limpid  water,  the  Rock  River  can  be  seen  a 
few  miles  south,  rushing  over  the  rocky  rapids  into  the  Father  of  Waters. 
With  the  surrounding  country  interspersed  with  beautiful  groves  of  timber,  the 
scene  presents  one  of  beauty  rarely  equalled.  "The  blue  hills  in  the  distance, 
directing  the  course  of  the  river,  are  seen  in  the  north  and  south  rising  to 
considerable  heights  with  gentle  slopes,  and  the  valley  between,  embracing  the 
river,  is  some  miles  in  extent,  presenting  a  variety  of  surface  and  beauty  of 
landscape  never  surpassed." 

HOW    THE    VALLEY    CAME   TO    BE 

Now  that  we  have  viewed  the  physical  features  of  the  Rock  River  Valley, 
the  land  upon  which  man  is  to  play  his  part,  we  pause  in  wonderment  and 
ask  how  they  came  to  be.  The  scientist  alone  can  tell  their  readings.  To  his 
trained  eye  the  history  of  the  physical  revolutions  lay  open  in  the  layers  of 
colored  earth  in  the  steep  banks  of  the  rivers  or  in  the  outcroppings  of  the 
rocks  in  various  parts  of  the  valley. 

The  story,  though  incompletely  deciphered,  is  one  that  reaches  back  into  the 
past  millions  of  years  before  the  advent  of  man.  It  discloses  revolutionary 
transformations  wrought  by  gigantic  forces;  sometimes,  of  the  sudden,  violent 
outbreaks  of  volcanoes  and  the  shaking  of  earthquakes;  sometimes  of  more 
quiet  but  no  less  effective  agencies;  the  wearing  away  of  rocks,  particle  by 
particle,  their  transportation  by  wind  and  water,  ar^d  their  changes  by  chem- 
ical and  other  agents. 

The  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  of  which  the  Rock  is  a  part,  was 
formed  in  the  dawn  of  geologic  time,  the  result  of  stupendous  forces.  The 
landscape,  in  that  earliest  period,  was  probably  broken  by  parallel  ranges  of 
high  volcanic  mountains.  These,  in  the  course  of  several  unmeasured  geological 
ages,  were  worn  down  by  streams  and  other  natural  forces,  to  a  gently  undu- 
lating plain  with  somewhat  similar  characteristics  which  the  region  has  pos- 
sessed since  man  has  been  able  to  read  its  geological  history. 

Over  the  valley  the  sea  came,  again  and  again  with  its  several  recessions, 
according  as  the  continent  was  lifted  or  depressed.  From  incoming  streams,  the 
sea-bottom  received  sediment  which  it  sorted  into  layers  of  gravel,  sand,  clay 
and  broken  shells.  As  time  passed  on,  these  particles  were  formed  into  rocks 
by  cementation  and  pressure.  Thus  the  sand  became  sandstone,  the  clay,  shale 
and  the  shells,  limestone.  These  became  the  known  foundations  of  the  valley. 
They  were  laid  upon  the  unstratified  original  Archaen  rock,  arranged  ulti- 
mately in  layers  or  strata,  now  well  known  and  named  by  the  geologists. 

In  the  formation  of  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  repeated 
changes  due  to  the  upwarping  and  sinking  of  the  plane  occurred.     The  coastal 


16  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

swamps  changed  frequently  to  a  shallow  sea.  Luxuriant  flora  filled  this  swamp- 
land. The  forests  of  huge  fern  and  evergreen  trees  grew  to  maturity,  died  and 
became  changed,  by  chemical  and  other  forces,  into  peat  and  coal.  It  is  believed 
that,  during  this  carboniferous  age,  the  territory  of  Illinois  passed  through  this 
sequence  of  processes,  turning  forests  into  coal,  at  least  six  different  times. 
The  whole  surface  was  then  raised,  the  rocks  cracked  and  pushed  or  pressed 
upward.  Then  the  winds,  frosts  and  rains  crumbled  their  surfaces,  cutting  the 
edges :  the  rivers  wore  through  the  stony  beds ;  and  out  of  the  debris  of  erosion 
was  formed  new  soil  wherein  trees  and  plants  took  root. 

Over  all,  there  then  lay  strewn  a  soil  of  decayed  stone,  similar  in  kind  to 
that  of  present  New  England.  With  a  surface  more  broken  by  hills  than  that 
of  today,  the  Mississippi  then  rolled  placidly  along  its  course.  Not  yet,  how- 
ever, had  the  Rock  River  Valley  acquired  its  present  relationships. 

Another  radical  change  took  place.  The  mild,  almost  tropical  climate  gave 
way  to  one  of  extreme  cold.  From  Labrador  as  a  center,  great  ice  fields  slowly 
spread  over  the  northern  part  of  North  America  and  moved  southward  as  far 
as  the  plateau  that  runs  from  the  Wabash  to  the  Grand  Tower.  During  this 
glacial  period  the  rock  surface  of  limestones,  sandstones  and  shales  were  crum- 
bled and  pulverized  by  the  freezing  and  thawing.  This  debris  from  the  north 
was  carried  by  the  ice  floes  and  spread  or  piled  up  in  Illinois  and  Wisconsin. 

So  powerful  was  the  glacial  action  that  it  cut  through  and  tore  into  frag- 
ments the  great  upper  layers  of  limestone.  These  were  carried  southward,  rob- 
bing, thereby,  Wisconsin  of  over  four  hundred  feet  of  stratified  rock.  Geol- 
ogists say  that,  whereas  the  Niagara  limestone  once  covered  almost  the  whole 
of  northern  Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  it.  is  now  found  only  on  the  top  of  a  few  of 
the  high  ridges. 

The  glaciers,  in  their  passage,  deposited  a  layer  of  drift,  bowlder  clay  from 
five  to  five  hundred  feet  thick,  composed  of  soil,  gravel  and  bowlders.  Great 
streams  of  water  followed  up  the  receding  ice  fields.  Erosion  continued  the 
work  of  denudation,  sweeping  up  preglacial  channels  and  cutting  new  ones, 
sometimes  through  solid  rock.  The  old  river  valleys  were  wider  than  they  are 
now.  As  they  narrowed  with  the  ages,  they  built  up  the  great,  rich  alluvial 
plains  that  now  are  the  richest  farming  lands. 

With  the  movements  of  the  glaciers  southward  and  their  recessions,  the 
topography  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  underwent  important  changes.  Before 
the  Glacial  Period,  the  Great  Lakes  had  no  existence.  The  present  basin  of 
Lake  Michigan  was  a  former  river  valley  which  later  became  deepened  and 
broadened  by  glacial  erosion.  A  river  of  considerable  size,  we  are  told,  flowed 
southward  through  the  valley  to  join  the  Mississippi,  which  gave  direction  to 
the  movement  of  the  ice  southward.  A  smaller  ice  lobe  passed  southward 
through  the  valley  in  which  Green  Bay  and  Lake  Winnebago  now  lie.  This 
lobe  deepened  the  track  over  which  the  Wisconsin  River  formerly  flowed,  when 
it  journeyed  from  Madison  to  Janesville  along  the  present  Rock  River  Valley. 

The  Yahara,  now  a  branch  of  the  Rock,  is,  according  to  Professor  Martin, 
the  beheaded  remnant  of  the  old  Wisconsin.  With  the  uplifting  of  the  region 
from  the  ocean,  the  sedimentary  rocks  were  given  a  southward  dip.  This 
made  it  natural  for  the  Wisconsin  to  take  a  more  westerly  direction  when  the 
erosion  of  the  headwater  of  the  short  Kickapoo-Wisconsin  had  been  accomplished. 


STEAMBOAT  ROCK  (UPPER),  AND  WHIPPLE  CAVE   (LOWER) 


18  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

During  preglacial  times,  there  was  a  valley  which  ran  southeast  from  the 
vicinity  of  Madison  occupied  by  the  older  Rock  River.  A  valley  also  ran  south- 
west from  Madison,  draining  its  waters  into  the  Wisconsin.  These  streams,  by 
the  glacial  time,  had  cut  through  the  limestone  and  were  running  in  the  Pots- 
dam sandstone  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  feet  below  the  present  level  of  the 
Catfish  River.  In  glacial  times,  the  stream  running  into  the  Wisconsin  became 
nearly  obliterated  by  the  ice;  debris  filled  its  lower  portion;  and  the  terminal 
moraine  lay  across  its  channel.  Its  course  became  thereby  reversed  and  the 
drainage  of  its  basin  diverted  into  the  Rock.  The  irregularities  of  the  ground 
moraine  broke  the  upper  portion  of  the  stream's  course  into  a  series  of  basins, 
which  now  form  the  four  lakes  of  Madison,  made  by  the  erosive  action  of  the  ice. 

According  to  W.  C.  Alden,  the  authority  on  the  geology  of  the  Wisconsin 
section  of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  Trenton  and  Galena  limestone  predominate 
in  the  structure  of  the  upper  part  from  the  sources  to  Dane  County.  From 
Lake  Koshkonong  southward  to  Beloit,  the  St.  Peter  sandstone,  the  moraines 
of  the  Lake  Michigan  and  Green  Bay  glaciers,  and  Lower  Magnesian  limestone 
form  the  structure  of  the  remaining  part  of  the  valley  in  Wisconsin. 

In  Illinois,  according  to  Leverett,  the  Trenton  and  Galena  limestones  con- 
stitute the  major  structure.  From  Oregon  southward  to  Geneseo,  close  to 
the  river  on  either  side,  the  Niagara  limestone  appears.  At  Sterling,  in  other 
points  in  Whiteside  County,  and  predominantly  so  in  Rock  Island  County,  coal 
measures  appear. 

After  the  several  geological  rock  formations  of  sandstone  and  limestone  had 
been  deposited  over  the  entire  valley  by  the  silurian  sea,  then  lifted  above  the 
water,  and  eroded  into  hills  and  valleys  by  the  elements,  the  region  was  covered 
by  the  various  glaciers.  The  consequent  actions  of  the  ice  and  glacial  waters 
deposited  a  covering  of  clay,  gravel  and  bowlders  over  the  face  of  the  region, 
well  nigh  concealing  all  the  strata  of  its  geological  structure.  These  constitute 
the  drift  or  surface  deposits  now  prevailing  in  the  valley.  The  drift  is  com- 
posed of  groundup  material  of  various  kinds  of  rocks.  Its  composition  varies 
somewhat  in  the  different  parts  of  the  valley,  due  to  the  different  glacial  lobes 
which  acted  on  the  sections  and  the  length  of  time  over  which  they  extended 
their  work. 

In  the  Wisconsin  part  of  the  valley,  the  earlier  glaciers  took  a  westerly  or 
southwesterly  movement.  The  largest  single  element  of  this  drift  is  from  the 
Trenton  group  of  limestones.  Of  the  material  examined  by  Alden  the  Galena 
and  Trenton  constituted  more  than  fifty  per  cent  of  the  material.  Consider- 
able quartzite  is  also  found  in  this  drift.  Then  the  Green  Bay  Glacier  acted 
upon  the  same  section,  producing  its  own  drift  and  its  several  terminal  mo- 
raines. The  drift  of  these  moraines  have  different  percentages  of  composition. 
In  general,  however,  the  drift  of  the  Green  Bay  Glacier  is  formed  largely  of 
Galena  and  Trenton  limestone.  "Westward,"  says  Alden,  "along  the  Johns- 
town moraine  the  Niagara  constituent  decreases  until  it  almost  disappears  on 
crossing  the  Rock  River  in  the  town  of  Janesville.  In  the  Milton  moraine  it 
does  not  appear  west  of  the  town  of  Lima.  In  the  ground  moraine,  Niagara 
limestone  is  the  principal  constituent." 

The  Niagara  decreases  as  a  constituent  on  going  westward.  The  Galena 
limestone  increases,  becoming  the  predominant  element  until  the  zone  is  reached 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  19 

whore  the  Trenton  limestone  is  exposed  by  erosion  in  the  preglacial  Rock  River 
Valley  ami  iis  tributaries  in  the  towns  of  Jefferson,  Koshkonong,  Milton  and 
Harmony. 

West  of  the  preglacial  Rock  River  Valley  the  Trenton  limestone  predominates. 
Xot  until  the  Yahara  basin  of  southern  Dane  County  is  reached  does  the  Lower 
Magnesian  limestone  become  a  recognizable  element. 

Of  course  a  sandstone  element  is  always  present.  Due  to  its  friable  char- 
acter, it  enters  into  the  finer  material  of  the  drift.  The  finer  material  is  a  rock 
flour  formed  from  the  abrasion  of  limestones  and  shales. 

"West  of  the  Rock  the  increase  in  sandstone  formation  gives  a  more  sandy 
character  to  the  surface  soil. 

Then  the  Delavan  and  the  main  Lake  Michigan  glaciers,  acting  on  the  valley, 
contributed  their  different  drift.  There  was,  of  course,  a  considerable  mixing 
as  they  worked  at  different  times  over  the  same  territory.  They  differ  mainly 
in  the  percentage  of  Niagara  limestone  present.  The  Galena  and  Trenton  lime- 
stones appear  in  large  percentages. 

Then  there  is  the  drift  of  the  outwash  deposits.  This  has  an  intermediate  char- 
acter due  to  the  intermingling  of  the  water's  heating  materials  from  the  Dela- 
van and  Green  Bay  ice  fronts. 

Niagara  material  is  distributed  very  generally  throughout  this  deposit.  It 
reaches  twenty  per  cent  of  the  composition  only  in  parts  of  the  towns  of  Brad- 
ford, La  Prairie,  Turtle,  Rock  and  Beloit,  which  received  directly  the  discharge 
from  the  Delavan  ice  lobe. 

Trenton  limestone  is  the  predominant  constituent  of  the  coarser  outwash 
drift  interspersed  with  Galena  limestone.  Sandstone  pebbles  and  a  large  amount 
of  loose  quartz  sand  are  present. 

Negligible  are  the  foreign  ingredients  of  minerals  in  the  drift  of  the  Wis- 
consin section  of  the  valley. 

Passing  to  a  somewhat  more  detailed  description  of  the  geology  of  the  area 
we  note  that  the  Potsdam  sandstone  appears  on  the  surface  over  a  considerable 
area  of  the  Catfish  Valley ;  while  the  Mendota  and  Madison  sandstones  consti- 
tute the  surface  rocks  over  a  larger  part  of  the  same  valley.  These  reach  to 
the  south  side  of  Lake  Kegonsa.  The  Lower  Magnesian  limestone  forms  the 
upper  part  of  all  the  dividing  ridge  of  the  north  part  of  the  county,  consti- 
tutes the  flanks  on  both  sides  of  the  Catfish  and  reoccurs  farther  south. 

The  Lower  Magnesian  has  a  thickness  of  more  than  eighty  feet  in  the  county 
with  such  an  irregularity  of  surface  as  "to  bring  it  often  into  the  horizon  of 
the  next  formation  above."  On  the  east  side  of  the  Yahara  (or  Catfish)  Valley 
the  St.  Peter  sandstone  appears  to  be  more  than  fifty  feet  in  thickness.  It  forms 
a  narrow  band  around  the  Trenton  limestone  areas  of  York,  Bristol  and  Wind- 
sor. On  both  sides  of  the  Catfish  Valley,  in  detached  areas,  occurs  the  Trenton 
limestone.  The  Galena  limestone  occurs  infrequently  as  a  capping  of  other 
limestones.  The  limestones  are  profitably  quarried  at  various  points  in  the 
county. 

Rock  County  has,  as  its  underlying  foundation,  the  Potsdam  sandstone.  Over 
this  lies  the  Lower  Magnesian  limestone.  This  is  everywhere  in  the  count}' 
hidden  from  view  by  the  drift  composed  of  sand,  gravel  and  clay.  Upon  the 
Lower  Magnesian  limestone  rests  the  St.  Peter  sandstone  of  uneven  but  average 

Vol.  1—2 


20  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

thickness  of  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  feet.  It  appears  on  the  surface  in  the 
cliffs  facing  the  Sugar  River  Valley,  along  streams  leading  down  to  it,  and 
in  the  cuts  between  Magnolia  and  Footville.  Around  the  base  of  "Big  Hill" 
north  of  Beloit  it  is  also  exposed.  Above  and  below  Janesville  it  is  seen  in 
the  banks  of  the  river.  At  Indian  Ford  and  below  Edgerton  and  other  places  it 
rises  also  to  the  surface,  everywhere  a  soft,  crumbling  sandstone  of  value  in 
building. 

Above  the  St.  Peter  is  laid  the  Trenton  limestone.  This  is  frequently  seen 
on  the  surface  in  the  western  part  of  the  county.  It  is  divided  into  the  four 
divisions  known  scientifically  as  Lower  Bluff,  Lower  Blue,  Upper  Bluff,  and 
Upper  Blue  beds.  These  can  be  studied  under  proper  direction  in  the  vicinity  of 
Beloit.  This  limestone  is  also  seen  around  Janesville.  As  this  limestone  forms 
a  stratum  which  slopes  to  the  southeast,  it  is  entirely  buried  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  county  by  later  formations. 

Across  northern  Rock  County,  the  drift  is  very  deep  giving  an  irregular 
contour  to  the  surface  due  to  its  being  a  part  of  a  belt  of  ridges  extending  across 
the  state.  In  the  town  of  Beloit  and  in  the  Sugar  River  Valley  are  great  gravel 
plains.  In  the  southwestern  part  of  the  county  the  drift  is  not  very  deep. 
Here  the  shape  of  the  hills  and  smaller  valleys  is  determined  mainly  by  the 
contour  of  the  underlying  rock. 

Bowlders  are  scattered  thickly  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  drift.  Nearly 
all  are  of  crystalline  rock,  composition  with  gneiss  predominating.  Others  are 
granite  sandstone,  gneissoid  syenite,  slate  and  quartz. 

The  Illinois  section  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  was  also  overrun  by  different 
glaciers.  Each  contributed  its  peculiar  drift  to  the  area.  Often  the  respective 
drifts  are  intermingled. 

In  the  Pecatonica  basin  of  the  Rock  and  the  country  east  of  the  Rock  the  loess 
is  very  thin  and  is  sandy  in  character,  liberally  set  with  small  fragments  of  lime- 
stone. The  surface  east  of  the  Rock  River  in  Winnebago  and  Boone  counties, 
is  less  sandy  and  becomes  calcareous  at  a  depth  of  but  one  to  two  feet. 

In  moving  southward  from  the  Pecatonica  basin,  loesslike  silts  overlap  the 
Iowan  drift  to  a  distance  of  several  miles.  They  extend  into  northern  Lee 
County  some  miles  east  of  the  Rock  River.  Sandy  deposits  appear  in  the 
Green  River  basin.  In  northwestern  Whiteside  County  there  is  a  tract  nearly 
free  from  loess. 

Alluvial  deposits,  loess  and  the  drift  proper  comprise  the  surface  geology 
of  Winnebago  County.  The  alluvial  bottoms  appear  along  the  rivers.  On  the 
Sugar  and  Pecatonica  rivers  a  deep  black  deposit  supports  in  places  a  heavy 
growth  of  timber.    Marl,  sands  and  clays  appear  along  the  Rock. 

In  this  county  the  drift  proper  is  of  considerable  thickness,  having  been 
brought  from  the  north  and  deposited  over  large  areas  of  the  county. 

Heavy-bedded  yellowish  Galena  limestone  underlies  two-thirds  of  the  county. 
Several  quarries  and  outcrops  of  it  are  readily  found,  one  about  three  miles 
above  Rockford. 

Below  the  Galena  is  found  Blue  limestone  in  the  northern  and  north- 
western portions  of  the  country.  East  of  Shirland  is  found  its  best  exposures. 
Buff  limestone  to  a  depth  of  forty-five  feet  is  found  in  Rockton. 

The  silt  deposits  in  the  valleys  of  Stephenson  County  are  very  deep  and 


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RIVER  SCENE  NEAR   HORICON 


22  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

peculiar  in  nature.  At  the  surface  exposure  "the  upper  portion  is  a  false- 
bedded,  calcareous  and  ferruginous,  light  brown  fine  sand  and  silt,  and  appears 
to  represent  the  shore  deposits  of  an  ancient  lake."  Found  in  a  small  ravine 
one  and  one-half  miles  south  of  Freeport,  on  the  surface,  wells  have  proven  it 
to  be  present  in  the  valleys  of  nearly  all  the  streams  in  the  Pecatonica  drainage 
basin. 

The  greater  part  of  Ogle  County  is  thinly  covered  with  drift.  The  outer 
moraine  of  the  Wisconsin  drift  touches  the  southern  corner  of  the  county  and 
has  there  a  depth  of  more  than  250  feet.  Surface  bowlders  are  occasionally 
found. 

In  Lee  County  there  are  outcroppings  of  St.  Peter  sandstone  above  Grand 
Detour.  Trenton  buff  and  blue  limestones  are  present,  as  is  also  the  Galena. 
Here  is  found  also  fine  material  for  building  and  for  the  manufacture  of  quick- 
lime. The  soil  is  fertile,  well  drained  and  adapted  to  agriculture  and  stock 
raising. 

The  southern  half  of  Whiteside  County  is  a  lowland  tract,  standing  but  little 
above  the  Rock  River.  The  northern  and  western  portions  have  an  altitude  cor- 
responding to  those  of  Ogle  County,  with  an  average  of  800  feet,  some  places 
reaching  900.  Two  narrow  lowland  tracts  connect  the  Mississippi  with  the  low- 
land bordering  Rock  River,  one,  the  Meredosia  Slough,  and  the  other,  the  Cat- 
tail Slough.  They  stand  so  little  above  the  level  of  the  Mississippi  and  Rock 
rivers  that  they  are  filled  in  the  flood  stages  of  either  stream. 

On  the  uplands  in  the  county  the  drift  is  of  variable  thickness,  generally 
thinner  in  the  northern  and  northeastern  portions.  In  the  western  portion 
from  near  Fulton  southward  past  Gardenplain  to  Erie,  the  average  thickness  is 
fully  150  feet. 

In  Henry  County  the  Niagara  limestone  is  the  bed  of  the  Rock  River.  Coal 
measures  rest  at  several  places  directly  on  the  Niagara  limestone.  On  descend- 
ing the  Rock  River,  the  lower  divisions  of  Hamilton  limestone  commence  in  the 
bed  of  the  stream  about  a  mile  or  so  above  Cleveland.  They  continue  as  the 
river  flows  to  the  west  line  of  the  county.  Heavy  seams  of  coal  are  worked 
extensively  in  the  county.  Sandstone  and  clays  are  also  abundant.  The  surface 
is  mostly  high  rolling  prairie  with  soil  good  for  agriculture. 

In  Rock  Island  County,  the  surface  of  the  Rock  River  area  and  the  Meredosia 
flats  belongs  to  the  alluvial  deposits.  That  part  of  the  county  north  of  the 
bluff  line  is  a  broad  and  level  sand  prairie,  formerly  a  sand  bar. 

The  bluffs  and  hills  of  the  county  are  composed  of  whitish-blue  clays, 
sands  and  the  marl  deposit  known  as  loess.  Receding  back  from  the  bluff  lines, 
the  loess  thins  out  and  is  succeeded  by  luminated  drift  clays. 

There  are  coal  measures  west  of  the  Rock  still  containing  marketable  coal, 
while  others  have  already  been  exhausted.  East  of  Rock  Island,  bounded  by 
Pleasant  Valley,  Rock  River  and  the  Mississippi,  is  a  triangular  piece  of  ele- 
vated land  containing  a  mass  of  coal  measures  resting  on  Devonian  or  upper 
Silurian  limestone.  Other  coal  measures  are  freely  distributed  in  all  that  part 
of  the  county  south  and  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  Rock  River  ranges.  In  every 
part  of  the  county  the  coal  measures  are  covered  with  a  deep  deposit  of  drift 
clays. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


23 


The  entire  Rock  River  Valley  contains  much  prairie  with  timber  sections 
conveniently  distributed.  The  region  has  a  great  variety  of  timber  among 
which  are  found  the  white  and  black  oak,  ash,  hickory,  elm,  cherry,  white  and 
black  walnut,  maple  and  other  varieties. 

All  in  all,  the  valley  was  originally  designed  to  be  the  theater  of  action 
for  an  enlarging  population  of  Americans  of  mixed  nationalities. 


BLACK  HAWK  MONUMENT  FEOM  LIBERTY  HILL 


CHAPTER  II. 
THE  PRIMITIVE  INHABITANTS  OP  THE  VALLEY 

ADVANTAGES    OF    THE   ROCK   RIVER    VALLEY   FOR    ABORIGINES ITS   ATTRACTIVENESS 

THE    GREAT    VARIETY    OF    WILD    ANIMALS FISH     IN    ITS    LAKES     AND    RIVERS — 

ABUNDANT   EVIDENCES    OF    PREHISTORIC    OCCUPANCY THE    INDIAN    MOUNDS    AND 

VILLAGES   IN    THE   LAKE   DISTRICT    ABOUT    MADISON TYPES    OF    MOUNDS — INDIAN 

HILL  AT  FULTON,  ROCK  COUNTY INDIAN  VILLAGES  ON  LAKE  KOSHKONONG THE 

INDIANS   IN   AND   AROUND   MILTON- — MOUNDS    AT   AFTON GROUPS    AT   BELOIT,    ON 

THE  BELOIT   COLLEGE  CAMPUS,    AT  JANESVILLE  AND  IN   THE  TOWN   OF  TURTLE 

CLASSES    OF    MOUNDS    IN    WINNEBAGO    COUNTY BIRD    AND    TURTLE    MOUNDS    OF 

ROCKFORD BIRD  EFFIGIES   BELOW   ROCKFORD PREHISTORIC   REMAINS  AT   OREGON 

AND  NEW  ALBANY  IN  THE  LOWER  VALLEY MOUNDS  IN   ROCK  ISLAND  COUNTY 

WHO  BUILT  THE  MOUNDS? THE  RED  MEN  OF  THE  VALLEY ABORIGINES  LINKED 

WITH   THE  WISCONSIN  TRIBES — BLACK   HAWK  ON  INDIAN  LIFE  IN  THE  VALLEY 

INDIAN  BALL  GAME  AS  DESCRIBED  BY  CATLIN— CRANE  DANCE — INDIAN  MIGRATIONS 

IN   THE  VALLEY — THE   WINNEBAGOES,   THE  ILLINOIS POTTAWATOMI THE  KICK- 

APOUS THE  SAUK  AND  THE  FOXES,  AND  THEIR  LONG  ALLIANCE} — BLACK  HAWK'S 

VILLAGE,  ITS  LOCATION,  DESCRIPTION  AND  TRAILS  LEADING  THEREFROM THE  FUR 

TRADE    OF    THE    SAUK    AND    FOX    INDIANS THE    VALLEYS    OF    THE    FOX    AND    THE 

ROCK,  THE  MOST  DIRECT  ROUTE  TO  THIS  GREAT  SAUK  VILLAGE — EXPLANATION  OF 
THE  CLASH  WITH  THE  WHITES PICTURE  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  INDIAN  LIFE. 

The  Rock  River  Valley  was  an  ideal  country  for  primitive  peoples.  Its  soil 
rewarded  liberally  the  crude  agricultural  efforts  of  the  Indians.  Its  forests, 
rivers  and  lakes  offered  attractions  in  game  and  fish.  The  beauty  and  fertility  of 
its  wooded  river  banks  and  of  the  stretches  of  sunny  prairie  were  continual 
sources  of  delight  to  the  early  explorers  and  settlers.  The  written  page  has 
preserved  vivid  pictures  of  the  primeval  landscape.  "The  touching,  delicate 
loveliness  of  the  lesser  prairies,  so  resplendent  in  brilliancy  of  hue  and  beauty 
of  outline,"  writes  an  early  traveler,  "I  have  often  dwelt  upon  with  delight: 
The  graceful  undulation  of  slope  and  swell;  the  exquisite  richness  and  fresh- 
ness of  the  verdure  flashing  in  native  magnificence ;  the  gorgeous  dyes  of  the 
matchless  and  many  colored  flowers  dallying  with  the  winds ;  the  beautiful  wood- 
land points  and  promontories  shooting  forth  into  the  mimic  sea;  the  far-retreat- 
ing shadowy  coves,  going  back  in  long  vistas  into  the  green  wood;  the  curved 
outline  of  the  dim,  distant  horizon  caught  at  intervals  through  the  openings  of 
the  forest;  and  the  whole  gloriously  lighted  up  by  the  early  radiance  of  morn- 
ing; all  these  constituted  a  scene  in  which  beauty  unrivaled  was  the  sole  in- 
gredient." 

The  great  variety  of  wild  animals  continually  satisfied  the  desire  for  hunting. 
Herds  of  buffaloes  roamed  over  the  prairies;  deer,  elk,  beaver,  wolves,  foxes, 

24 


THK  ROCK  BIVEB  V ALLEY  25 

opossums,  raccoons,  squirrels  and  rabbits  were  plentiful.  Wild  turkeys  could 
usually  be  found  in  the  hilly  districts  and  prairie  chickens  and  quails  were  in 
abundance.  <>u  the  rivers  and  lakes  were  countless  numbers  of  geese,  ducks, 
herons,  swans,  cormorants  and  wood  ibis.  The  fisherman  then  could  find  one 
hundred  and  more  species  of  fish,  including  black  bass,  muskellunge,  lake  trout 
and  white  fish,  which  have  always  been  the  delight  of  the  sportsman. 

ABUNDANT  EVIDENCES  OF  PREHISTORIC  OCCUPANCY 

In  consequence,  from  the  shores  of  its  clear  lakes  in  Dane  County  to  its 
termination  in  the  Mississippi  below  Rock  Island,  the  Rock  River  Valley  bears 
many  evidences  of  prehistoric  occupation. 

"It  does  not  require  a  wild  imagination  to  picture  the  Indians,  hundreds  of 
years  ago,  before  Columbus  had  made  his  voyage  and  before  the  hardy  Norse- 
man had  extended  his  travels  to  Vinland,  occupying  the  Four  Lakes  region, 
living  their  lives  as  best  they  might,  erecting  for  worship,  or  sacrifice,  or  pro- 
tection, these  monuments  of  curious  mounds,  the  memory  of  the  building  of 
which  even  was  not  transmitted  to  their  children's  children." 

An  important  Indian  village  was  located  opposite  the  present  Madison  on  the 
south  shore  of  Lake  Monona.  It  doubtless  extended  from  Squaw  Point  (Win- 
nequah)  around  the  bay  to  the  south  of  the  point  and  on  around  to  the  outlet. 
On  the  south  shore  of  the  bay,  there  are  a  large  number  of  effigy  mounds  in 
a  fine  state  of  preservation.  On  these  mounds  trees  are  seen  and  stumps  of 
still  older  trees.  On  the  Yahara,  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Monona,  there  is  an 
ancient  Indian  burial  ground  with  a  collection  of  tumuli  of  various  sizes.  There 
is  every  evidence  that  the  Indian  village  site  is  more  than  two  miles  in  length. 

Jefferson  Davis,  in  his  declining  years,  writing  to  Dr.  Butler,  says  that  in 
1829  when  passing  through  from  the  South  to  Fort  Winnebago,  he  camped  one 
night  on  the  future  site  of  Madison  and  saw  directly  across  Third  Lake  (Monona) 
an  Indian  village.  In  the  same  year  Judge  Doty  and  Morgan  L.  Martin,  mak- 
ing a  trip  from  Green  Bay  to  the  lead  regions,  saw  a  Winnebago  village  on 
Lake  Mendota  and  another  one  on  the  south  side  of  Third  Lake.  The  govern- 
ment maps  between  1830  and  1839  noted  the  existence  of  Indian  villages  there, 
also. 

The  mound  builders  were  the  first  human  occupants  of  the  Rock  River  Val- 
ley. According  to  Dr.  Lapham,  there  have  been  four  successive  periods  of 
aboriginal  and  Indian  occupations:  1.  The  effigy  mound  builders;  2.  The  people 
wdio  made  the  long  mounds  and  large  garden  beds;  3.  The  builders  of  the  round 
and  conical  burial  mounds;  4.  Those  who  made  cornhills,  the  latter  Indians 
known  to  be  present  since  1634. 

Many  ancient  works  are  found  in  the  valley  below  and  above  the  state  line. 
Some  of  the  mounds  are  seen  at  the  very  sources  of  a  number  of  the  branches  of 
the  Rock.  The  works  on  the  Pecatonica  consist  of  several  oblong  or  circular 
mounds,  situated  on  sloping  ground  extending  from  the  top  of  a  hill  half-way 
to  the  Pecatonica.  From  one  of  these  mounds  bones  have  been  taken ;  while  the 
exposed  Indian  graves  along  the  margin  of  the  stream  have  furnished  a  few 
glass  beads  and  other  trinkets. 

Near  the  junction  of  the  Four  Lakes  of  Madison,  at  a  place  known  as  Indian 


26  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Hill,  about  a  mile  above  the  mouth  of  the  Yahara,  there  was  surveyed  in  1850 
a  series  of  oblong  mounds  on  the  steep  slope  of  a  hill,  converging  toward  a 
point  where  there  is  a  dug-way  leading  to  the  river.  Here  the  hill  has  an 
elevation  of  seventy  to  eighty  feet,  and,  from  its  summit,  the  valley  of  the  river 
can  be  overlooked  for  several  miles  above  and  below.  Possibly  this  place 
was  an  important  post  of  observation,  with  the  mounds  peculiarly  arranged  to 
guard  the  access  to  the  water  from  the  top  of  the  hill. 

From  Lake  Koshkonong  to  the  state  line  at  Beloit,  an  almost  continuous  line 
of  Indian  mounds,  Indian  villages  and  camp  sites  extends  along  the  Rock  River. 
In  1906,  480  mounds  along  the  shores  of  Lake  Koshkonong  were  mapped.  Forty- 
eight  of  these  are  found  in  five  groups  in  the  town  of  Milton  in  Rock  County. 
The  largest  single  group,  called  the  Koshkonong  group,  containing  seventy-five 
mounds,  is  located  in  Jefferson  County  on  the  west  side  of  the  lake. 

The  site  of  a  Fox  village  is  seen  on  the  west  shore  in  Section  6  of  the  town 
of  Milton,  while  upon  Bingham's  Point,  on  the  east  shore,  is  the  site  of  a  Potto- 
watomie  village.  Farther  to  the  north  on  the  Carcajou  Point,  on  the  west 
shore  of  the  lake,  a  large  Winnebago  village  was  occupied  by  the  portion  of  the 
tribe  under  the  leadership  of  Chief  White  Crow,  as  late  as  the  early  '30s.  In 
the  town  of  Porter,  two  miles  above  Fulton,  is  a  group  of  eight  mounds;  while 
another  group  is  found  one  mile  above  Fulton. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  river  at  Indian  Ford  in  Fulton  are  oblong  and 
conical  mounds  and  clear  evidences  of  a  village  site.  In  the  village  of  Fulton 
is  an  oval  enclosure ;  while  there  are  conical  mounds  north  of  town  and  a  series 
of  mounds  north  and  west  and  near  the  mouth  of  the  Catfish  River. 

A  remarkably  large  group  lies  in  Section  28  of  the  town  of  Rock  in  the 
village  of  Afton,  at  the  west  end  of  the  bridge  across  Rock  River.  There  are 
twenty-two  mounds  in  the  group ;  five  of  them  being  circular  tumuli ;  three 
oblong  tumuli;  nine  linear  and  five  effigies.  They  are  found  close  together  in 
the  northeast  corner  of  the  twenty-acre  tract.  The  most  beautiful  of  the  effigies 
is  that  of  an  eagle,  measuring  seventy-five  feet  from  wing  tip  to  wing  tip.  Each 
of  the  three  linears  is  seventeen  rods  long,  while  the  longest  of  the  effigies  is 
sixteen  rods.  They  lie  upon  a  side  hill  facing  southeast,  looking  towards  the 
river.  In  the  words  of  Horace  McElroy,  one  of  their  surveyors:  "Viewed  as 
they  were  when  we  last  saw  them  late  in  the  afternoon  of  a  perfect  June  day, 
facing  the  shining  water  and  with  the  shadow  of  the  old  oak  trees  falling  upon 
them,  these  forgotten  places,  these  works  of  the  ancient  people,  produced  upon 
us  an  impression  of  interest  and  even  of  veneration  that  will  never  be  effaced." 

Several  groups  are  found  in  the  town  of  Beloit,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river, 
four  miles  north  of  the  city.  Three  groups  are  on  the  bluffs  and  bottomlands 
in  Sections  13  and  24  and  consist  of  several  effigy  mounds  north  of  Beloit; 
and  a  group  on  the  old  Weireck  farm,  now  the  Country  Club  grounds,  two 
miles  north  of  Beloit.  At  the  north  city  limits,  on  the  Adams  property,  is  a 
group  of  conical,  effigy  and  other  mounds.  The  Eaton  group  is  located  about 
one-half  mile  north  of  Beloit  College.  On  the  banks  of  Turtle  Creek  in  the 
southeast  quarter  of  Section  36,  is  a  group;  while  a  large  and  beautiful  group 
of  conical,  oval  and  effigy  mounds  is  plainly  seen  on  the  Beloit  College  Campus. 
At  Beloit  is  the  village  site  of  Carramana,  the  Walking  Turtle,  who  was  a  prom- 
inent Winnebago  Chief  in  the  early  history. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  27 

Effigies  are  found  on  the  bluffs  in  the  town  of  Turtle  near  the  state  line; 
while  others  are  located  in  other  parts  of  the  same  township.  In  the  town 
and  city  of  Janesville  are  several  groups  of  mounds.  Along  "Western  Avenue, 
on  the  north  side  of  the  bend  of  Rock  River  in  the  southern  part  of  Janesville, 
there  was  once  an  Indian  village. 

CLASSES  OF   MOUNDS   IN   WINNEBAGO   COUNTY 

Along  the  Rock  River  Valley  in  Winnebago  County,  Illinois,  three  classes 
of  mounds  are  found.  Numerous  are  those  of  the  round  type,  from  ten  to  thirty 
feet  in  diameter  and  from  two  and  a  half  to  five  feet  high.  Less  common  are 
the  oblong-shaped  ones,  although  one  is  found  within  the  present  limits  of  Rock- 
ford  measuring  130  feet  in  length,  12  feet  at  the  base  and  3  or  4  feet  high.  Those 
most  commonly  found  of  the  effigy  type  are  called  Bird  and  Turtle  mounds. 
Some  fine  specimens  of  this  class  are  still  carefully  preserved  on  the  grounds 
north  of  the  city  waterworks  on  the  west  side  of  the  river. 

There  are  probably  no  less  than  500  Indian  earthworks  within  the  limits  of 
Winnebago  County  alone.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  confluence  of  streams  are  found 
these  evidences  of  a  former  dense  Indian  population;  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Kishwaukee  more  than  one  hundred  have  been  surveyed  by  Professor  T.  H. 
Lewis  and,  doubtless,  there  were  as  many  more  near  Rockton,  before  their 
demolition  during  the  railroad  construction. 

There  are  many  prehistoric  remains  at  Oregon,  near  Albany  and  in  the 
lower  valley.  Near  the  mouth  of  the  Rock  River  in  the  vicinity  of  Black 
Hawk's  Watch  Tower  are  numerous  ancient  mounds.  The  most  interesting 
group  is  located  one  mile  east  of  the  Watch  Tower  Inn.  It  has  twenty-two 
large  burial  mounds  besides  a  number  of  low  elevations  about  a  foot  in  height, 
six  feet  in  width,  and  fifty  feet  in  length.  Among  these  mounds  are  found 
numerous  cornhills,  not  only  between  the  mounds  but  extending  up  their  sides. 
When  we  recall  that  our  Indians  held  in  highest  reverence  the  burial  places  of 
their  dead,  we  are  forced  to  conclude  that  the  presence  of  the  cornhills  prove 
that  these  mounds  were  built  by  a  people  of  such  remote  antiquity  that  the 
traditions  regarding  them  had  been  so  long  forgotten  that  the  Sauk  turned  the 
cemetery  into  a  cornfield. 

These  mounds  crown  a  high  bluff  from  which  an  inspiring  view  is  to  be 
had  over  Rock  River  and  its  bottoms.  Fragments  of  pottery  have  been  taken 
from  the  mounds,  while  at  the  foot  of  the  bluff  along  the  river  bank,  some  hun- 
dred yards  from  the  mounds,  particles  of  this  clay  product  are  found  which 
are  identical  with  that  classed  as  typical  Upper  Mississippi  or  Northwestern 
pottery. 

The  Sauk  and  Fox  Indians  and  their  contemporaries  never  made  pottery. 
Neither  the  Kaskaskias,  who  were  driven  by  the  Sauk  from  the  Rock  River, 
nor  the  Kickapoos,  who  preceded  them,  ever  used  pottery. 

Mr.  Clark  McAdams,  in  his  "Archaeology  of  Illinois"  (Vol.  12,  Publication 
of  Illinois  State  Historical  Library),  has  an  explanation  for  the  apparent  differ- 
ences between  the  ancient  Mound  Builders  and  our  Western  Indians.  He  pic- 
tures the  Indians  who  built  these  mounds  as  of  an  advanced  type  of  civilization, 
capable  of  supporting  themselves  by  a  more  or  less   intensive  agriculture  in 


28  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

populous  communities.  Then  into  those  communities  wandered  the  buffalo, 
an  animal  before  unknown  to  them.  They  discover  that  just  to  the  west  and 
crowding  eastward,  are  hordes  and  hordes  of  these  animals.  Soon  they  learn 
that  it  is  easier  to  make  a  living  by  the  chase  than  by  cultivating  the  soil.  They 
drop  their  implements,  retaining  only  what  is  necessary  for  the  chase.  To  insure 
greater  success,  the  tribe  is  divided  into  small  bands,  which  follow  the  trail 
of  the  wild  herds,  and,  in  a  few  generations,  have  degenerated  into  the  nomad 
of  our  western  plains  as  our  people  found  them. 

THE    RED    MEN    OF    THE    VALLEY 

Thus,  ere  the  white  man  arrived,  various  Indian  tribes  had  occupied  the 
several  portions  of  the  valley.  These  were  continually  linked  with  the  Wis- 
consin tribes.  The  Rock  River  Indians  were  a  stationary  people  in  so  far  as 
the  exigencies  of  war  permitted.  Relying  largely  on  hunting  for  their  sub- 
sistence, they  gave  much  attention  to  agriculture ;  being  truly  the  first  farmers 
of  the  region.  Corn  was  their  principal  crop,  though  large  quantities  of  beans, 
squashes,  pumpkins  and  melons  were  grown.  Of  inestimable  value  was  the 
wild  rice,  growing  so  abundantly  in  the  marshes  bordering  the  lake  shores;  as 
it  furnished  a  dependable  food  crop  easily  stored  and  preserved.  It  was  also 
the  source,  indirectly,  of  much  Indian  game  which  it  supported. 

The  forest,  rivers  and  lakes  of  the  valley,  furnished  abundant  game  and 
fish.  The  buffalo,  elk  and  deer  were  easily  found;  while  the  conical  huts  of 
the  muskrats  dotted  all  the  marshes.  Black  Hawk,  in  his  autobiography,  gives 
us  a  typical  picture  of  life  among  the  Rock  River  Indians. 

Broadly  speaking,  the  year  was  divided  into  two  parts:  The  winter's  hunt, 
which  often  led  the  Indians  far  from  their  villages,  and  the  summer  season, 
which  was  spent  in  or  near  their  villages.  Black  Hawk  writes:  "When  we 
returned  to  our  villages  in  the  Spring  from  our  winter  grounds,  we  would 
finish  trading  with  our  traders  who  always  followed  us  to  our  villages.  We  pur- 
posely kept  some  of  our  fine  furs  for  this  trade,  and,  as  there  was  great  opposi- 
tion among  them  as  to  who  should  get  the  skins,  we  always  got  our  goods  cheap. 
After  this  trade  was  over,  the  traders  would  give  us  a  few  kegs  of  rum  which 
was  generally  promised  in  the  fall,  to  encourage  us  to  make  a  good  hunt,  and 
not  go  to  war.  They  would  then  start  with  their  furs  and  peltries  for  their 
homes.  Our  old  men  would  take  a  frolic  (at  this  time  our  young  men  never 
drank) . 

"When  this  was  ended,  the  next  thing  to  be  done  was  to  buiy  our  dead 
(such  as  had  died  during  the  year).  This  is  a  great  medicine  feast.  The  rela- 
tives of  those  who  have  died,  give  all  the  goods  they  have  purchased,  as 
presents  to  their  friends,  thereby  reducing  themselves  to  poverty,  to  show  the 
Great  Spirit  that  they  are  humble,  so  that  He  will  take  pity  on  them.  We 
would  next  open  the  caches  and  take  out  our  corn  and  other  provisions,  which 
had  been  put  up  in  the  fall — and  then  commence  repairing  our  lodges.  As 
soon  as  this  was  accomplished,  we  would  repair  the  fences  around  our  fields, 
and  clean  them  off,  ready  for  planting  corn.  This  work  is  done  by  our 
women.     The  men,  during  this  time,  are  feasting  on  dried  venison,  bear  meat, 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  29 

wild  fowl  and  corn  prepared  in  different  ways;  and  recounting  to  each  other 
what  took  place  during  the  winter. 

"When  this  function  was  concluded,  the  growing  corn  would  be  about  knee- 
high  and  the  young  men  would  then  set  forth  westward  on  a  hunt  for  buffalo. 
Another  party,  composed  of  old  men  and  women,  would  set  out  at  the  same 
time  for  the  lead  mines  to  make  lead ;  while  the  remnant  of  the  population 
would  leave  in  a  third  division  to  engage  in  fishing  and  collecting  materials  for 
mats.  At  the  end  of  several  weeks  all  would  return  again  to  the  village ;  the 
hunting  party  laden  with  dried  buffalo  and  deer  meat,  the  mining  party  with 
lead,  and  the  others  with  dried  fish  and  mats  for  the  winter  lodges.  The  return 
would  be  timed  so  as  to  enjoy  the  crop  of  summer  vegetables,  which  had  been 
maturing  during  their  absence,  and  a  mutual  exchange  of  presents  would  usher 
in  a  period  of  feasting  and  rejoicing  which  continued  until  the  corn  was  ready 
for  roasting. 

"At  this  time  another  great  ceremony  took  place  with  renewed  feasting. 
The  Sauk  believed  the  corn  to  be  a  direct  gift  of  the  Great  Spirit,  and  this 
feast  was  one  of  thanksgiving.  Thus  the  Red  Man  preceded  the  Pilgrim  in  cele- 
brating Thanksgiving  Day.  Ball  games,  horse-racing  and  feasting  consumed 
the  time  until  early  autumn,  when  the  ripened  corn  was  harvested  and  securely 
stored  away  in  caches  in  the  ground. ' ' 

Americans  ought  to  be  interested  in  a  description  of  the  great  national  ball 
game  of  the  Indians.  "From  three  to  five  hundred  on  a  side  play  the  game," 
says  Black  Hawk.  "We  play  for  guns,  lead,  horses  and  blankets.  The  suc- 
cessful party  takes  the  stakes  and  all  return  to  our  lodges  with  peace  and 
friendship.  We  next  commence  horseracing,  and  continue  our  sport  and  feast- 
ing until  the  corn  is  secured." 

"It  is  no  uncommon  experience,"  writes  Catlin,  "for  six  to  eight  hundred 
or  a  thousand  of  these  young  men  to  engage  in  a  game  of  ball,  with  five  or  six 
times  that  number  of  spectators  of  men,  women  and  children,  surrounding  the 
ground  and  looking  on.  And  I  pronounce  such  a  scene  with  its  hundreds  of 
nature's  most  beautiful  models,  denuded  and  painted  in  various  colors,  running 
and  leaping  in  the  air  in  all  the  most  extravagant  and  varied  forms  in  the 
desperate  struggle  for  the  ball,  a  school  for  the  painter  or  sculptor  equal  to 
any  of  those  which  ever  inspired  the  hand  of  the  artist  in  the  Olympian  games 
or  the  Roman  forum." 

Describing  the  game  witnessed,  Catlin  continues:  "Each  party  had  their 
goal  made  with  two  upright  sticks  (about  twenty-five  feet  high  and  six  feet 
apart)  set  firm  in  the  ground  with  a  pole  across  the  top.  These  goals  were  about 
forty  or  fifty  rods  apart  and  at  a  point  just  half  way  between  was  another 
stake  driven  down,  where  the  ball  was  thrown  up  at  the  firing  of  a  gun,  to  be 
struggled  for  by  the  players.  *  *  *  Across  a  side  line  drawn  from  one 
bye  to  the  other,  the  betting  was  all  done  chiefly  by  the  women,  who  seemed  to 
have  marshaled  out  a  little  of  everything  that  their  houses  and  their  fields  pos- 
sessed. Goods  and  chattels,  knives,  dresses,  blankets,  pots  and  kettles,  dogs  and 
horses  and  guns;  and  all  were  placed  in  the  possession  of  stake  holders  who  sat 
by  them  and  watched  them  on  the  ground  all  night  preparatory  to  the  play. 

"This  game  had  been  arranged  and  'made  up'  three  or  four  months  before 
the  parties  met  to  play  it,  and  in  the  following  manner:     The  two  champions 


30  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

who  lead  the  two  parties  and  had  the  alternate  choosing  of  the  players  through 
the  whole  tribe,  sent  runners  with  the  ball-sticks,  most  fantastically  ornamented 
with  ribbons  and  red  paint,  to  be  touched  by  each  one  of  the  chosen  players, 
who  thereby  agreed  to  be  on  the  spot  at  the  appointed  time  and  ready  to  play. 
The  ground  having  been  all  prepared  and  preliminaries  of  the  game  all  settled, 
and  the  betting  all  made  and  goods  all  'staked,'  night  came  on  without  the 
appearance  of  any  players  on  the  ground. 

"But  soon  after  dark,  a  procession  of  lighted  flambeaux  was  seen  coming 
from  each  encampment  to  the  ground,  when  the  players  assembled  around  their 
respective  byes;  and  at  the  beat  of  the  drums  and  chants  of  the  women,  each 
party  of  players  commenced  the  'ball-game  dance.' 

"Each  party  danced  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  around  their  respective  byes 
in  their  ball-play  dress;  rattling  their  ball  sticks  together  in  the  most  violent 
manner,  and  all  singing  as  loud  as  they  could;  while  the  women  of  each  party, 
who  had  their  goods  at  stake,  formed  into  two  rows  on  the  line  between  the  two 
parties  of  players,  and  danced  also  in  a  uniform  step ;  and  all  their  voices  joined 
in  chants  to  the  Great  Spirit,  in  which  they  were  soliciting  his  favor  in  deciding 
the  game  to  their  advantage;  and  also  encouraging  the  players  to  put  forth 
every  effort  possible. 

"Meanwhile,  the  four  old  medicine  men,  the  judges  of  the  play,  had  seated 
themselves  at  the  point  where  the  ball  was  to  be  started,  busily,  with  their  smok- 
ing invoking  the  Great  Spirit  for  success  in  judging  impartially  the  game. 

"The  dance,  with  its  picturesque  scenes,  was  repeated  every  half  hour  dur- 
ing the  night  while  the  game  began  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Then  the 
two  parties  and  their  friends  assembled  and  the  game  was  commenced  by  the 
judges  throwing  the  ball  up  at  the  firing  of  a  gun.  The  six  or  seven  hundred 
players  endeavored  to  catch  the  ball  in  their  sticks  and  throw  it  home  and 
between  their  respective  stakes.  Whenever  successful  it  counted  one  for  the 
game. ' ' 

After  the  games  the  white  traders  appeared,  bringing  their  stocks  of  goods — 
guns,  traps,  ammunition,  knives  and  hatchets,  clothes  and  gewgaws  on  which 
the  red  man  had  become  dependent.  These  the  traders  parceled  out  to  the 
men  on  credit,  and  all  departed  for  the  winter  hunt,  dispersing  this  time  into 
small  bands  or  even  family  groups.  The  length  of  the  hunt  depended  much 
upon  the  hunter's  success.  It  was  always  terminated  with  the  approach  of 
spring,  when  the  maple  sugar  season  opened.  This  concluded,  all  returned  to 
the  village,  there  to  begin  the  round  of  another  year. 

Following  the  planting  of  the  corn,  there  was  also  a  festival  devoted  espe- 
cially to  the  maidens,  called  the  Crane  Dance.  On  this  occasion  the  young 
maidens  adorned  themselves  with  feathers  and  heightened  their  complexions  with 
paint.     Then  the  young  men  selected  their  wives. 

One  July  day,  as  they  were  scattered  about  their  fields,  hoeing  the  corn, 
there  occurred  the  romance  and  tragedy  of  Indian  Lover's  Spring,  so  inter- 
estingly told  by  Black  Hawk  and  reproduced  by  his  interpreter,  Antoine  Le 
Claire.  ' '  In  1827,  a  young  Sioux  Indian  got  lost  on  the  prairie  in  a  snowstorm, 
and  found  his  way  into  a  camp  of  the  Sacs.  According  to  Indian  customs, 
although  he  was  an  enemy,  he  was  safe  while  accepting  their  hospitality.  He 
remained  there  for  some  time  on  account  of  the  severity  of  the  storm. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  31 

"Becoming  well  acquainted,  he  fell  in  love  with  the  daughter  of  the  Sac,  at 
whose  village  he  had  been  entertained  and  before  leaving  for  his  own  country, 
promised  to  come  to  the  Sac  village  for  her  at  a  certain  time  during  the  ap- 
proaching summer.  In  July  he  made  his  way  to  the  Rock  River  village,  secret- 
ing himself  in  the  woods  until  he  met  the  object  of  his  love,  who  came  out  to 
the  field  with  her  mother  to  assist  in  hoeing  corn.  Late  in  the  afternoon  her 
mother  left  her  and  went  to  the  village.  No  sooner  had  she  gone  out  of  hearing, 
than  he  gave  a  loud  whistle  which  assured  the  maiden  that  he  had  returned. 

"She  continued  hoeing  leisurely  to  the  end  of  the  row,  when  her  lover  came 
to  meet  her.  She  promised  to  come  to  him  as  soon  as  she  could  go  to  the  lodge 
and  get  her  blanket,  and  together  they  would  flee  to  his  country.  But,  unfor- 
tunately for  the  lovers,  the  girl's  two  brothers  had  seen  the  meeting,  and,  after 
procuring  their  guns,  started  in  pursuit  of  them. 

"A  heavy  thunderstorm  was  coming  up  at  this  time.  The  lovers  hastened 
to  and  took  shelter  under  a  cliff  of  rocks  at  Black  Hawk's  Watch  Tower.  Soon 
after  a  loud  peal  of  thunder  was  heard;  the  cliff  of  rock  was  shattered  in  a 
thousand  pieces  and  the  lovers  buried  beneath  while  in  full  view  of  her  pur- 
suing brothers." 

The  Sauk  and  Fox  occupied  a  halfway  place  between  the  nomad  and  the 
farmer.  They  spent  one-half  of  the  year  at  their  home  village;  the  rest  of  the 
time  they  roamed  over  a  wide  extent  of  territory.  As  farmers,  they  lived  in  a 
fixed  locality;  as  nomads,  their  baggage  had  to  be  as  light  as  possible.  They 
returned  to  their  old  cornfields  as  it  required  more  than  one  season  to  change 
the  prairie  sod  into  a  good  crop-producing  field. 

The  migration  of  the  Indians  from  the  east  westward,  frequently  changed 
the  locations  of  the  tribes  in  the  valley.  At  all  times  they  were  closely  linked 
with  the  Wisconsin  tribes.  An  account  of  the  movements  in  Wisconsin  will 
help  us  to  understand  better  the  conditions  in  the  Rock  River  Valley. 

Prior  to  1600,  northern  and  eastern  Wisconsin  was  occupied  by  Siouan  tribes ; 
while  the  southern  part  of  the  state  belonged  to  the  Illinois,  who  were  members 
of  the  Algonquian  family.  Thus  the  Winnebagoes,  of  the  Siouan  family,  and 
the  Illinois  were  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  Wisconsin. 

The  Winnebagoes  then  became  engaged  in  disastrous  wars  with  the  Hurons 
to  the  east  and  with  the  Illinois  to  the  south.  After  the  Illinois  avenged  the 
treatment  of  the  Winnebagoes,  repeated  disasters  befell  them  in  their  clashes 
with  the  Iroquois.  The  remaining  Winnebagoes  pushed  southward,  gradually 
extending  their  territory  until  they  came  into  possession  of  almost  all  the  Rock 
River  Valley. 

The  Pottawatomi  tribe  was  found  residing  on  the  islands  at  the  upper  end  of 
Green  Bay  when  the  French  first  reached  Lake  Michigan.  Early  evincing  a 
capacity  for  trade,  the  Pottawatomi  played  for  awhile  the  role  of  middlemen 
between  the  French  and  the  tribes  west  of  Lake  Michigan.  They  expanded 
extensively  southward  to  Chicago,  Milwaukee,  the  St.  Joseph  valley  of  south- 
western Michigan,  northern  Indiana  and  Illinois,  ultimately  as  far  south  as 
Peoria.  The  Fox  and  Sauk  replaced  them  in  the  Green  Bay-Fox-Wisconsin 
region. 

The  Foxes,  Sauk,  Mascoutens  and  Kickapoos,  living  earlier  in  the  southern 


32  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

peninsula  of  Michigan,  migrated  to  Wisconsin  in  advance  of  the  French.  The 
Mascoutens  soon  left  the  state,  having  a  negligible  influence  on  history. 

The  Kickapoos  were  living  on  the  Fox  River,  not  far  from  Portage,  in  1670 
and  also  in  western  Wisconsin  on  the  river  which  now  bears  their  name.  They 
also  were  along  the  Rock  in  sufficient  numbers  to  give  that  river,  for  a  time, 
the  designation  of  the  "River  of  the  Kickapoo. "  They  were  always  a  migra- 
tory people.  They  joined  the  Foxes  in  the  disastrous  attack  on  Detroit  in  1712 
and,  after  the  American  Revolution,  moved  south  into  the  heart  of  the  territory 
of  the  Illinois.  Always  warlike  and  crafty,  they  enrolled  under  the  banner  of 
Tecumseh,  and  later  joined  Black  Hawk  in  his  attack  on  the  whites. 

The  Sauk  and  Foxes,  driven  early  from  their  homes  in  eastern  Michigan, 
left  by  the  way  of  the  upper  peninsula  and  were  found  by  the  French  in  1665 
in  the  Green  Bay  region.  Allouez,  in  1669,  found  at  the  site  of  Oconto,  a  vil- 
lage of  six  hundred  persons  made  up  of  representatives  of  the  Sauk,  Foxes, 
Pottawatomi  and  Winnebagoes.  The  Foxes  began  scattering  along  the  Fox  and 
the  east  side  of  Green  Bay ;  while  in  friendly  proximity  were  the  Sauks,  with 
villages  at  Green  Bay  and  elsewhere. 

When  the  French  began  their  scheme  of  empire  in  the  northwest,  they  sought 
the  control  of  the  native  tribes.  The  Foxes  proved  an  almost  constant  obstacle 
to  the  consummation  of  their  purpose.  The  story  of  the  long  struggles  of  the 
Foxes  against  the  French,  filled  the  land  for  decades  with  deeds  of  horror. 
The  dispute  was  over  trade  relations  and  the  control  of  routes. 

The  Foxes,  as  early  as  1697,  closed  to  the  French  the  water  route  across 
Wisconsin.  For  a  generation  after  the  defeat  of  the  Foxes  at  Detroit  in  1712, 
the  French  strained  themselves  in  the  effort  to  destroy  this  hostile  tribe.  The 
resistance  displayed  by  the  Foxes,  when  retold,  stirs  the  blood  of  the  reader,  as 
it  compelled  the  admiration  of  the  French  at  the  time. 

The  warfare  cemented  the  friendship  of  the  Sauk  and  the  Foxes  in  1733, 
which  held  the  two  tribes  for  one  hundred  years  in  closest  alliance.  After  the 
confederation,  they  made  several  removals  hard  to  trace.  Eventually,  they 
established  themselves  at  the  site  of  the  modern  Prairie  du  Sac  and  located  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Rock  River.  In  the  Revolutionary  war  they  aided  the  English. 
Against  their  village  at  Rock  Island,  George  Rogers  Clark  sent  an  expedition. 
In  the  war  of  1812  they  are  again  found  fighting  with  the  English. 

THE  GREAT   SAUK  VILLAGE 

The  village,  at  the  Watch  Tower  near  the  mouth  of  the  Rock  River,  became 
the  headquarters  for  the  Sauk  and  Fox  tribes.  It  was  one  of  the  largest  Indian 
villages  of  the  United  States,  having  at  one  time  an  estimated  population  of 
eleven  thousand. 

All  trails  led  to  this  Sauk  village.  An  excellent  ford  was  located  at  the 
foot  of  the  Watch  Tower,  where  the  Rock  River  flowed  over  a  flat-rock  bottom. 
One  of  the  trails  passed  up  the  left  bank  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  lead  mines 
about  Galena  which  the  Sauk  and  Fox  owned.  Up  the  left  bank  of  the  Rock, 
a  trail  gave  Black  Hawk  his  direction  in  1832  when  he  left  with  his  warriors 
upon  the  fateful  ascent  of  the  river.    Another  trail  known  as  "The  Great  Sauk" 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  33 

led  from  the  village  around  the  south  bend  of  Lake  Michigan  to  Detroit  and 
Fort  Maiden,  in  Ontario,  Canada. 

Other  trails  led  southward  to  the  hunting  grounds  in  the  Missouri  country. 
One  connected  Galena  with  Chicago,  by  way  of  Big  Foot's  Pottawatomie  vil- 
lage at  the  head  of  what  is  now  Lake  Geneva.  Trails  connected  various  mining 
settlements;  while  two  well  traveled  ways  led  to  Fort  Winnebago  (now  Portage, 
Wisconsin)  and  to  Fort  Howard,  Green  Bay.  Solomon  Juneau,  the  fur  trader, 
was  at  Milwaukee  and  two  or  three  hundred  people  were  living  at  Chicago 
under  the  shelter  of  Fort  Dearborn. 

From  Morse's  Report  we  learn:  "In  the  winter  of  1819-1820,  these  two 
nations  (the  Sauk  and  Fox)  had  five  traders,  who  employed  nine  clerks  and 
interpreters  with  annual  salaries  of  from  two  to  twelve  hundred  dollars  each, 
and  forty-three  laborers,  whose  pay  was  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred 
dollars  each  per  annum.  These  traders,  including  the  peltries  received  at  the 
United  States  factory  near  Fort  Edwards,  collected  of  the  Sauk  and  Fox  Indians 
during  this  season  980  packs.  They  consisted  of:  2,760  beaver  skins;  500  mink; 
922  otter;  200  wildcat;  12,900  muskrat;  680  bear  skins;  13,440  raccoon;  28,680 
deer  skins,  making  a  total  of  60,089,  the  estimated  value  of  which  was  $58,800. 

"The  quantity  of  tallow  presumed  to  be  collected  from  the  deer  was  286,800 
pounds.  The  traders  also  collected,  during  the  same  time  from  these  Indians, 
at  least  3,000  pounds  of  feathers  and  1,000  pounds  of  beeswax.  From  their 
fields,  covering  800  acres,  they  produced  more  than  was  necessary  for  their 
sustenance,  so  that  about  1,000  bushels  of  corn  is  annually  sold  to  traders  and 
others. 

"The  women  usually  make  about  three  hundred  floor  mats  every  summer. 
These  mats  are  as  handsome  and  durable  as  those  made  abroad.  *  *  *  From 
4,000  to  5,000  weight  of  mineral  (lead)  is  dug  during  the  season  by  those  of 
the  able-bodied  men  who  do  not  go  out  to  hunt. ' ' 

To  this  great  Sauk  village  south  of  Rock  Island,  the  valleys  of  the  Fox  and 
Rock  were  the  most  direct  routes.  Connections  therewith  were  ever  maintained. 
It  was  with  the  purpose  of  uniting  his  forces  with  the  Winnebagoes  that  Black 
Hawk  journeyed  up  the  valley  in  1832.  He  always  upheld  his  right  to  hunt 
and  fish  in  the  region  of  the  Rock. 

EXPLANATION   OF   THE   CLASH   WITH    THE  WHITES 

The  ensuing  clash  with  the  whites  is  told  in  the  next  chapter.  Before  its 
narration,  it  is  fitting  to  furnish  here  additional  information  which  will  enlarge 
our  knowledge  of  the  character  and  life  of  the  Indians  who  first  inhabited  our 
valley. 

The  distinctive  physical  characteristics  of  the  Indians  were  brown  skin,  lus- 
trous black  hair,  hazel  to  dark  brown  eyes,  and  a  somewhat  smaller  cranial 
capacity  than  that  of  the  whites. 

To  the  whites  the  Indian  seemed  to  be  an  enigma.  The  difficulty  in  under- 
standing them  arose  from  the  difference  in  mental  experience.  From  the 
Indians'  race  experience,  a  consciousness  had  been  evolved  that  responded  to 
external  stimuli  in  a  way  foreign  to  the  white  men.  No  orderly  world,  con- 
trolled  by   an    omnipotent   God,    existed   for   them.      Numberless   irresponsible 


34  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

wills,  apparently  as  free  as  their  own,  occasioned  the  phenomena  around  them. 
There  was  no  common  meeting  ground  whereon  the  Indians  and  Europeans 
could  secure  a  mutual  understanding  of  such  terms  as  law,  treaty,  honor  and 
religion. 

PICTURE    OF    THE    PRIMITIVE    INDIAN    LIFE 

The  ease  of  livelihood  disposed  the  Indians,  somewhat,  to  indolence  as  the 
wealth  of  wild  fruits,  berries  and  edible  roots  went  far  to  sustain  life  without 
much  exertion,  and  game  was  abundant.  The  real  staff  of  Indian  life  was, 
however,  the  maize.  This  was  secured  only  by  an  effort  as  were  the  beans, 
squashes  and  other  vegetables.  The  Indian,  therefore,  was  greatly  concerned 
with  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  A  cornfield  once  brought  under  cultivation 
was  not  lightly  abandoned.  This  explains  Black  Hawk's  refusal  to  give  up 
the  ancient  domain  of  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  in  the  Rock  River  Valley. 

"In  the  summer  after  the  crops  were  planted  and  again  in  the  winter  after 
they  had  been  gathered  and  stored  in  pits  in  the  village,  the  whole  group  would 
move  to  some  spot  in  a  milder  part  of  the  country,  often  a  hundred  miles 
away,  and  set  up  a  hunting  camp.  Here  they  would  spend  from  six  to  twelve 
weeks  hunting  all  kinds  of  animals  which  could  be  made  to  furnish  meat  for 
the  kettle,  furs  for  clothing  and  ornaments  for  personal  decoration,  or  which, 
in  short,  could  serve  any  purpose  whatever.  The  spoils  of  the  hunt  would  for 
the  most  part  be  prepared  for  human  use  on  the  spot,  the  meat  being  cut  into 
thin  strips  and  slowly  dried  on  a  wooden  rack  four  or  five  feet  above  an  open 
fire;  the  pelts  of  the  buffalo,  deer,  bear,  and  the  smaller  fur-bearing  animals 
were  dressed  with  the  hair  on  if  they  were  to  be  used  as  robes,  or  with  the  hair 
removed  if  they  were  to  be  made  into  any  of  the  dozens  of  articles  the  Indians 
knew  how  to  fashion  out  of  dressed  skins." 

The  Indians  often  utilized  the  animals'  bones  in  the  making  of  weapons  or 
domestic  utensils.  The  teeth  and  horns  of  the  elk  and  deer  became  adornments 
for  the  warriors  or  served  some  ceremonial  purpose. 

Whenever  a  scarcity  of  meat  was  experienced,  the  Indians  secured  fish  from 
the  rivers  or  lakes.  The  Indians  of  the  valley  were  not,  however,  great  fisher- 
men. They  did  not  trouble  themselves  to  make  nets  for  catching  the  fish.  When 
they  desired  fish  they  entered  their  canoes  with  their  bows  and  arrows  and, 
standing  up  to  better  discover  the  fish,  pierced  it  with  an  arrow  as  soon  as 
they  saw  one. 

Their  indispensable  weapon  was  the  bow  and  arrow.  Simple  were  the  bows, 
while  the  arrows  were  long  shafts  to  which  were  attached  the  triangular  stone 
heads  that  are  still  found  on  the  site  of  many  an  old  Indian  village  or  battle 
field,  and  more  easily  in  the  various  museums.  Upon  the  Indian's  skill  in  the 
use  of  the  bow  depended  his  livelihood  and  reputation  and,  ofttimes,  his  life  or 
death  in  warfare.  He  supplemented  it  in  the  chase  and  in  battle  with  clubs  and 
knives.  The  clubs  were  of  wood  ' '  shaped  like  a  cutlass ' '  with  a  ball  at  the  end, 
or  of  a  deer's  horn  trimmed  of  all  save  one  or  two  tines.  The  knives  were  of 
chipped  flint,  much  like  the  arrowheads  but  larger.  Sometimes  daggers  were 
made  from  some  long  bone  such  as  the  shank  of  a  deer. 

The  men  made  the  weapons.  The  warriors,  in  the  division  of  labor,  were 
required  to  furnish  the  families  with  food  and  furs  and  to  protect  them  from 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  35 

attack.  To  the  women,  assisted  by  the  old  men  and  children,  belonged  the  tasks 
of  preparing  food  and  clothing,  tilling  the  fields,  building  and  repairing  the 
dwellings,  and  carrying  all  baggage  when  on  the  march  to  and  from  the  sea- 
sonal hunting  camps.  This  sharply  drawn  line  between  the  work  of  the  two 
sexes  was  based  directly  on  the  needs  of  their  modes  of  life. 

Their  migratory  life  led  them  to  develop  two  kinds  of  houses.  In  their 
permanent  towns,  substantial  oblong  cabins  were  built  large  enough  to  hold 
from  six  to  twelve  families  each.  Two  parallel  rows  of  saplings,  bent  together 
and  lashed  at  the  top,  formed  the  framework,  making  thus  a  series  of  arches. 
These  were  covered  with  one  or  more  layers  of  mats  of  closely  woven  rushes. 
The  dwellings  were  thus  water-tight  and  warm.  A  door  was  made  at  each 
end  and  a  strip  left  open  in  the  center  of  the  roof  for  the  escape  of  the  smoke 
from  the  row  of  from  three  to  five  fires  which  extended  down  the  center  of 
t)n>  lodge.  Two  families  used  each  of  the  fires;  thus  a  cabin  might  shelter  as 
many  as  fifty  to  sixty  souls.  Mats  covered  the  earth  floor.  In  some  houses  a 
rude  platform  was  built  out  from  either  wall  to  serve  as  lounging  places  or 
bunks. 

On  hunting  trips,  mats  made  by  the  women  that  easily  rolled  up,  were 
carried  as  baggage.  On  establishing  the  camp,  a  few  poles  or  stakes  were  set 
up  for  a  framework  on  which  to  hang  the  mats.  Quickly  adequate  shelters  were 
put  up  as  satisfactory  to  the  Indians  as  the  most  improved  auto  tents  are  to 
the  auto  campers  of  today. 

The  lands  cultivated  or  hunted  by  the  tribe  were  the  common  property  of 
the  tribe.  To  the  women  who  grew  them,  the  crops  belonged ;  while  the  spoils  of 
the  hunt  were  turned  over  to  the  women  of  the  family  as  soon  as  they  were 
brought  into  camp.  The  household  equipment  was  always  regarded  as  belong- 
ing to  the  women;  the  men  owning  merely  their  own  weapons  and  clothing.  A 
large  measure  of  generosity  pervaded  the  unspoiled  mind  of  the  Indians.  Pres- 
ents were  exchanged  on  all  possible  occasions.  Weak  indeed  was  the  Indian's 
possessive  sense  before  it  was  aroused  by  the  white  man's  greed. 

The  tribal  possession  of  land  followed  naturally  as  the  result  of  the  simple 
political  and  social  organization  of  the  Indians.  Having  received  their  land 
by  descent  from  their  ancestors  whose  bones  were  preserved  in  its  bosom,  they 
felt  obliged  to  pass  it  on  to  their  children.  The  alienation  of  the  tribal  title 
was  to  them  an  idea  impossible  of  comprehension.  The  Indians  did  not  under- 
stand the  white  man's  concept  of  private  ownership  of  land.  The  white  man 
failed  to  realize  how  permanent  in  the  mind  of  the  Indian  was  the  idea  of 
inalienability  of  the  tribal  title  to  the  land.  These  failures  constituted  for 
a  long  time  a  stumbling  block  to  a  mutual  understanding  being  established 
between  the  Indians  and  the  whites. 

The  unit  of  Indian  organization  was  the  tribe.  It  was  merely  a  large  family 
made  up  of  numerous  clans  or  gentes,  of  blood  kindred  tracing  descent  from 
a  common  ancestor.  The  clan  usually  claimed  some  specific  animal  as  the 
bear,  wolf  or  fox  as  its  special  guardian  or  totem.  No  marrying  within  their 
own  clan  was  permitted.  On  marriage  neither  of  the  parties  changed  their 
gens. 

These  people,  as  all  primitive  races,  were  governed  by  the  public  opinion 
and  folk  custom.     In  consequence,  these  prairie  children  lacked  much  of  hav- 

Vol.  1—3 


36  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

ing  their  freedom.  They  were  restrained  from  childhood  by  unbreakable  cus- 
toms. Their  footsteps  were  directed  by  habit  while  the  fear  of  consequences 
limited  their  wills.     Social  opinion  enforced  uniformity. 

As  a  result,  the  machinery  of  government  was  slight,  informal  and  demo- 
cratic. The  family  council  settled  matters  pertaining  exclusively  to  the  family. 
A  clan  council,  composed  of  the  heads  of  its  various  families,  settled  the  affairs 
of  the  clan.  A  tribal  council,  made  up  of  the  chiefs  of  the  clans,  handled 
the  problems  of  the  tribe.  The  leaders  in  each  group  were  of  preeminence  in 
valor  and  wisdom.  They  exerted  considerable  influence  as  they  presided  at 
the  councils. 

The  war  chiefs  were  distinct  from  the  civil  chiefs  who  assisted  so  much  in 
the  adjustment  of  disputes  and  the  determination  of  the  policies  of  the  tribe. 
The  war  chiefs  rose  to  prominence  due  entirely  to  their  capacity  for  military 
leadership.  Waging  war  was  largely  a  matter  of  individual  choice  over  which 
the  tribe  had  little  control.  This  explains  the  difficulty  the  Europeans  and 
Americans  experienced  in  making  a  permanent  treaty  with  any  particular 
group  of  Indians.  A  warrior,  to  avenge  a  fancied  or  real  grievance  inflicted 
by  a  member  of  another  tribe,  or  simply  for  glory,  might  invite  others  to  join 
him  in  going  out  on  the  warpath.  If  the  expedition  failed  the  leader's  reputa- 
tion suffered;  if  successful,  he  gained  prestige  and  could  more  readily  call  out 
followers  the  next  time. 

This  made  for  more  or  less  continuous  warfare  though  the  campaigns  were 
usually  brief  ones.  "Ordinarily,"  says  an  early  Jesuit  observer,  "their  par- 
ties consisted  of  only  twenty,  thirty  or  forty  persons;  sometimes  these  parties 
are  of  six  or  seven  persons,  and  these  are  most  to  be  feared.  As  their  entire 
skill  lies  in  surprising  their  enemy,  the  small  number  facilitates.  *  *  * 
Their  method  is  to  follow  on  the  trail  of  their  enemy,  and  to  kill  some  one 
of  them  while  he  is  asleep, — or,  rather,  to  lie  in  ambush  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  villages,  and  to  split  the  head  of  the  first  one  who  comes  forth, — and  tak- 
ing off  his  scalp,  to  display  it  as  a  trophy  among  his  countrymen." 

The  Indians  were  cruel  to  their  captives.  Often  they  burned  them  by  a 
slow  fire  or,  mutilating  them,  prolonged  their  lives  for  days.  Cruelty  to  enemies 
and  stoic  patience  under  suffering  were  basic  principles  of  Indian  education. 

Individualism,  so  clearly  disclosed  in  their  form  of  government,  was  also 
deep-rooted  in  the  family  life  of  the  Indians.  Children,  almost  from  infancy, 
were  treated  as  responsible  individuals.  They  grew  up  under  little  parental 
control.  Their  training  was  accomplished  by  general  public  opinion  rather 
than  by  direct  control  by  the  parents.  This  was  not  due  to  the  indifference 
of  the  parents;  it  was  rather  their  definite  purpose  to  develop  their  children 
into  self-reliant  beings. 

The  Indians  believed  in  the  importance  of  the  child  to  the  tribe  and  clan. 
Dignified  ceremonies  were  imposed  by  the  clan  in  the  marriage  custom.  The 
young  man,  upon  proving  his  prowess  as  a  hunter,  indicated  to  his  parents 
the  girl  he  desired  for  his  wife.  This  was  usually  done  when  the  boy  was 
eighteen  or  twenty  and  the  girl  three  or  four  years  younger.  The  parents, 
then  with  well  developed  and  unbreakable  custom,  conducted  the  whole  nego- 
tiations until  the  girl  was  led  by  her  relatives  and  placed  on  a  rug  in  the  new 
home. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  37 

The  Indiana  lived  in  a  circumscribed  world.     Only  the  territory  watered 

by  the  .Mississippi  and  the  Great  Lakes  region  was  known  to  them.  In  their 
explanations  of  nature,  they  disclosed  the  limitations  of  knowledge  caused  by 
their  circumscribed  life.  The  earth,  the  phenomena  of  the  heavens,  the  forces 
of  nature  and  the  various  objects  on  earth  were  humanized  by  them.  All 
inanimate  objects  possessed  a  magic  power  that  might  be  used  to  aid  or  harm 
man.     These,  in  the  Indian's  mind,  all  had  to  be  propitiated. 

Surrounded  by  this  magic  power  called  "manitou"  the  Indians  of  the 
valley  struggled,  in  fear,  to  continually  appease  the  manitou  beings  to  aid 
and  not  to  harm  them.  The  Indian  believed  himself  watched  and  warned 
by  these  special  protectors  who  communicated  with  him  by  dreams  and  omens. 
If  his  trap  failed  to  catch  animals  or  his  bow  did  not  shoot  true,  it  was  be- 
cause  he  had  lost  the  good  will  of  the  manitous. 

Believing  himself  helpless  without  the  support  of  some  personal  manitou, 
the  Indian  sought  to  experience  his  greatest  spiritual  triumph  which  consisted 
in  winning  the  control  of  a  manitou  who  became,  thereafter,  his  personal  guide. 
The  boy,  at  the  age  of  puberty,  withdrew  to  an  isolated  place  and  purified 
himself  by  bathing  and  fasting.  Then  he  worked  himself  into  a  trancelike 
state  by  dancing  and  often  by  the  use  of  drugs  until  his  manitou  appeared 
and  promised  to  be  his  guardian.  This  belief  in  manitous,  it  can  be  readily 
seen,  aided  the  missionaries  in  the  conversion  of  the  Indians  to  Christianity. 

To  the  Indian  no  other  religious  ceremony  was  more  important  than  the 
calumet  dance.  It  was  performed  "sometimes  to  strengthen  peace,  or  to  unite 
themselves  for  some  great  war;  at  other  times  for  public  rejoicing,  or  to  do 
honor  to  a  visiting  nation  or  personage  of  note."  In  the  dance  was  featured 
the  calumet,  or  ceremonial  tobacco  pipe,  "fashioned  from  a  red  stone  polished 
like  marble,  and  bored  in  such  a  way  that  one  end  served  as  a  receptacle  for 
the  tobacco  while  the  other  fits  into  the  stem,  *  *  *  a  stick  two  feet  long, 
as  thick  as  an  ordinary  cane,  and  bored  through  the  middle."  Marqnette 
wrote  that  "less  honor  is  paid  to  the  Crowns  and  Scepters  of  Kings  than  the 
savages  bestow  upon  this.  It  seems  to  be  the  God  of  peace  and  war,  the  Arbiter 
of  life  and  death.  It  has  but  to  be  carried  upon  one's  person  and  displayed  to 
enable  one  to  walk  safely  through  the  midst  of  enemies, — who,  in  the  hottest 
of  the  fight,  lay  down  their  arms,  when  it  is  shown.  *  *  *  There  is  a 
calumet  for  peace  and  one  for  war,  which  are  distinguished  solely  by  the  color 
of  the  feathers  with  which  they  are  adorned:  red  is  the  sign  of  war.  They 
also  use  it  to  put  an  end  to  their  disputes,  to  strengthen  their  alliances,  and 
to  speak  to  strangers.  *  *  *  They  have  a  great  regard  for  it,  because 
they  look  upon  it  as  the  Calumet  of  the  Sun;  and,  in  fact,  they  offer  it  to 
the  latter  to  smoke  when  they  wish  to  obtain  a  calm,  or  rain,  or  fine  weather." 

The  tribes  in  the  valley  in  the  French  period  were  not  far  advanced  in 
art.  While  they  made  pottery  it  was  of  a  very  crude  sort.  Little  or  no  men- 
tion is  made  of  their  basket  weaving.  The  women  had  developed  consider- 
able skill  in  the  making  of  mats  "by  sewing  together  flat  rushes  with  a  twine 
made  from  bark  or  vegetable  fibre  roughly  twisted."  Yarn  was  also  made 
from  the  fine  underwool  of  the  buffalo  and  young  bear.  They  plaited  or  wove 
this  yam  into  sashes,  garters,  bags  and  pouches. 

The   Indians  were  naturally  talkative,   good   natured  and  fond  of  a  joke. 


38 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


Often  observers  formed  the  very  opposite  impression  of  them  because  of  their 
extreme  dignity  of  bearing  on  public  occasions.  Initially  the  Indians  were 
amiable,  honest,  generous,  hospitable,  and  loyal  to  their  friends.  Their  in- 
evitable contacts  with  the  white  race,  unfortunately,  changed  their  natures  for 
the  worse. 

The  following  chapter  will  disclose  the  clashes  of  the  races  and  the  victory 
of  the  better-prepared  white  men  in  the  struggle  for  the  valley.  This  chapter 
has  very  properly  recalled  several  features  in  the  life  of  the  earliest  inhabitants 
of  the  valley. 


LILY  BEDS  IN   KISHWAUKEE   RIVER 


CHAPTER  III. 

CONTACT  AND  CLASH  OF  THE  RACES 

french  contact  with  the  sioux  and  illinois jean  nicolet  and  the  win- 
nebago  allouez  impressed  by  the  illinois  and  pottawatomie in  contact 

with  the  sauk  and  foxes the  foxes  as  mischief  makers massacre  of 

the  foxes  and  mascouten    (1712)- — foxes  besieged  at  butte  des  morts 

(1716) foxes    still    bar    the   french french    form    indian    alliance 

against  the  foxes — the  fox  massacre  of  1730 kiala,  the  fox  chief,  a 

scapegoat — sauk-fox  alliance  cemented — france  and  england  clash  in 

the  ohio  valley illinois  country  refuses  aid  to  pontiac captain  carver 

and  the  sauk birth  and  early  manhood  of  black  hawk black  hawk 

turns  his  back  on  americans sauk  and  foxes  divided  in  fealty the 

treaty  of  1804 strength  of  illinois  indians  in  1809 — black  hawk  fails 

to  carry  fort  madison black  hawk's  disappointments black  hawk  and 

keokuk  contrasted the  battle  of  campbell 's  island zachary  taylor 's 

expedition  turned  back indian  treaties  following  the  war  of  1812 

black  hawk  confirms  treaty  of  1804 the  building  of  fort  armstrong 

— real  pioneers  of  the  valley webb  's  trip  down  the  valley — the  major 

long  expedition keokuk  and  the  sauk  at  prairie   du  chien — keokuk 

again  America's  good  Indian  genius. 

The  first  contact  of  white  men  with  the  Indians  who  afterward  warred, 
hunted  and  fished  along  the  splendid  reaches  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  occurred 
in  the  Green  Bay  region  of  northeastern  Wisconsin.  The  pioneer  whites  who 
thus  met  them  in  the  seventeenth  century  were  adventuresome  and  fearless 
Frenchmen,  alive  to  the  extension  of  the  French  domain,  and  Jesuit  priests, 
equally  brave  in  the  extension  of  their  church  through  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen. 

FRENCH  IN   CONTACT  WITH   THE  SIOUX  AND  ILLINOIS 

When  the  French  first  came  into  the  Northwest  they  encountered  the  Winne- 
bago tribe,  belonging  to  the  great  Siouan  (Sioux)  family,  which  was  then 
located  on  the  shore  of  Green  Bay  and  in  the  lower  valley  of  the  Fox  River. 
Nor  could  the  French  learn  apparently  of  any  previous  residence  of  the  tribe, 
for  the  "Jesuit  Relation"  of  1671  states  that  the  Winnebago  had  always  dwelt 
in  the  Green  Bay  region.  Speculation  as  to  the  origin  of  the  tribe  does  not 
enter  into  the  scope  of  this  chapter.  It  is  here  sufficient  to  note  that  prior  to 
1600  northern  and  eastern  Wisconsin  seem  to  have  been  occupied  by  Siouan 
tribes,  while  the  southern  part  of  the  state  belonged  to  the  Illinois. 

The  Illinois  were  classified  as  a  unit  of  the  Algonquin  family,  and,  before 

39 


40  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

the  Sioux  pressed  down  from  the  west  and  north  and  other  tribes  from  the 
northeast,  claimed  the  region  west  of  the  river  to  which  they  gave  their  name 
beyond  the  Mississippi  and  as  far  south  as  the  Ohio.  Their  favorite  territory 
was  embraced  in  what  are  now  the  central  and  northern  portions  of  the  state  of 
Illinois,  with  no  definite  boundaries  between  the  Sioux  and  the  Illinois  coun- 
tries. The  chief  Illinois  village  was  situated  on  the  river,  one  mile  north  of 
the  famed  rock  afterward  fortified  as  Fort  St.  Louis  and  adjoining  the  present 
town  of  Utica. 

The  Illinois  confederacy  or  nation  included  five  tribes  called  the  Kaskaskias, 
Cahokias,  Tamaroas,  Peorias  and  Mitchigamies — the  latter  from  whom  Lake 
Michigan  was  named;  which  indicates  a  western  migration  of  the  Illinois  from 
that  region.  The  Kaskaskias  made  their  home  in  the  metropolis  of  the  nation 
at  the  Rock;  the  chief  village  of  the  Peorias  was  on  the  lake  of  that  name, 
nearly  in  the  central  section  of  the  Valley  of  the  Illinois,  and  that  of  the 
Tamaroas  and  Cahokias  was  below  the  mouth  of  the  river  nearly  opposite  St. 
Louis. 

The  Sioux  and  the  Illinois  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  the  aboriginal 
inhabitants  of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  although  the  centers  of  their  power  were 
obviously  north  and  south  of  northwestern  Illinois. 

JEAN   NICOLET    AND   THE  WINNEBAGO 

It  was  Jean  Nicolet,  Champlain's  brilliant  under-study,  who,  in  1634,  first 
came  into  contact  with  the  Sioux  tribe  which  has  been  identified  as  the  Winne- 
bago. Under  the  instruction  of  his  superior  he  had  given  nearly  a  decade  of 
his  young  life  to  the  study  and  consolidation  of  the  Hurons  as  supporters  and 
friends  of  the  French.  He  was  then  (1634)  sent  as  a  peace  maker  to  the  Indian 
nation  called  the  People  of  the  Sea  with  whom  the  Huron  were  at  war.  His 
Jesuit  chronicler,  Father  Vimont,  states  that  Nicolet  "embarked  in  the  Huron 
country  with  seven  savages,  and  they  passed  by  many  small  nations  both  going 
and  coming.  When  they  arrived  at  their  destination,  they  fastened  two  sticks 
in  the  earth  and  hung  gifts  thereon,  so  as  to  relieve  from  the  notion  of  mistak- 
ing them  for  enemies  to  be  massacred.  When  he  was  two  days'  journey  from 
that  nation,  he  sent  one  of  those  savages  to  bear  tidings  of  the  peace,  which 
word  was  especially  well  received  when  they  heard  that  it  was  an  European 
who  carried  the  message;  they  despatched  several  young  men  to  meet  the 
Manitourinou — that  is  to  say,  'the  wonderful  man.'  They  meet  him;  they 
escort  him  and  carry  all  his  baggage.  He  wore  a  grand  robe  of  China  damask, 
all  strewn  with  flowers  and  birds  of  many  colors.  No  sooner  did  they  per- 
ceive him  than  the  women  fled  at  the  sight  of  a  man  who  carried  thunder  in 
both  hands — for  thus  they  called  the  two  pistols  that  he  held.  The  news  of 
his  coming  quickly  spread  to  the  places  round  about,  and  there  assembled  four 
or  five  thousand  men.  Each  of  the  chief  men  made  a  feast  for  him,  and  at  one 
of  these  banquets  they  served  at  least  six-score  beavers. 

' '  The  peace  was  concluded ;  he  returned  to  the  Huron,  and  some  time  later 
to  Three  Rivers,  where  he  continued  his  employment  as  agent  and  interpreter  to 
the  great  satisfaction  of  both  the  French  and  the  savages  by  whom  he  was 
equally  and  singularly  loved." 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  41 

Although  there  is  no  substantial  disagreement  among  historical  writers  in 
identifying  the  Indians  whom  Nicolet  visited  as  Winnebago,  there  has  always 
been  a  dispute  among  them  as  to  the  extent  of  his  trip  and  the  location  of  his 
peace  treaty.  But  they  do  agree  that  the  main  event  occurred  in  the  Green 
Bay  region.  One  of  the  Wisconsin  historians,  however  (Consul  W.  Butter- 
field),  argues  that  Nicolet,  during  this  expedition,  visited  the  Mascouten  on  the 
upper  Fox  and  made  an  extended  journey  among  the  Illinois  far  to  the  south 
in  either  southern  Wisconsin  or  northern  Illinois.  Reuben  G.  Thwaites  has 
Nicolet  follow  the  "grand  traverse"  of  the  French  voyageurs  across  the  mouth 
of  Green  Bay  to  Death's  Door  Bluff  and  thence  down  the  eastern  shore  of  the 
bay  to  Red  Banks,  where  the  great  peace  festival  is  represented  as  having  taken 
place. 

ALLOUEZ  IMPRESSED  BY  THE  ILLINOIS  AND  POTTAWATOMIE 

But  to  Father  Claude  Jean  Allouez,  the  Jesuit  missionary,  sometimes  called 
the  Apostle  of  the  West,  is  accorded  the  honor  of  a  later  and  more  intimate  con- 
tact with  the  Indians  with  whom,  more  than  all  others,  are  entwined  the  modern 
fortunes  of  the  Rock  River  Valley.  In  1665  he  reached  the  head  of  Chequamegon 
Bay,  in  the  Lake  Superior  region  of  northern  Wisconsin,  on  his  hazardous 
mission  to  the  savages  of  that  far  and  wild  country.  In  that  locality  were 
located  Ottawa  and  Huron  villages  numbering  several  hundred  souls.  Friendly 
tribes  were  also  in  the  habit  of  sending  their  representatives  there,  so  that  at 
his  coming  in  October,  1665,  he  met  Sauk  and  Pottawatomi  from  the  interior 
of  Wisconsin,  and  even  bands  of  Illinois  from  the  prairies  far  to  the  south, 
where  the  buffalo  roamed  and  where  they  informed  Allouez  two  crops  of  corn 
could  be  raised  in  a  year. 

Chequamegon  offered  to  the  priest  an  excellent  field  for  labor,  and  he  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  establish  his  mission  there,  which  he  named,  for  the  long 
and  narrow  sandpit  which  jutted  out  into  the  lake  at  the  eastern  side  of  the 
bay,  La  Pointe  du  Sainte  Esprit.  This  oldest  geographical  name  conferred  by 
civilized  man  on  any  locality  in  the  present  state  of  Wisconsin  has  ever  since 
been  known  as  La  Pointe. 

Allouez  is  said  to  have  made  more  impression  upon  the  Huron  than  upon 
the  Ottawa  or  Sioux.  To  reach  the  latter,  he  was  obliged  to  travel  to  the  west 
cud  of  Lake  Superior  in  a  canoe.  The  Sioux  were  evidently  "hard  cases;"  they 
were  described  by  the  earnest  father  as  "above  all  the  rest,  savage  and  wild, 
appearing  abashed  and  motionless  as  statues  in  our  presence."  A  fact  of  much 
historic  interest  developed  from  Allouez'  journey  to  the  Sioux  at  this  time;  in 
describing  the  trip  he  introduces  to  geography  the  name  Mississippi  (Messipi). 

Of  all  the  tribes  whose  acquaintance  he  made  at  Chequamegon,  Allouez  was 
most  favorably  impressed  by  the  Illinois  and  the  Pottawatomi.  The  home  of 
the  latter  was  at  that  time  the  Green  Bay  region,  yet  as  many  as  three  hundred 
of  their  warriors  came  at  one  time  to  La  Pointe.  They  proved  the  most  docile 
and  best  disposed  toward  the  French  of  all  the  tribes  encountered  by  Allouez. 
"They  observe  among  themselves  a  sort  of  civility  and  also  show  it  toward 
strangers,  which  is  rare  among  our  barbarians."  Allouez  baptized  many  of 
their  children  and  a  number  of  adults  during  the   period  of  their  sojourn  at 


42  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Chequamegon,  and  on  their  departure  for  their  homes  they  warmly  urged  the 
missionary  to  pay  them  a  visit  the  following  spring. 

Even  more  pleasant  was  his  intercourse  with  the  Illinois.  "I  have  pro- 
claimed the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  here  to  eighty  people  of  this  nation,"  he 
writes,  "and  they  have  carried  it  and  published  it  with  approbation  to  the 
whole  country  of  the  south;  consequently  I  can  say  that  this  mission  is  the 
one  where  I  have  labored  the  least  and  accomplished  the  most."  Again  he 
records:  "The  fairest  field  for  the  Gospel  appears  to  me  to  be  yonder.  Had 
I  had  leisure  and  opportunity,  I  would  have  pushed  on  to  their  country,  to  see 
with  my  own  eyes  the  good  things  there  of  which  they  tell  me." 

IN    CONTACT   WITH   THE    SAUK    AND   FOXES 

The  Ottawa  at  Chequamegon  appeared  to  be  as  obdurate  as  the  Sioux  at  the 
western  end  of  Lake  Superior,  and  after  Father  Jacques  Marquette  had  relieved 
Allouez  at  that  mission,  in  1669,  the  latter  had  an  opportunity  to  establish 
a  mission  among  his  friends,  the  Pottawatomi,  in  the  Green  Bay  region.  His 
immediate  errand  was  to  protect  them  against  the  maltreatment  of  some  young 
Frenchmen  who  had  settled  among  the  Indians  as  traders;  in  fact,  it  is  some- 
times impossible  to  determine  who  came  first  to  these  tribes — the  priests  or  the 
traders.  For  several  months  he  visited  villages  of  the  Pottawatomi  and  Sauk 
on  the  shores  of  Green  Bay,  and  then  commenced  the  ascent  of  the  Fox  River, 
to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  St.  Francis.  Four  leagues  up  the  river,  where 
now  is  the  city  of  De  Pere,  was  found  a  Sauk  village,  whose  people  had  built 
a  weir  across  the  stream  to  enable  them  to  catch  fish.  On  the  19th  of  March, 
1670,  marked  by  an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  the  party  headed  by  Allouez  came  to 
Lake  Winnebago,  to  which,  like  Fox  River,  the  priest  gave  the  name  of  St. 
Francis.  Crossing  the  lake  to  the  site  of  modern  Oshkosh,  and  passing  through 
Lake  Butte  des  Morts,  they  came  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wolf,  up  which  they 
turned  in  search  of  the  village  of  the  Foxes,  which  the  missionary  had  set  out 
to  visit. 

Although  the  Foxes  received  Allouez  as  though  he  were  a  Manitou,  his 
account  of  them  is  not  altogether  flattering.  Their  village  was  quite  large,  hav- 
ing four  hundred  warriors  and  a  much  larger  number  of  women.  But  they 
were  at  war  with  both  the  Sioux  and  the  Iroquois.  Although  frequently  assailed 
by  the  Iroquois,  the  Foxes  did  not  retaliate,  being  ignorant  of  the  use  of 
canoes.  Allouez  partially  gained  their  friendship,  but  held  them  as  "stingy, 
avaricious,  thieving,  choleric  and  quarrelsome."  His  labors  as  a  missionary, 
however,  were  counteracted  by  the  misconduct  of  French  traders;  and  this  tribal 
bitterness  against  the  French  as  a  people  continued  for  generations,  and  was 
especially  shared  by  the  Mascouten  and  Kickapoos,  tribes  kindred  by  blood,  and 
like  the  Foxes,  rude  and  warlike. 

The  route  to  the  Mississippi,  by  way  of  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  rivers,  lay 
through  the  country  of  the  Foxes,  and  by  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  dominant  tribe  had  pushed  farther  and  farther  toward  the  west,  during  the 
period  when  French  activities  were  dormant  in  its  interior  valleys.  When  it 
became  evident  that  the  Foxes  threatened  to  bar  all  French  travel  between  the 
great  lakes  and  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  as  well  as  to  bar  all  access  to  the 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  43 

allied  Sioux  from  the  south,  the  French  were  stirred  to  action.  Detroit  was 
made  the  central  metropolis  of  the  tribes  friendly  to  France.  By  the  com- 
mencement of  the  eighteenth  century  such  tribes  as  the  Huron,  Ottawa,  Chip- 
pewa. .Miami  and  Pottawatomi  had  clustered  their  villages  around  Detroit,  and 
although  they  did  not  always  agree,  under  the  skillful  management  of  Cadillac 
the  locality  became  the  gathering  place  of  all  the  tribes  allied  to  the  French 
except  the  Sioux. 

THE  FOXES  AS   MISCHIEF   MAKERS 

The  Foxes  of  Wisconsin  ignored  the  invitation,  for  several  years,  to  move 
from  the  Fox  River  Valley  to  the  Detroit  neighborhood,  but  in  1710  responded 
to  the  number  of  1,000  men,  women  and  children,  who  constituted  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  tribe.  Following  the  instinct  of  their  nature,  it  was  not  long  before 
they  were  quarreling  with  their  neighbors.  Cadillac's  successor,  Dubuisson, 
with  instructions  from  his  superiors,  reversed  the  former  attitude  of  the  French 
toward  their  old-time  enemies,  the  Foxes ;  and  he  may  have  magnified  the 
conduct  of  the  newcomers  to  further  his  own  ends.  At  all  events  to  the  sev- 
eral Fox  chiefs  and  representatives  of  other  tribes  summoned  to  Montreal,  the 
governor  of  Canada  thus  spoke  to  the  offending  tribe:  "I  learned  last  year, 
Outagamies  (another  name  for  the  Foxes),  that  you  had  come  to  take  up  your 
a  1  lode  with  my  children  at  Detroit.  I  thought  you  would,  at  the  same  time, 
adopt  their  spirit  and  obey  the  will  of  him  whom  I  have  set  there  to  command 
and  to  rule  all  the  tribes  of  those  districts.  I  learned  today  from  the  mouth 
of  all  men  that  you  think  yourselves  masters  of  that  place,  and  far  from  having 
brought  peace  there,  you  have  brought  nothing  but  disorder,  and  have  shed 
the  blood  of  my  children  there.  I  am  very  glad  to  tell  you,  Outagamies,  that  1 
wish  the  country  of  Detroit  to  be  peaceful,  that  I  encoui*age  all  my  children 
there  to  take  all  possible  care  to  that  end,  and  to  unite  with  me  to  succeed 
in  it.  It  will  only  depend  on  you,  Outagamies,  whether  there  shall  be  rest  and 
peace  in  these  parts."  To  these  plain  words  was  added  an  injunction  that 
the  Foxes  desist  from  the  warfare  they  were  waging  with  the  Illinois  and 
engage  in  a  mutual  surrender  of  prisoners,  and  an  admonition  to  return  to 
their  former  home  in  Wisconsin.  "Pay  attention,  Outagamies,"  he  concluded, 
"to  what  I  have  just  said  to  you;  do  not  draw  down  upon  you  all  the  tribes 
in  the  land.  My  opinion  is  that  you  would  do  better  to  go  back  to  your  old 
village,  where  the  bones  of  your  fathers  are  and  a  great  post  of  your  people 
also,  rather  than  try  to  settle  in  a  strange  land  where  you  may  be  insulted  by 
all  the  tribes.  Reflect  once  more,  Outagamies,  on  what  I  have  just  said  to  you, 
for  it  is  for  your  preservation." 

MASSACRE  OF  THE  FOXES  AND  MASCOUTEN    (1712) 

The  French  were  obviously  uneasy  over  the  presence  of  the  Outagamies  at 
Detroit,  fearing  that  they  would  join  the  Iroquois  should  the  English  induce 
that  dreaded  eastern  tribe  to  attack  the  fort  at  Detroit.  As  the  months  passed 
and  the  Foxes  did  not  return  to  their  old  home,  that  fear  was  strengthened. 
Whether  the  plan  to  destroy  the  allied  Foxes  and   Maseouten  originated  with 


44  '  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

the  Indians  or  the  French  authorities  is  beside  the  fact  that  the  conspiracy 
could  not  have  been  organized  and  carried  into  action  without  the  collusion, 
or  formal  consent,  of  the  Canadian  government.  The  first  blow  was  struck 
against  a  band  of  Foxes  and  Mascouten,  who,  in  the  winter  of  1711-12  had 
absented  themselves  from  their  village  at  Detroit  to  engage  in  a  hunt  on  the 
headwaters  of  the  St.  Joseph  River.  Fifty  of  them  were  killed  or  captured  by 
a  war  party  of  Ottawa,  but  the  Foxes  evidently  did  not  hold  the  French 
responsible,  and  were  even  taken  by  surprise  when  the  greater  calamity  over- 
took them  in  the  spring. 

One  of  the  best  accounts  of  the  general  massacre  of  the  Foxes  and  Mas- 
couten which  then  occurred  is  given  by  Dr.  M.  M.  Quaife  in  his  history  of  "Wis- 
consin, published  in  1924.  It  reads:  "About  the  middle  of  May  (1712),  the 
'army  of  the  nations  of  the  south,'  composed  of  Illinois,  Osages,  Missouri,  Sauk, 
Pottawatomi  and  other  tribes,  issued  from  the  forest  which  surrounded  Detroit. 
The  Huron  and  other  war  bands  were  already  on  the  ground,  and,  with  the 
arrival  of  the  new  army,  everything  was  in  readiness  for  the  attack.  The 
French  blacksmith  had  prepared  a  supply  of  iron  slugs  for  Dubuisson's  two  can- 
non, and  even  the  priest  'held  himself  ready  to  give  a  general  absolution'  in  case 
of  need.  The  French  allies  poured  into  the  fort,  where  speeches  were  exchanged 
and  supplies  of  food  and  ammunition  were  distributed.  The  war  cry  was  now 
raised  and  the  attack  opened.  'The  very  earth  trembled,'  reports  Dubuisson, 
under  the  tumult,  and  the  bullets  flew  like  hail. 

"The  Foxes  were  clearly  amazed  at  the  turn  events  had  taken.  'What 
does  this  mean,  my  Father?'  demanded  one  of  their  chiefs,  as  the  discharge 
of  musketry  began  from  the  French  fort.  '  Thou  didst  invite  us  to  come  to  dwell 
near  thee;  thy  word  is  even  now  fresh  in  our  pouches.  And  yet  thou  declarest 
war  against  us.  What  cause  have  we  given  for  it?  My  Father,  thou  seemest 
no  longer  to  remember  that  there  are  no  nations  among  those  whom  thou 
callest  thy  children  who  have  not  wet  their  hands  with  the  blood  of  Frenchmen. 
I  am  the  only  one  thou  canst  not  reproach;  and  yet  thou  art  joining  our 
enemies  to  eat  us.  But  know  that  the  Reynard  is  immortal,  and  that  if  in 
defending  myself  I  shed  the  blood  of  Frenchmen  my  Father  cannot  reproach 
me.'  Much  else  did  the  chieftain  utter,  which  the  chronicler  has  neglected  to 
record.  If  we  may  judge  from  the  fragment  of  the  address  which  has  been 
preserved  the  omission  was  a  grievous  loss  to  world  literature.  In  fewer  words 
than  Lincoln  employed  at  Gettysburg,  this  untutored  savage  of  the  Wisconsin 
forest  has  provided  a  defense  of  his  people  which  his  civilized  opponent  in  a 
score  of  labored  pages  signally  fails  to  overthrow;  while  the  proud  boast,  'Know 
that  the  Reynard  is  immortal,'  uttered  in  the  face  of  certain  destruction,  rings 
through  the  centuries  like  a  trumpet  blast  from  the  Homeric  age. 

"Taken  by  surprise,  outnumbered  four  to  one  and  handicapped  by  the 
presence  of  several  hundred  women  and  children,  the  Fox  warriors  put  up  a 
desperate  resistance.  Starvation,  thirst  and  disease,  combined  with  the  effective- 
ness of  Dubuisson's  cannon,  however,  to  extort  from  them  at  length  an  earnest 
plea  to  be  permitted  to  surrender.  Dubuisson  professes  to  have  been  touched 
by  compassion  by  their  plight,  but  reflecting  'that  war  and  pity  do  not  agree 
well  together,'  he  denied  all  quarter  and  made  haste  'to  have  this  tragedy 
finished.'    But  the  Foxes  were  not  yet  at  the  end  of  their  resources. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  45 

"On  the  nineteenth  day  of  the  siege  it  rained  and  a  dark  night  ensued.  Tak- 
ing advantage  of  this,  about  midnight  they  slipped  out  of  the  fort  and  stole 
away.  Knowing  that  they  would  be  pursued  as  soon  as  daylight  revealed  their 
withdrawal,  at  a  distance  of  several  miles  they  halted  and  laid  an  ambuscade. 
Into  this  the  enemy  rushed  blindly,  losing  twenty  killed  and  wounded.  A  second 
siege  was  now  begun  which  terminated  after  four  days  in  abject  surrender.  No 
quarter  was  granted  the  defeated  warriors;  all  but  a  hundred  were  slain,  and 
these  were  tied  apparently  to  be  reserved  for  future  slaughter.  This  pleasure 
was  denied  the  victors,  however,  for  all  succeeded  in  making  their  escape.  The 
conquerors  returned  to  the  French  post  with  the  enslaved  women  and  children, 
where  'their  amusement'  was  to  shoot  four  or  five  each  day.  The  Huron  did 
not  spare  a  single  one  of  their  captives.  '  In  this  manner, '  concludes  Dubuisson, 
'came  to  an  end,  Sir,  these  two  wicked  nations,  who  so  badly  afflicted  and  trou- 
bled all  the  country.  Our  Rev.  Father  chaunted  a  grand  mass  to  render  thanks 
to  God  for  having  preserved  us  from  the  enemy.'  " 

But  the  Detroit  massacre,  serious  blow  though  it  was  to  the  Foxes  and  Mas- 
couten,  fell  far  short  of  the  destruction  of  "these  two  wicked  nations."  A 
report  made  by  a  Jesuit  priest  at  Mackinac  soon  after  its  occurrence  still  places 
the  number  of  their  warriors  at  five  hundred,  and  states  that  the  French  will 
always  have  reason  to  fear  them;  "for  the  Foxes,  Kickapoo  and  Mascouten  are 
found  everywhere,  and  they  are  a  people  without  pity  and  without  reason." 
Far  from  throwing  consternation  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy  Indians  it  trans- 
formed them  into  a  united  phalanx  of  implacable  hatred  against  the  French 
and  nearly  destroyed  the  fur  trade  of  the  upper  country.  They  even  concluded 
an  alliance  with  the  Sioux  and  opened  negotiations  with  the  Iroquois. 

POXES  BESIEGED  AT  BUTTE  DES  MORTS  (1716) 

In  the  spring  of  1716  the  French  again  moved  to  blot  out  the  Indian  menace 
to  their  prestige  in  the  great  region  between  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Mississippi 
Valley.  They  aimed  to  strike  at  the  root  of  the  trouble  by  finally  crushing  the 
Foxes  at  the  seat  of  their  power,  the  fortified  village  in  the  valley  of  the  Fox 
River  near  Butte  des  Morts.  The  expedition  which  started  from  Montreal  to 
accomplish  this  purpose  comprised  about  four  hundred  Frenchmen,  with  a  large 
supply  of  Indian  goods  and  a  complete  outfit  of  the  military  appliances  of  that 
day,  and  about  as  many  Indian  warriors  who  joined  the  party  en  route.  The 
Poxes  who  awaited  them  numbered  five  hundred  warriors  and  three  thousand 
women  and  children,  and  they  had  fortified  their  village  by  building  a  ditch 
around  it  and  three  rows  of  oak  stockades.  The  "fort"  was  besieged  in  ap- 
proved European  fashion,  and  the  French  commander  was  preparing  to  blow 
it  up  with  a  mine,  when  the  Indians  asked  for  terms  of  surrender.  Under 
these  terms  the  Foxes  were  required  to  make  peace  with  all  the  tribes  which 
were  allies  of  France,  and  to  compel  the  Kickapoo  and  Mascouten  to  do  like- 
wise. All  prisoners  held  by  them  were  to  be  released  and  they  were  to  supply 
slaves  from  distant  tribes  to  take  the  place  of  such  of  their  enemies  as  they 
nad  slain  during  the  war.  Finally,  they  were  to  pay  in  peltries  all  expenses 
incurred  by  the  French  in  their  military  preparation  for  the  campaign. 


46  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

FOXES  STILL   BAR  THE  FRENCH 

The  only  tangible  result  of  the  campaign  and  the  surrender  of  the  Foxes  was 
to  protect  the  lives  of  Frenchmen  for  several  years ;  but  they  renewed  their 
attacks  against  the  Illinois  at  Starved  Rock,  Peoria  and  other  points  and 
obtained  control  of  the  Des  Plaines-Illinois  route  from  Lake  Michigan  to  the 
Mississippi  as  they  had  previously  dominated  the  Fox- Wisconsin  waterways. 
They  pressed  the  Illinois  steadily  toward  the  southwest  and  soon  obtained  a 
foothold  in  the  Rock  River  Valley,  a  third  leading  waterway  between  the  basin 
of  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  It  is  little  wonder  that 
the  French  came  to  consider  the  Foxes  as  their  evil  genii  among  the  red  men 
of  the  west,  the  Iroquois  holding  the  same  position  among  the  Indians  of 
the  east. 

In  July,  1727,  nearly  a  decade  after  the  surrender  of  the  Wisconsin  Foxes 
to  the  French  and  fifteen  years  after  the  massacre  of  their  braves,  women  and 
children  at  Detroit,  they  were  still  the  stumbling  block  which  barred  the  prog- 
ress of  one  of  the  white  potentates  of  the  earth.  In  fact,  they  were  more  in 
the  way  of  the  French  than  ever  before.  They  had  pushed  the  Indian  allies 
of  France  from  the  splendid  waterways  and  valleys,  which  marked  the  great 
routes  of  travel,  trade  and  commerce  between  the  lower  lakes  and  the  Mississippi 
Valley.  Not  only  had  they  done  this,  but  they  had  maintained  their  alliance 
with  the  Sioux  and  were  friendly  with  the  Iroquois.  With  a  change  of  admin- 
istration in  Canada,  by  which  the  Marquis  de  Beauharnois  became  its  gov- 
ernor, the  French  renewed  their  efforts  to  remove  the  Foxes  from  their  way. 
After  a  fort  had  been  erected  on  the  Wisconsin  shore  of  Lake  Pepin  and  occu- 
pied by  a  French  garrison,  as  a  step  toward  the  severance  of  the  Foxes  from 
the  Sioux,  an  expedition  comprising  nearly  500  Frenchmen  and  1,700  savages, 
was  directed  against  the  Foxes  of  the  Green  Bay  region  in  the  summer  of  1728. 
This  allied  force,  so  formidable  for  the  times,  did  nothing  more  than  to  destroy 
several  abandoned  villages  and  many  corn  fields,  kill  a  few  squaws  and  old  men, 
and  beat  an  inglorious  retreat.  Fort  Beauharnois  at  Lake  Pepin  was  also 
abandoned.  As  the  French  soldiers  met  no  Fox  warriors  on  the  battlefield,  the 
conclusion  is  logical  that  they-  still  had  a  lively  respect  for  the  prowess  of 
their  savage  enemies. 

FRENCH    FORM   INDIAN   ALLIANCE   AGAINST   FOXES 

The  Canadian  administration  next  reverted  to  its  former  policy  of  setting 
their  allied  tribes  against  the  Foxes.  Urged  on  by  the  governor  ' '  to  destroy  the 
Foxes,  and  not  to  suffer  on  this  earth  a  demon  capable  of  confounding  or  oppos- 
ing our  friendly  alliance,"  the  Chippewa,  Ottawa,  Winnebago  and  Menominee 
all  engaged  in  forays  against  them.  The  Sioux  and  Iowa,  with  whom  they  had 
heretofore  maintained  friendly  relations,  now  denied  them  an  asylum  and  they 
were  assailed  from  every  side.  The  Winnebago,  who  had  long  lived  on  terms 
of  friendship  with  the  Foxes  had  turned  against  them.  Even  the  Sauk,  Mas- 
couten  and  Kickapoo  were  finally  won  over  by  the  French  emissaries,  and  noti- 
fied the  military  commanders  at  Fort  Chartres,  St.  Joseph  and  Miami  of  the 
contemplated  migration  of  the  Foxes  eastward  to  the  Iroquois  country. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  47 

THE  FOX  MASSACRE  OF  1730 

Their  desperate  situation  did  not  deter  the  Foxes  from  waging  bloody  war 
against  the  Illinois,  wherever  they  were  encountered,  and  in  the  summer  of  1730 
they  captured  some  members  of  that  tribe  near  Starved  Rock  and  burned  the 
son  of  one  of  its  chiefs.  Word  of  this  outrage  was  at  once  brought  to  the  com- 
mander at  Fort  Chartres,  several  miles  north  of  Kaskaskia  and  the  military 
center  of  the  Illinois  country.  The  commanders  at  Fort  Chartres,  St.  Joseph 
and  Miami  united  their  forces  to  be  sent  against  the  Foxes  until  they  num- 
bered more  than  1,200  French  and  Indians.  The  hard-pressed  Foxes  took  their 
stand  in  a  rude  fort  which  they  had  hastily  constructed  near  the  banks  of  a 
small  river.  The  locality  where  the  desperate  savages  awaited  the  break  of  tho 
war  storm  over  their  heads  has  been  approximately  determined  as  near  the  town 
of  Piano,  Kendall  County,  and  a  short  distance  north  of  the  Fox  River  of  Illinois. 

The  elder  De  Villiers,  commandant  at  St.  Joseph,  directed  the  entire  force 
and  under  his  directions  the  siege  was  pressed  with  vigor.  Trenches  were  opened 
and  gradually  approached  the  fort,  the  sorties  of  the  Foxes  were  beaten  back, 
and  at  the  end  of  a  week  or  more  the  famished  and  humbled  Indians  begged 
for  their  lives.  The  French  commander  was  disposed  to  grant  their  request, 
but  was  overborne  by  a  majority  of  his  men  and  the  Illinois  contingent  among 
his  red  allies.  The  Sauk,  who  were  kinsmen  of  the  Foxes,  were  dissatisfied 
with  this  decision  and  endeavored  secretly  to  aid  the  besieged.  Discovery  of 
this  plot  produced  an  uproar  in  the  camp  and  nearly  a  war  among  the  Indian 
allies  of  the  French.  Many  of  them  became  discouraged  and  200  of  the  Illi- 
nois warriors  deserted  in  a  body.  The  Foxes  were  pressed  more  hotly  than  ever 
and  by  the  building  of  a  redoubt  the  besieged  were  cut  off  from  escape  to 
the  river. 

"The  siege  had  gone  on  for  twenty-three  days  when  on  September  8th  a 
violent  storm  of  rain  and  thunder  came  on.  The  night  which  followed  was 
cold  and  stormy  and  under  cover  of  its  protection  the  Foxes  endeavored  to  make 
their  escape.  The  design  was  disclosed  to  the  French  by  the  crying  of  children 
and  the  besiegers  promptly  pursued  them.  During  the  darkness  it  was  impos- 
sible to  distinguish  friend  from  foe,  but  the  French  Indians  hung  on  the  flanks 
of  the  Foxes  and  with  the  dawn  began  an  indiscriminate  slaughter.  The  Fox 
warriors,  weak  from  hunger  and  long  exertion,  maintained  their  indomitable 
spirit  to  the  end.  The  women  and  children  and  old  men  walked  in  front,  and 
the  warriors  stationed  themselves  in  the  rear  to  shelter  them  from  the  enemy. 
But  their  line  was  speedily  broken.  Practically  the  entire  company  were  slain 
or  taken  captive,  to  be  tormented  or  reduced  to  slavery. ' ' 

The  massacre  of  1730  by  no  means  destroyed  the  Foxes  as  a  tribe  or  nation, 
but  from  that  time  for  a  century  the  Sauk,  with  whom  they  maintained  an 
alliance  and  who  had  not  been  so  much  subjected  to  the  wasting  attrition  of 
wars,  were  dominant  in  the  coalition.  It  was  the  Sacs,  or  Sauk,  who  during 
this  epoch  of  the  decline  of  the  Foxes  founded  their  village  on  the  north  bank 
of  the  Rock  River  about  three  miles  above  its  confluence  with  the  Mississippi. 
Afterward  they  ranged  the  Mississippi  on  both  sides  of  the  river  as  far  north 
as  the  mouth  of  the  "Wisconsin  and  up  that  stream  to  the  portage,  and  for 


48  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

years  were  the  controlling  factor  in  the  tribal  movements  of  the  Indians  in 
eastern  Iowa,  northwestern  Illinois  and  southwestern  Wisconsin. 

In  the  year  following  the  crushing  defeat  of  the  Foxes  near  Starved  Rock 
(1731),  two  of  their  chiefs  were  sent  to  Montreal  to  sue  for  peace;  but  while 
plotting  to  efface  the  tribe  from  the  face  of  the  earth  the  French  authorities 
lulled  its  members  into  a  feeling  of  security.  The  French  drew  in  their  claws, 
but  in  the  autumn  of  that  year  allowed  a  war  party  of  Christianized  Iroquois, 
Huron  and  Ottawa  to  be  sent  against  the  villages  of  the  Foxes  wherever  found. 
The  expedition  rounded  the  southern  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  stopped  at 
Chicago,  where  they  built  a  shelter  for  some  of  their  sick  warriors,  and  then 
headed  northwest  toward  the  great  bend  and  portage  in  the  Wisconsin  River, 
where  it  was  said  the  Foxes  had  assembled  another  village.  From  Chicago,  the 
war  party  first  pushed  on  westward  to  the  villages  of  the  Kickapoo  and  Mas- 
couten  on  the  Rock  River.  These  tribes  were  recent  adherents  to  the  French 
cause.  The  French-Indian  forces  were  informed  of  a  small  Fox  settlement  of 
four  or  five  lodges  in  the  vicinity,  and  knew  of  the  large  village  recently 
organized  by  the  Sauk  on  the  Wisconsin.  Supplying  guides  for  the  excursion 
to  the  Fox  village  on  the  Wisconsin,  the  Kickapoo  and  Mascouten  joined  the 
other  Indians  of  the  war  party,  and  the  expedition  proceeded  on  its  way.  The 
invaders  soon  came  upon  three  Fox  warriors,  who  retreated,  and  the  pursuit 
developed  the  principal  Fox  village  of  forty-six  lodges.  The  Foxes  had  been 
warned  of  the  coming  of  the  enemy,  but  were  defeated  in  the  engagement 
which  followed,  and  most  of  their  warriors  and  many  of  their  women  and 
children  were  slain  or  taken  captive.  Of  those  who  survived,  fifty  or  sixty 
men  went  to  Green  Bay  and  cast  themselves  on  the  mercy  of  De  Villiers,  who 
had  been  appointed  the  commandant  there. 

KIALA,  THE  FOX  CHIEF,  A  SCAPEGOAT 

The  romantic  story  is  told  that  the  war  chief  of  the  Foxes,  Kiala,  who  had 
long  been  the  implacable  foe  of  the  French,  voluntarily  journeyed  to  Green  Bay 
and  offered  himself  as  a  hostage,  or  a  scapegoat,  for  his  unfortunate  people. 
De  Villiers  carried  him  to  Montreal,  with  others  less  famed,  who  had  sur- 
rendered. The  governor  sent  him  to  Martinique,  where,  chained  in  a  slave 
gang,  he  soon  died  of  grief  and  hardship.  He  has  been  described  as  "the  insti- 
gator of  all  the  misdeeds  of  the  Foxes,"  but  his  noble  self-sacrifice  did  not 
relieve  their  condition. 

De  Villiers  returned  to  Green  Bay  bearing  orders  "to  take  every  proper 
precaution,  by  means  of  the  nations  which  are  faithful  to  us,  to  bring  all  the 
Reynards  to  Montreal  or  to  destroy  them."  In  the  event  the  "wretched  rem- 
nant" of  the  tribe  would  not  obey,  he  was  "to  kill  them  without  thinking  of 
making  a  single  prisoner,  so  as  not  to  leave  one  of  the  race  alive  in  the  upper 
country."  The  fate  of  those  taken  to  Canada  was,  of  course,  to  be  that  of 
Kiala,  reduction  to  slavery  either  in  Canada  or  the  West  Indies. 

SAUK-FOX  ALLIANCE  CEMENTED 

The  prosecution  of  such  bloody  measures  had  the  effect  of  cementing  the 
old-time  friendship  which  had  been  temporarily  broken  between  the  Sauk  and 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  49 

Foxes.  The  surviving  members  of  the  Fox  tribe  had  been  granted  asylum  in 
the  Sank  village  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the  modern  city  of  Green  Bay,  and 
thither  came  De  Villiers,  tracking  his  prey,  in  September,  1733.  Accompany- 
ing the  French  escort  were  two  of  his  sons.  The  French  commander  distributed 
his  small  force  so  as  to  cut  off  the  Foxes  from  escape,  and  then  held  a  parley 
with  the  chiefs  of  the  Sauk  village  and  ordered  them  to  deliver  the  Fox 
refugees.  This  they  refused  to  do  and  while  endeavoring  to  enter  their  camp 
to  secure  the  Foxes  the  Indians  fired  upon  the  French-Indian  forces  and 
killed  one  of  De  Villiers'  sons,  two  leading  French  officers  and  several  other 
soldiers.  For  three  days  the  Sauk  defended  their  fort  and  their  Fox  friends. 
They  then  abandoned  their  village  and  retreated  toward  the  southwest,  but 
toward  evening  were  overtaken  by  the  invaders  about  eight  leagues  away. 
A  sharp  engagement  ensued,  which  seems  to  have  been  a  pitched  battle,  with 
serious  fatalities  on  both  sides  considering  the  small  forces  engaged.  The 
locality  where  it  was  fought  is  known  as  Butte  des  Morts. 

As  well  stated  by  Professor  Quaife  in  his  Wisconsin  history:  "Whose  ever 
the  responsibility,  the  embroilment  of  the  French  with  the  Sauk  on  that 
autumn  day  in  1733  produced  consequences  which  endured  for  more  than 
a  century  and  left  an  abiding  mark  on  the  history  of  the  Western  country.  The 
Sauk,  having  now  to  fear  the  vengeance  of  France,  withdrew  from  the  bay 
where  they  had  lived  for  two  generations,  and  found  refuge  among  the  Sioux 
of  eastern  Iowa.  The  permanent  alliance  of  the  two  tribes,  which  endured  for 
decades  after  the  French  flag  had  disappeared  forever  from  North  America, 
dates  from  this  time.  From  this  time,  also,  dates  the  establishment  of  the 
allied  tribes  in  Southwestern  Wisconsin  and  along  the  Mississippi  in  the  neigh- 
boring states  of  Illinois  and  Iowa,  where  they  remained  in  firm  control  until 
displaced  by  the  on-coming  tide  of  American  settlement  in  the  second  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century." 

FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND  CLASH  IN  THE  OHIO  VALLEY 

For  fifteen  years  or  more  after  the  power  of  the  Foxes  was  broken  in  the 
northwest,  France  and  England  were  busy  across  the  water  in  their  endeavors 
to  disentangle  their  European  complications,  leaving  the  Indians  between  the 
Alleghanies  and  the  Mississippi  River  to  settle  their  quarrels  without  white 
interference.  With  the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  in  1748,  the  two  great  powers 
which  clashed  in  that  domain  proceeded  to  settle  their  differences.  As  their 
claims  overlapped  more  intimately  in  the  Ohio  Valley  than  elsewhere  and  that 
region  was  the  eastern  entrance  to  the  greater  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  the 
logic  of  circumstances  at  that  time  determined  the  theater  of  the  coming  con- 
flict. The  earliest  clashes  were  of  a  commercial  nature,  the  French  trading 
posts  and  those  established  by  the  Ohio  Land  Company  meeting  in  the  Alle- 
gheny region.  England  considered  these  advanced  trading  posts  as  indica- 
tions of  French  aggression  into  her  territory.  Governor  Dinwiddie  of  Virginia 
was  a  stockholder  in  the  Ohio  Land  Company  and  was  especially  interested  in 
its  extension,  as  well  as  concerned  in  the  limitation  of  French  influence.  He 
selected  Major  George  Washington,  the  young  adjutant  general  of  the  Virginia 
militia,   to  investigate  their  activities  in  the  Ohio  Valley.     In  company  with 


50  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Christopher  Gist,  the  agent  of  the  Ohio  Land  Company,  the  athletic  and  sturdy 
young  Virginian,  made  the  perilous  journey  in  the  late  fall  and  winter  of 
1753,  and  obtained  the  information  which  confirmed  the  English  in  their  sus- 
picions that  the  French  were  laying  their  plans  to  take  possession  of  the  entire 
valley. 

The  Ohio  Company  had  already  begun  the  construction  of  a  fort  at  the 
confluence  of  the  Alleghany  and  Monongahela  rivers,  which  thus  commanded 
the  head  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  and  in  the  spring  of  1754  Major  Washington  was 
ordered  thither  to  complete  it.  He  set  out  from  Alexandria,  Virginia,  with  a 
force  of  150  men,  but  was  so  delayed  that  when  he  arrived  at  his  objective 
he  found  that  the  enemy  had  forestalled  him.  A  force  of  about  1,000  French- 
men, with  a  small  park  of  light  artillery,  had  suddenly  appeared  before  the 
uncompleted  fort  and,  after  driving  away  the  few  militiamen  and  workmen 
who  formed  its  garrison,  had  taken  possession.  The  French  completed  the  work 
and  named  it  Fort  Duquesne  after  the  governor  of  Canada.  For  several  years 
thereafter,  Fort  Duquesne,  at  the  head  of  the  Ohio  Valley  and  Fort  Chartres, 
in  the  Kaskaskia  region  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  were  the  military  keynotes 
to  the  dominion  of  France  in  North  America.  In  the  very  year  that  the  English 
fort  was  seized  and  christened  Duquesne,  Fort  Chartres  was  erected  on  an 
enlarged  scale,  wood  being  replaced  by  stone  and  the  new  fortress  modernized 
in  construction  and  equipment.  In  fact,  it  was  afterward  pronounced  by  Eng- 
lish officers  as  the  ' '  most  convenient  and  best-built  fort  in  North  America. ' ' 

Soon  after  the  withdrawal  of  Washington  from  Fort  Duquesne  his  men 
attacked  and  defeated  a  small  French  force,  commanded  by  Sieur  de  Jumon- 
ville  de  Villiers  who  was  killed  in  the  engagement.  Coulon  de  Villiers  was 
then  sent  from  Montreal  to  Fort  Duquesne  to  avenge  the  death  of  his  brother, 
and  in  July,  1754,  attacked  Washington  with  a  greatly  superior  force  at  what 
was  known  as  Great  Meadows.  The  American  commander  had  erected  a  tem- 
porary fortification  which  he  called  Fort  Necessity.  He  was  obliged  to  sur- 
render, and  on  the  following  morning  (July  4th)  the  vanquished  were  per- 
mitted to  retire  to  Virginia,  leaving  the  French  in  control  of  the  Ohio  Valley. 
Their  possession  of  it  was  apparently  confirmed  by  the  disastrous  defeat  of 
General  Edward  Braddock  near  Fort  Duquesne  in  July,  1755.  With  the 
entrance  of  Pitt  into  the  war  movements  of  Great  Britain,  active  operations 
were  once  more  resumed  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

The  chief  objective  of  the  British  campaigns  for  the  control  of  the  Ohio 
Valley  continued  to  be  Fort  Duquesne,  although  before  it  was  finally  reduced 
it  was  necessary  to  break  the  military  power  of  France  on  the  North  American 
continent.  For  several  years,  however,  the  French  with  their  Indian  allies, 
were  uniformly  successful.  Even  when  Pitt  poured  his  British  regulars  into 
the  country,  it  was  long  before  they  could  adapt  themselves  to  the  Indian 
modes  of  warfare;  and  the  red  allies  of  France,  after  all,  were  the  determin- 
ing factor  of  the  British  defeats  which  marked  the  earlier  portion  of  the  war. 
The  years  1756  and  1757  were  years  of  disaster  to  the  British,  General  Mont- 
calm having  been  called  from  France  to  command  the  combined  forces  of  his 
country.  Oswego  was  burned  and  several  thousand  British  prisoners  taken. 
Montcalm  also  reduced  Fort  William  Henry  at  the  south  end  of  Lake  George 
and  the  gateway  to  Albany,  advancing  for  that  purpose  from    Ticonderoga. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  51 

Nearly  half  his  force  of  six  thousand  men  were  Indians.  They  represented 
no  less  than  forty  tribes  and  sub-tribes,  drawn  from  a  territory  which  stretched 
from  the  Atlantic  coast  to  Lake  Superior  and  beyond  the  Mississippi  and 
from  the  country  of  the  southern  Illinois.  Among  the  thousand  warriors 
who  had  come  from  the  west  in  response  to  the  summons  of  Montcalm  were 
Sauk,  Foxes,  Winnebago,  Menominee,  Chippewa,  Huron  and  Ottawa.  Among 
the  last-named  hand  was  Charles  Langlade,  the  half-breed  born  of  a  French 
officer  and  an  Ottawa  princess  and  claimed  by  some  weighty  authorities  as 
chiefly  responsible  for  Braddock's  defeat. 

When  Fort  William  Henry  fell  in  1757  before  the  allied  French  and  Indian 
forces,  its  garrison  set  out  for  Fort  Edward  under  the  protection  of  a  French 
escort.  .Mod teal tn  is  said  to  have  obtained  from  the  Indian  chiefs  in  the  expedi- 
tion a  promise  that  their  warriors  should  not  molest  the  English  prisoners. 
Whomsoever  was  at  fault,  the  unarmed  and  helpless  prisoners  were  attacked 
by  the  Indians  and  many  were  slain  or  captured  before  the  French  commander 
stayed  the  massacre.  One  of  the  colonial  officers  who  survived  the  massacre 
and  wrote  a  moving  description  of  his  experiences  was  Captain  Jonathan  Carver, 
a  young  New  England  man  and  civil  engineer  who  had  entered  the  service  of 
Great  Britain  in  her  military  operations  against  the  French.  But  more  of 
Captain  Carver  hereafter,  as  his  future  movements  directly  concern  the  explora- 
tions and  knowledge  of  the  Rock  River  Valley. 

The  first  step  toward  the  severance  of  French  communication  between  Canada 
and  the  Ohio  Valley  was  the  capture  and  burning  of  Fort  Frontenae  by  the 
British  in  August,  1758.  That  stronghold  was  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Ontario 
and  stood  upon  the  present  site  of  Kingston.  As  the  British  now  considered 
that  a  favorable  opportunity  had  arrived  for  the  capture  of  Fort  Duquesne, 
and  their  forces  in  America  had  been  continually  increasing,  an  army  of  over 
6,000  men  was  organized  at  what  is  now  Bedford,  a  number  of  miles  southeast 
of  Fort  Duquesne.  There  were  Scotch  Highlanders,  British  and  colonial  regu- 
lars and  militiamen  from  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  Maryland  and  North  Caro- 
lina. As  was  customary,  the  militiamen  were  considered  inferior  soldiers  to 
the  "regulars,"  but  General  Forbes,  the  general  commander,  had  the  wisdom  to 
use  their  knowledge  of  forest  and  Indian  warfare  in  the  operations  to  be  con- 
ducted against  Fort  Duquesne.  A  new  fort  was  erected  at  Raystown  (Bedford) 
and  a  line  of  blockhouses  built  to  secure  the  British  communications  along  the 
entire  route.  The  commander  also  sent  a  Moravian  missionary  to  the  French 
Indians  assembled  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Duquesne,  who  succeeded  in  severing 
the  allegiance  of  the  Ohio  tribes;  and  the  Delaware,  Shawnee  and  Mingoes 
laid  down  their  war  hatchets  and  left  for  their  homes.  The  steady  advance  of 
Forbes'  army  westward,  and  such  news  as  the  fall  of  Fort  Frontenae,  doubt- 
Less  had  their  bearings  upon  the  determination  of  the  Indians  in  their  desertion 
of  the  French  cause.  The  French  commander  at  Fort  Duquesne  was  also  short 
of  provisions.  At  Ldgonier,  a  few  miles  from  Pittsburgh  (now  in  Westmoreland 
County),  the  British  erected  another  fort,  as  an  advanced  post  of  the  invaders. 
It  was  in  command  of  Henry  Bouquet,  General  Forbes  being  ill  and  unable 
actively  to  take  the  field.  A  reconnoitering  party  of  Highlanders  which  he  sent 
against  Fort  Duquesne  was  routed  with  heavy  losses.  But  this  disaster  did  not 
turn  aside  the  main  advance,  and  on  November  25,  1758,  when  the  column  of 

Vol.  1—4 


52  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Forbes'  troops  came  in  sight  of  Fort  Duquesne  it  was  found  a  mass  of  smoking 
ruins.  The  Indian  allies  had  deserted  the  French  as  a  body  and  the  French 
garrison  had  blown  up  the  fort  the  night  before.  A  portion  of  the  soldiers  had 
started  down  the  Ohio  toward  the  Illinois,  and  another  in  the  opposite  direction 
to  the  French  posts  at  Venango  and  Presque  Isle.  On  the  site  of  the  ruined  fort 
were  erected  a  stockade  and  cabins,  to  which  Forbes  gave  the  name  of  Pitts- 
burgh. 

Then  Fort  Niagara  was  invested  by  the  British,  a  force  of  western  Indians 
and  Frenchmen  who  had  collected  for  the  recovery  of  Fort  Duquesne  came  to 
its  assistance  and  were  defeated,  and  the  second  French  stronghold  which  might 
be  considered  an  outpost  of  the  Ohio  Valley  was  compelled  to  surrender.  The 
capture  of  Quebec,  in  1759,  through  the  historic  battle  known  as  the  Heights 
of  Abraham,  at  which  both  Montcalm  and  Wolfe  lost  their  lives,  decided  the 
fate  of  Canada  and  the  Valley  of  the  Ohio. 

ILLINOIS   COUNTRY   REFUSES   AID   TO    PONTIAC 

The  campaigns  of  the  British  against  the  French  and  Indians  in  the  east 
seriously  drew  from  the  man-power  of  the  Illinois  country.  Many  of  the  Indians 
of  that  region  were  drawn  into  the  conflict  and  the  French  garrison  at  Fort 
Chartres  was  much  weakened. 

Pontiac 's  war  of  1761-65,  which  was  a  fierce  protest  of  the  great  Ottawa 
tribe  led  by  the  wily  and  able  chief  against  the  occupation  of  former  French 
territory  by  the  British  authorities,  had  no  direct  effect  upon  the  making  of 
history  for  the  Illinois  country.  In  short,  the  Sauk  and  Foxes,  the  Menominee 
and  Winnebago,  held  aloof  from  his  conspiracy,  which  was  largely  composed 
of  more  northern  and  eastern  tribes.  The  active  participants  in  the  war  were 
the  Ottawa,  Shawnees  and  Delawares.  and  its  immediate  theater  embraced  the 
western  frontiers  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  It  was  not  until  the  Shawnees 
and  Delawares  had  been  defeated  by  the  British  and  made  their  peace  that 
Pontiac  renewed  his  efforts  in  the  Illinois  country  to  revive  the  war.  St.  Ange, 
in  command  at  Fort  Chartres,  expressed  his  inability  to  support  the  Ottawa 
chief  with  arms,  ammunition  or  warriors.  Recognizing  that  the  British  held 
the  reins  of  power,  in  August,  1765,  Pontiac  executed  a  treaty  of  peace  with 
them,  and  less  than  four  years  afterward  was  said  to  have  been  killed  by  a 
drunken  Kaskaskia  Indian  at  Cahokia,  Illinois,  opposite  St.  Louis. 

CAPTAIN    CARVER   AND   THE   SAUK 

When  Major  Robert  Rogers,  a  New  Hampshire  man  who  had  made  a  wide 
reputation  during  the  war  with  the  French  and  Indians  as  a  ranger,  arrived 
at  Fort  Mackinac  to  commence  his  task  of  taking  over  the  posts  of  the  North- 
west from  the  French,  Captain  Jonathan  Carver  was  a  member  of  his  com- 
pany. It  appears  that  Rogers  had  gone  over  the  heads  of  his  colonial  superiors 
and  secured  his  commission  and  instructions  from  the  home  government  in 
London.  He  therefore  made  very  extensive  plans,  both  for  making  Mackinac 
the  center  of  Indian  negotiation  on  the  continent  and  a  magnificent  programme 
for  explorations.     The  latter   included   explorations  for  the   discovery   of  the 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  53 

Northwest  passage.  To  one  of  these  Captain  Carver  was  attached.  The  expedi- 
tion with  which  he  was  identified  wintered  on  the  Mississippi  in  1767,  but  was 
deserted  by  the  guides  who  refused  to  conduct  the  leaders  up  the  headwaters 
of  the  river  into  the  country  of  the  Sionx  and  Chippewa.  Rogers  also  had 
devised  his  plans  on  too  large  a  scale  and  could  not  finance  them  from  the 
government  funds.  He  was  therefore  superseded  by  others  less  ambitious  and 
more  practical,  and  with  the  downfall  of  Rogers  the  employment  of  Carver 
also  terminated. 

Carver,  however,  had  a  claim  for  his  services  against  the  British  govern- 
ment and,  while  pressing  it  in  London,  published  a  book  covering  his  travels 
in  what  is  now  Wisconsin  for  a  period  of  fully  a  year.  It  obtained  wide  notice, 
as  Englishmen  were  eager  to  learn  what  manner  of  country  had  come  into  their 
possession,  and  Carver's  language  was  enthusiastic  and  graphic.  He  described 
and  he  prophesied  with  charm  and  vigor. 

Throughout  his  journey  Carver  paid  much  attention  to  the  natural  resources 
of  the  country.  The  land  adjoining  the  head  of  Green  Bay  he  described  as 
"very  fertile,  generally  level  and  the  prospective  view  of  it  pleasing  and  exten- 
sive." Around  Lake  Winnebago  the  land  is  again  reported  fertile,  "abound- 
ing with  grapes,  plums  and  other  fruit."  The  Winnebago  raised  great  quanti- 
ties of  Indian  corn,  beans,  pumpkins,  squashes  and  watermelons,  while  the  lake 
abounded  with  fish  and  in  autumn  with  wild  fowl  of  superior  excellence.  The 
latter  quality  Carver  ascribes  to  the  wild  rice  on  which  they  fed. 

The  contest  between  the  French  and  the  British  for  the  possession  of  the 
Ohio  Valley,  winch  ended  in  1748  with  the  peace  of  Aix  La  Chapelle,  had 
only  an  indirect  bearing  upon  the  movements  of  this  history — only  that  the 
control  of  the  Ohio  Valley  opened  an  avenue  to  the  Mississippi. 

JONATHAN    CARVER   AND    THE   MODEL   SAUK   VILLAGE 

Captain  Jonathan  Carver,  who  was  identified  in  rather  a  misty  way  with 
the  initial  steps  of  taking  over  the  posts  of  the  Northwest  from  the  French, 
managed  to  become  attached  to  a  British  expedition  which  found  itself  stranded 
in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  in  the  winter  of  1767.  He  wrote  an  interest- 
ing book  of  his  travels,  graphically  describing  the  country  and  the  Indians 
which  he  encountered.  On  beautiful  Sauk  Prairie,  where  now  are  the  twin 
cities  of  Sauk  City  and  Prairie  du  Sac,  Sauk  County,  Wisconsin,  Carver  came 
upon  one  of  the  leading  villages  of  the  tribe.  "This  is  the  largest  and  best 
built  Indian  town  I  ever  saw,"  he  reports.  "It  contains  about  ninety  houses, 
each  large  enough  for  several  families.  These  are  built  of  hewn  plank,  neatly 
joined,  and  covered  with  bark  so  completely  as  to  keep  out  the  most  penetrat- 
ing rains.  Before  the  doors  are  placed  comfortable  sheds  in  which  the  in- 
habitants sit.  when  the  weather  will  permit,  and  smoke  their  pipes.  The  streets 
are  regular  and  spacious;  so  that  it  appears  more  like  a  civilized  town  than 
the  abode  of  savages.  The  land  near  the  town  is  very  good.  In  their  planta- 
tions, which  lie  adjacent  to  their  houses  and  which  are  neatly  laid  out,  they 
raise  great  quantities  of  Indian  corn,  beans,  melons,  etc.,  so  that  this  place  is 
esteemed  the  best  market  for  traders  to  furnish  themselves  with  provisions  of 
any  within  eight  hundred  miles  of  it." 


54  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

BIRTH  AND   EARLY    MANHOOD   OF   BLACK   HAWK 

The  year  that  Captain  Carver  visited  the  model  Sauk  village  on  the  Wis- 
consin River,  not  far  southwest  of  the  grand  Portage,  an  event  occurred  in 
the  metropolis  of  that  tribe  near  the  mouth  of  the  Rock  River.  To  the  tribal 
medicine  man  and  his  wife  was  born  a  son,  descended  for  generations  without 
admixture  of  blood  from  ancestors  who  were  said  to  have  fathered  the  nation 
in  the  Canadian  forests  of  the  Montreal  region.  The  father  of  this  pappoose 
was  Pyesa,  a  grandson  of  Nanamakee,  or  Thunder,  a  descendant  of  other 
Thunders  and  evidently  in  the  line  of  the  famous  medicine  men  of  his  people. 

The  full-blooded  Sauk  thus  born  to  the  tribal  medicine  man  was  given  a 
name  which  has  been  variously  spelled,  but  invariably  translated  as  Black 
Sparrow  Hawk,  which  was  shortened  into  more  direct  and  warlike  form  as 
Black  Hawk.  As  Black  Hawk  inherited  no  standing  as  a  chief,  in  order  to 
assume  leadership  in  his  tribe  he  must  attain  it  as  a  warrior.  He  developed 
into  a  sturdy  youth,  with  bright,  restless  eyes,  Roman  nose  and  other  pro- 
nounced features.  He  was  thus  developing  into  early  youth  at  Saukenuk,  when 
Colonel  George  Rogers  Clark  was  endeavoring  to  securely  occupy  the  Illinois 
Country  for  the  United  States. 

In  1778,  in  response  to  the  messengers  of  Colonel  Clark,  the  Sauk  sent 
delegates  to  treat  with  him  at  Cahokia,  opposite  St.  Louis  on  the  Illinois  side 
of  the  Mississippi.  The  conference  won  many  of  the  Sauk  over  to  the  Amer- 
ican cause,  although  throughout  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  long  afterward, 
there  were  distinct  bands  of  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  divided  in  their  allegiance 
between  the  Americans  and  the  British.  Among  the  friends  whom  Colonel 
Clark  found  at  Saukenuk  none  was  more  dependable  than  Le  Main  Cassee. 
a  Sauk  Indian.  He  not  only  prevented  the  British  agent  from  securing  re- 
cruits for  his  attack  upon  the  Illinois  posts  held  by  Clark,  but  induced  nearly 
half  of  the  Indians  already  recruited  to  desert  the  British.  Those  who  were 
friendly  to  the  Americans  were  called  by  the  British  commanders  "Bostonian 
Sauks, "  and  the  Americans  themselves,  "  Bostonians. " 

At  a  comparatively  recent  period,  a  letter  in  French  was  found  in  the 
British  Museum,  London,  written  by  a  British  officer  and  agent  to  Major 
DePeyster,  the  commandant  at  Michilimackinac,  picturing  the  situation  in  the 
Illinois  country  during  April,  1779.  Two  of  its  pertinent  paragraphs  read: 
"Having  learned  that  Governor  Hamilton  was  in  winter  quarters  at  the  Post 
(Vincennes),  to  continue  in  the  spring  his  expedition,  I  set  out  to  reinforce 
him  by  way  of  the  Mississippi  River  with  280  men — Puants  (Winnebago), 
Feauxavoines,  Foxes,  Ottawas  and  Seauteaux.  After  having  made  all  the  ab- 
solutely necessary  expenditures,  I  descended  the  Mississippi  to  the  Rock  River 
(it  was  then  the  4th  of  April),  where  I  found  the  Sauks  in  small  numbers, 
and  a  man  named  Le  Main  Cassee  (the  Crushed  Hand),  to  whom  I  began  to 
speak  in  your  name;  at  which  he  stopped  up  his  ears  and  would  listen  to 
nothing,  and  even  ridiculed  the  threats  you  had  made  against  the  Sauks  and 
Foxes  last  fall,  to  the  effect  that  if  you  noticed  that  they  were  with  the  Bos- 
tonians, you  would  cut  them  off  from  the  traders ;  and  he  answered  me,  he 
and  all  the  others,  that  they  had  arrows  to  obtain  a  living  and  that  they  were 
not  worrying  about  that.     Not  satisfied  with  this  insolence,  I  was  forced  to 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  55 

leave  120  men,  and  I  believe  if  they  had  been  strong  enough  they  would  have 
seized  me  to  deliver  me  to  the  Bostonians. 

"I  continued  on  my  way  again  with  the  rest  of  the  party,  to  where  I  sup- 
posed the  Feanxavoines  were,  as  well  as  the  Sauks  from  Wisconsin,  who  were 
all  there,  having  arrived  the  6th.  I  did  not  find  any  of  your  children,  but 
I  found  some  Bostonian  Sauks.  They  refused  my  request,  after  I  had  spoken 
to  them  in  your  name,  having  received  word  from  the  rebels,  and  even  threatened 
me  to  give  information  about  my  movements  to  the  Bostonians.  While  this 
parleying  was  going  on,  news  arrived  that  Governor  Hamilton  was  captured 
(at  Vincennes).  This  caused  murmuring  in  my  little  camp,  and  still  the 
Puants  and  Feauxavoines  assured  me  that  they  would  never  forget  me,  their 
father,  and  that  they  would  sooner  die." 

Notwithstanding  the  friendly  attitude  and  practical  assistance  of  many  of 
the  Sauk,  who  were  selling  their  horses  and  provisions  to  Clark's  men,  there 
was  a  strong  enemy  faction  which  had  to  be  awed  by  the  American  army. 
How  this  was  accomplished  is  thus  told  by  John  H.  Hauberg,  the  Rock  Island 
historian,  in  his  booklet  on  "Black  Hawk's  Watch  Tower":  "In  1780,  when 
a  British  force  of  approximately  one  thousand  descended  the  Mississippi  and 
attacked  the  Spanish  post  of  St.  Louis  and  the  Illinois  village  of  Cahokia, 
British  failure  at  both  places  was  laid  to  the  Sauk  and  Fox  Indians,  who  had 
been  induced  to  join  in  the  expedition,  but  who  at  the  last  moment  remembered 
their  past  friendly  relations  with  those  whom  they  were  now  expected  to  engage 
in  battle.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  Sauk  and  Fox  Indians  on  this  oc- 
casion held  the  balance  of  power  as  between  the  British  and  Americans  in 
the  Illinois  country,  for  the  situation  of  the  latter  was  desperate.  They  had 
scarcely  anything  on  which  to  stand  except  the  grim  determination  of  their 
leader,  Colonel  Clark. 

"Unfortunately,  in  time  of  war,  the  innocent  suffer  alike  with  the  guilty. 
In  order  to  show  the  hostile  Indians  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  and  Great 
Lakes  region  that  his  army  had  teeth  and  would  retaliate,  Colonel  Clark  dis- 
patched Colonel  John  Montgomery,  with  350  men,  hot  on  the  trail  of  the 
defeated  British  force,  to  destroy  and  lay  waste  the  Indian  villages  to  the 
north.  Leaving  their  fleet  of  boats  at  Peoria,  Colonel  Montgomery  and  his 
men  struck  out  into  the  wilderness,  the  trails  bringing  them  to  the  Watch 
Tower  village  of  Sauks.  The  hundreds  of  Sauk  warriors  there  are  generally 
reported  to  have  been  'so  recently  defeated,  they  had  no  fight  left  in  them.' 
At  any  rate,  Montgomery  met  with  no  opposition,  and  the  Sauk  village,  the 
home  of  our  friend,  Le  Main  Cassee,  went  up  in  flames. 

"But  Montgomery,  too,  found  himself  a  defeated  man,  for  his  supplies 
were  exhausted.  He  could  proceed  no  farther,  and  it  was  with  the  greatest 
of  suffering  from  hunger,  exposure  and  fatigue  that  he  made  the  return 
journey." 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  Black  Hawk  was  in  his  sixteenth  year, 
making  progress  as  a  Sauk  warrior.  At  fifteen,  having  wounded  an  enemy, 
he  was  permitted  to  assume  war  paint  and  feathers  and  enroll  himself  as  a 
Brave.  Not  long  afterward  (in  1783),  he  joined  a  war  party  which  went 
against  the  Osages,  killed  and  scalped  an  enemy,  and  was  thereafter  allowed 
to  mingle  in  the  scalp  dance.     His  standing  as  a  youthful  warrior  was  further 


56  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

advanced  by  the  part  which  he  took  in  other  campaigns  against  the  Osage 
villages  on  the  Missouri. 

For  nearly  twenty  years  thereafter,  the  restless  and  fierce  spirit  of  war 
which  was  always  astir  in  the  breast  of  Black  Hawk  made  the  rebuilt  Sauk 
village  near  the  mouth  of  the  Rock  River  the  hotbed  of  bloody  excursions 
into  the  territory  of  the  Osages  and  Cherokees  beyond  the  Mississippi.  The 
first  successful  expedition  of  magnitude  which  he  led  was  executed  when  Black 
Hawk  was  in  his  nineteenth  year,  in  1786.  At  the  head  of  about  two  hundred 
braves  he  and  his  followers  routed  and  almost  annihilated  an  equal  number 
of  Osages.  Fully  half  of  the  Osages  were  killed  outright  and  even  the  wounded 
were  scalped,  or  driven  from  the  country.  Five  men  and  one  squaw  are  said 
to  have  been  killed  by  Black  Hawk,  and  in  his  so-called  "  autobiography, " 
published  soon  after  the  war  with  which  his  name  is  associated,  he  is.  repre- 
sented as  having  said,  "I  had  the  good  fortune  to  take  all  their  scalps."  The 
head  warrior  of  the  expedition,  however,  claims  that  the  squaw  was  killed 
accidentally,  although  he  could  not  forbear  adding  her  scalp  to  his  belt. 

A  treaty  of  peace  was  concluded  with  the  Osages  soon  after  they  sustained 
this  crushing  defeat  by  Black  Hawk's  warriors.  Their  fierce  leader  then  or- 
ganized a  party  to  invade  the  Cherokee  country  south  of  St.  Louis.  Black 
Hawk's  father,  who  was  averse  to  the  project,  accompanied  the  reckless  young 
leader  and  his  fiery  young  men  on  this  warlike  mission,  thinking  perhaps  to 
curb  their  passions  or  protect  them  through  the  sorceries  of  his  faith.  The 
enemy  was  reached,  after  a  long  canoe  trip,  on  the  Merameg  River  near  St. 
Louis,  but  although  the  Cherokees  had  a  much  larger  force  than  the  Sauk 
the  ferocity  of  Black  Hawk's  attack  carried  all  before  it.  It  is  claimed  that 
the  enemy  lost  twenty-eight  and  the  Sauk  but  seven;  but  among  the  killed 
of  the  invaders  was  Pyesa.  His  loss  was  considered  irreparable.  He  appears 
to  have  gained  the  same  influence  upon  the  tribe  that  Keokuk  earned,  years 
afterward,  as  the  rival  and  checkmate  against  the  ill-judged  actions  of  Black 
Hawk. 

By  the  death  of  Pyesa,  Black  Hawk  fell  heir  to  the  medicine  bag.  He 
immediately  returned  to  his  village,  blacked  his  face,  held  and  manipulated 
the  magic  bag  for  the  succeeding  five  years,  varying  his  religious  functions 
with  hunting,  fishing  and  meditation.  During  that  period,  he  claims  that  the 
Osages  were  constantly  harassing  his  people.  The  Iowas,  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Mississippi,  were  also  thus  troubled.  In  1800,  the  Iowas  and  the  Sauk 
made  common  cause  against  the  Osages,  and  about  600  of  the  united  force 
under  Black  Hawk  (again  the  blood-thirsty  and  intrepid  warrior)  moved  against 
their  southern  enemy,  then  quite  unprepared  and  unsuspecting.  The  large 
Osage  village  of  forty  lodges  was  destroyed  and  every  inhabitant  save  two 
squaws  was  put  to  death.  Upon  returning  to  Saukenuk,  Black  Hawk  made 
a  great  feast,  at  which  the  grand  event  was  celebrated,  his  personal  participa- 
tion in  it  consisting  of  the  killing  of  seven  men  and  two  boys. 

Immediately  afterward,  Black  Hawk  collected  another  party  and  set  out 
to  invade  the  southern  country  of  the  Cherokees.  But  it  was  almost  deserted 
and  the  disgusted  Sauk  warriors  returned  to  their  village.  This  failure  to 
increase  his  reputation  as  a  war  chief  perhaps  prompted  him  to   undertake, 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  57 

in  1803,  the  most  extensive  campaign  of  his  life  against  the  combined  forces 
of  the  Chippewa,  Osages  and  Kaskaskias.  Seven  pitched  battles  and  numerous 
skirmishes  were  fought  in  this  campaign,  which  netted  to  the  Sauk  fully  one 
hundred  of  the  enemy  killed,  of  whom  Black  Hawk  is  credited  with  thirteen 
of  the  bravest  warriors  in  the  ranks  of  his  opponents. 

BLACK    HAWK    TURNS    HIS    BACK    ON    AMERICANS 

Black  Hawk  concluded  this  campaign  about  the  time  that  Louisiana  be- 
came a  possession  of  the  United  States.  During  the  Spanish  domination,  the 
Sauk  warrior  had  been  a  periodical  visitor  to  St.  Louis,  accepting  frequent 
presents  and  becoming  very  friendly  to  the  governor,  whom  he  designated  as 
his  "Spanish  father."  The  publication  written  by  a  printer  from  statements 
made  by  Antoine  Le  Claire,  a  half-breed  Indian  interpreter,  and  Colonel 
George  Davenport,  the  Indian  trader,  and  issued  under  the  designation  of  an 
"autobiography,"  puts  these  words  in  the  mouth  of  Black  Hawk:  "Soon 
alter  the  Americans  arrived  I  took  my  band  and  went  to  take  leave  for  the 
last  time  of  our  father.  The  Americans  came  to  see  him  also.  Seeing  them 
approach,  we  passed  out  of  one  door  as  they  entered  another,  and  immediately 
started  in  our  canoes  for  our  village  on  Rock  River,  not  liking  the  change 
any  more  than  our  friends  appeared  to  at  St.  Louis.  On  arriving  at  St.  Louis, 
we  were  given  the  news  that  strange  people  had  taken  St.  Louis  and  we  should 
never  see  our  Spanish  father  again.  This  information  made  all  our  people 
sorry. ' ' 

When  the  United  States  came  into  possession  of  Louisiana,  the  govern- 
ment under  the  direction  of  Jefferson  immediately  planned  to  bring  peace  to 
the  warring  tribes  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi  River.  The  long-time  feud 
between  the  Sauk  and  the  Osages  was  then  the  uppermost  and  most  serious 
contention  between  them  and  threatened  to  complicate  the  relations  between 
the  Spanish,  British  and  American  occupants  of  the  soil.  The  former  owners 
were  still  jealous  of  the  Americans  who  were  coming  to  claim  the  land,  and 
the  Indians  were  yet  considered  as  possible  allies.  William  Henry  Harrison, 
governor  of  Indiana  Territory  and  District  of  Louisiana,  as  well  as  super- 
intendent of  Indian  affairs  and  commissioner  of  the  United  States  delegated 
to  conclude  necessary  treaties  between  the  Northwestern  tribes  and  the  united 
Sauk  and  Eoxes,  was  the  great  agent  in  this  proposed  work  of  pacification. 
He  first  concluded  treaties  with  the  Kaskaskia  and  Wabash  tribes  by  which 
the  United  States  obtained  a  large  extent  of  country  south  of  the  Illinois  River, 
and  then  turned  his  attention  to  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  who  roamed  up  and  down 
the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  far  up  the  Wisconsin,  Rock  and  Illinois  valleys. 
Except  that  they  had  founded  a  few  villages  in  this  wide  domain,  they  were 
restless  and  warring  nomads,  and  through  certain  of  their  chiefs,  professed 
their  willingness  to  follow  the  example  of  the  Kaskaskia  and  Wabash  tribes — 
that  is,  to  cede  the  lands  over  which  they  roamed  and  which  they  claimed, 
in  exchange  for  government  annuities.  The  upper  portions  of  these  valleys. 
as  well  as  the  western  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  had  been  occupied  with  more 
or  less  permanency  by  the  Winnebago  and  the  Pottawatomi. 


58  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

SAUK    AND    FOXES    DIVIDED    IN    FEALTY 

Midway  in  1804  the  murder  of  three  American  citizens  by  a  band  of  Sauk 
in  the  country  above  the  Missouri  called  for  an  investigation  by  the  United 
States  to  fix  the  responsibility  and  hasten  the  peaceful  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment. In  June  of  that  year,  Governor,  Superintendent  and  Commissioner 
Harrison  was  therefore  directed  by  the  president  to  assemble  responsible  chiefs 
and  head  men  of  the  united  Sac  (Sauk)  and  Fox  tribes  at  St.  Louis.  The 
war  party  of  the  Indian  Nation  favored  the  protection  of  the  murderers  at 
any  cost,  but  more  conservative  counsels  prevailed,  and  one  of  the  chiefs  who 
had  been  the  leader  in  the  tribal  division  opposed  to  the  United  States  offered 
himself  as  a  hostage  to  Governor  Harrison.  Upon  the  arrival  of  the  leading 
representatives  of  the  united  tribes,  a  positive  assurance  of  penitence  was  given 
and  a  pledge  that  the  tribes  would  never  in  future  lift  the  tomahawk  against 
the  United  States. 

THE    TREATY    OF    1804 

Followed  the  negotiations  for  a  formal  treaty  of  session  and  peace,  and 
on  the  third  day  of  November,  1804,  Governor  Harrison  and  the  five  chiefs 
who  were  parties  to  it  subscribed  to  its  provisions.  The  agreement  was  to 
take  effect  upon  ratification  by  the  President  and  Senate  of  the  United  States. 
Under  these  conditions  it  became  law  on  December  31,  1804.  On  the  part  of 
the  Indian  nation,  the  treaty  was  subscribed  to  by  the  chiefs  Pashepaho  (the 
Stabber),  head  chief  of  the  Sauk;  Quashquame  (Jumping  Fish),  Layowvois, 
Ouchequaha  (Sun  Fish)  and  Hashequarhiqua  (the  Bear),  in  the  presence  of 
an  imposing  array  of  United  States  officials  and  army  officers;  and  the  name 
of  William  Henry  Harrison  led  all  the  rest. 

By  the  treaty  of  1804  the  United  States  received  "the  united  Sac  and  Fox 
tribes  into  their  friendship  and  protection  and  said  tribes  agree  to  consider 
themselves  under  the  protection  of  the  United  States  and  no  other  power  what- 
soever."  The  Indian  nation  ceded  50,000  acres  of  land  to  the  United  States 
in  Missouri,  Wisconsin  and  Illinois,  the  boundaries  of  the  great  tract  being  as 
follows :  Beginning  at  a  point  on  the  Missouri  River  opposite  the  mouth  of 
the  Gasconade  River  (east  of  the  central  part  of  the  present  state  of  Missouri)  ; 
thence  in  a  direct  course  so  as  to  strike  the  River  Jeffreon  at  a  distance  of 
thirty  miles  from  its  mouth  and  down  the  said  Jeffreon  to  the  Mississippi; 
thence  up  the  Mississippi  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  River,  and  up  the 
same  to  a  point  thirty-six  miles  in  a  direct  line  from  the  mouth  of  said  river ; 
thence,  by  a  direct  line  to  the  point  where  the  Fox  River  of  Illinois  leaves  the 
small  lake  called  Sakaegan;  thence  down  the  Fox  River  to  the  Illinois  and 
down  the  same  to  the  Mississippi.  These  bounds,  of  course,  included  the  Rock 
River  Valley.  The  immediate  consideration  for  the  cession  consisted  of  goods 
to  the  value  of  $2,234.50.  It  was  also  stipulated  that  the  United  States  should 
deliver  to  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  $1,000  worth  of  goods  yearly — $600  to  the  Sauk 
and  $400  to  the  Foxes.  The  tribes  stipulated,  through  their  chiefs  (as  was 
then  understood),  "that  a  part  of  their  annuity  should  be  furnished  in  do- 
mestic   animals,    implements    of    husbandry    and    other    utensils    convenient 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  59 

for  them,  or  in  compensation  to  useful  artificers,  who  may  reside  with 
or  near  them  and  be  employed  for  their  benefit."  As  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  had  already  been  extended  to  the  country  embraced  by  the 
ceded  lauds,  the  treaty  provided  that  all  offenses,  such  as  robbery,  violence  and 
murder,  should  be  punished  through  cooperation  of  the  Superintendent  of 
Indian  All  airs  with  the  chiefs  of  the  tribes,  whether  committed  by  whites  or 
reds.  White  settlers  upon  lands  which  were  still  the  property  of  the  Sauk 
and  Foxes  should  be  removed,  while  the  Indians  should  have  the  privilege  of 
iiving  and  hunting  upon  the  tracts  which  they  had  ceded  to  the  United  States. 
No  persons  should  be  allowed  to  trade  in  the  Indian  country  without  a  license 
from  the  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs,  or  other  person  appointed  by  the 
President  for  the  purpose ;  and  in  order  to  put  a  stop  to  the  abuses  practiced 
by  private  traders  upon  the  Indians,  the  United  States  agreed  to  establish 
trading  houses  or  factories  where  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  should  be  supplied 
with  goods  at  a  more  reasonable  rate  than  they  had  been  accustomed  to  pro- 
cure them.  The  tribes  thus  brought  under  the  protection  of  the  United  States 
agreed  to  make  peace  with  the  Osages.  Finally,  provision  was  made  for  a 
cession  of  land,  not  exceeding  two  miles  square,  either  on  the  upper  side  of 
the  Wisconsin  or  the  right  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  for  the  establishment  of 
a  military  post,  and  for  a  safe  passage  of  authorized  traders  and  travelers 
through  the  Indian  country.  An  additional  article  agreed  "that  nothing  in 
this  treaty  contained  shall  affect  the  claim  of  any  individual  or  individuals 
who  may  have  obtained  grants  of  land  from  the  Spanish  Government  and  which 
are  not  included  within  the  general  boundary  line  laid  down  in  this  treaty: 
Provided,  that  such  grants  have  at  any  time  been  made  known  to  the  said  tribes 
and  recognized  by  them." 

It  was  this  treaty  which  looked  so  fair  on  its  face  that,  somewhat  less  than 
thirty  years  afterward  caused  the  Black  Hawk  War.  After  it  was  all  over, 
and  its  leader  a  prisoner,  appeared  the  autobiography,  or  biography  of  Black 
Hawk,  which  passed  through  so  many  hands  before  it  was  finally  published  that 
doubts  are  thrown  upon  not  a  few  of  its  statements.  It  is  common  report, 
however,  that  Black  Hawk  always  claimed  that  the  treaty  of  1804  was  not 
the  voice  of  his  people,  and  the  "autobiography"  tells  the  story  thus:  "Some 
time  afterwards  (following  the  advent  of  the  Americans  to  St.  Louis  and 
Louisiana  |  a  boat  came  up  the  river  with  a  young  American  chief  (Lieutenant, 
subsequently  General,  Zebulon  Pike)  and  a  small  party  of  soldiers.  We  heard 
of  him  by  runners  soon  after  he  had  passed  Salt  River  (which  flows  into  the 
Mississippi  below  Hannibal,  Mo.).  Some  of  our  young  braves  watched  him 
every  day  to  see  what  sort  of  people  he  had  on  board.  The  boat  at  length 
arrived  at  Rock  River  and  the  young  chief  came  on  shore  with  his  interpreter, 
made  a  speech  and  gave  us  some  presents.  We,  in  turn,  presented  him  with 
meal  and  such  provisions  as  we  could  spare. 

"We  were  all  well  pleased  with  the  speech  of  the  young  chief.  He  gave 
us  good  advice;  said  out  American  father  would  treat  us  well.  He  presented 
lis  an  American  flag,  which  was  hoisted.  He  then  requested  us  to  pull  down 
our  British  Mags  and  give  him  our  British  medals,  promising  to  send  us  others 
on  his  return  to  St.  Louis.    This  we  declined,  as  we  wished  to  have  two  fathers. 


60  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

*  *  *  We  did  not  see  any  Americans  again  for  some  time,  being  supplied 
with   goods  by  British  traders. 

"Some  moons  after  this  young  chief  descended  the  Mississippi,  one  of  our 
people  killed  an  American  and  was  confined  in  the  prison  at  St.  Louis  for 
the  offense.  We  held  a  council  at  our  village  to  see  what  could  be  done  for 
him,  which  determined  that  Quashquame,  Pashepaho,  Ouchequaha  and  Hash- 
equarhiqua  should  go  to  St.  Louis,  see  our  American  father,  and  do  all  they 
could  to  have  our  friend  released  by  paying  for  the  person  killed;  thus  cover- 
ing the  blood  and  satisfying  the  relations  of  the  man  murdered;  that  being 
the  only  means  with  us  of  saving  a  person  who  had  killed  another,  and  we 
then  thought  it  was  the  same  way  with  the  whites, 

"The  party  started  with  the  good  wishes  of  the  whole  nation,  hoping  they 
would  accomplish  the  object  of  their  mission.  The  relatives  of  the  prisoner 
blacked  their  faces  and  fasted,  hoping  the  Great  Spirit  would  take  pity  on 
them  and  return  the  husband  and  father  to  his  wife  and  children.  Quashquame 
and  party  remained  a  long  time  absent.  They  at  length  returned  and  en- 
camped a  short  distance  below  the  village,  but  did  not  come  up  that  day,  nor 
did  any  person  approach  their  camp.  They  appeared  to  be  dressed  in  fine 
coats  and  had  medals.  From  these  circumstances  we  were  in  hopes  that  they 
had  brought  good  news. 

"Early  the  next  morning  the  Council  Lodge  was  crowded.  Quashquame 
and  party  came  up  and  gave  us  the  following  account  of  their  mission :  '  On 
their  arrival  at  St.  Louis  they  met  their  American  father,  and  explained  to 
him  their  business  and  urged  the  release  of  their  friend.  The  American  chief 
told  them  he  wanted  land,  and  they  agreed  to  give  him  some  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Mississippi  and  some  on  the  Illinois  side  opposite  the  Jeffreon.  When 
the  business  was  all  arranged,  they  expected  to  have  their  friend  released 
to  come  home  with  them.  But  about  the  time  they  were  ready  to  start,  their 
friend  was  let  out  of  prison,  ran  a  short  distance  and  was  shot  dead.  This 
was  all  they  could  recollect  of  what  was  said  and  done.  They  had  been  drunk 
the  greater  part  of  the  time  they  were  in  St.  Louis.' 

"This  was  all  myself  or  nation  knew  of  the  treaty  of  1804.  It  has  been 
explained  to  me  since.  I  find  by  that  treaty  all  our  country  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  south  of  the  Jeffreon  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  for  one  thou- 
sand dollars  a  year !  I  leave  it  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  say  whether 
our  nation  was  properly  represented  in  this  treaty,  or  whether  we  received 
a  fair  compensation  for  the  extent  of  country  ceded  by  those  four  ( ?)  individ- 
uals. I  could  say  much  about  this  treaty,  but  I  will  not  at  this  time.  It  has 
been  the  origin  of  all  our  difficulties." 

STRENGTH  OF  ILLINOIS  INDIANS  IN  1809 

Five  years  after  the  Sauk-Fox  treaty,  Illinois  became  a  civil  entity.  It 
was  formed  from  the  western  part  of  Indiana  Territory  and  in  April,  1809, 
Ninian  Edwards  became  the  governor  of  Illinois,  As  Great  Britain  was  busy 
and  adroit  in  her  endeavors  to  wean  the  support  of  the  Indians  from  Amer- 
ican interests,  the  new  executive  took  the  precaution  to  gauge  the  strength 
of  the  tribes  within  his  jurisdiction.  The  enumeration  made  under  his  direc- 
tion showed  that  the  number  of  warriors  capable  of  taking  the  field  in  Illinois 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  61 

was  as  follows:  Pottawatomi  on  the  Illinois  River,  350;  Pottawatomi  on  the 
Little  Calumet,  Fox  and  Kankakee  rivers,  180;  Pottawatomi  and  Ottawa  in 
the  Chicago  region,  300;  Kiekapoos  and  mixed  tribes  near  Peoria  Lake  and 
on  the  Little  .Mackinaw  River,  330;  Sauk  and  Foxes  on  Rock  River,  1400; 
Winnebago,  4f>0.  Indicating  a  war  strength  of  red  men  within  the  limits  of 
Illinois  of  more  than  3,000,  or  a  hostile  population  of  15,000,  far  exceeding 
that  of  the  whites. 

BLACK  HAWK  FAILS  TO  CARRY  FORT  MADISON 

Thus  iii  the  war  cloud  which  was  already  looming  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States,  it  was  evident  that  the  Indians  of  Illinois  were  to  be 
a  dark  feature;  and  that  the  red  warriors  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  might  be 
a  strong  factor  in  the  results  of  the  western  campaigns.  About  the  time  that 
Illinois  was  created  a  territory,  the  National  Government  completed  Fort  Madi- 
son at  the  head  of  the  Des  Moines  Rapids  and  immediately  above  the  mouth 
of  the  river  as  it  emptied  into  the  Mississippi  on  the  west.  British  agents 
had  won  over  Black  Hawk,  who  first  endeavored  to  twist  the  building  of  Fort 
.Madison  into  an  infringement  of  the  treaty  of  1804,  and  afterward  openly 
joined  the  enemy  of  the  United  States.  He  and  his  band  are  said  to  have 
assisted  the  Prophet  in  the  Harrison  campaign  and  shared  in  its  disgrace. 
Less  than  a  year  afterward  (in  September,  1812),  with  a  party  of  allied 
Winnebago,  he  infested  Fort  Madison  and  was  repulsed. 

It  is  said  that  Quashquame  and  Pashepaho,  the  Sauk  chiefs  who  were  par- 
tics  to  the  treaty  of  1804  and  considered  friends,  could  not  resist  British  and 
Black  Hawk  intrigue,  and,  after  the  little  garrison  had  resisted  every  assault 
to  take  it  for  several  days,  entered  into  a  plot  to  destroy  it  by  strategy.  The 
story  is  continued  in  Frank  E.  Stevens'  "Black  Hawk  War"  as  follows: 
"These  two  were  readily  admitted  to  the  fort,  retired  and  called  again  and 
again,  offering  finally  to  entertain  the  fatigued  garrison  with  a  dance.  The 
officers,  to  oblige  the  men,  signified  a  willingness  to  witness  the  ceremony. 
Quashquame  was  to  signal  Black  Hawk,  who  was  to  be  near  by,  to  rush  in 
upon  the  men  and  murder  every  one  while  the  dance  progressed.  Early  in 
the  day  a  young  woman,  who  had  formed  a  strong  attachment  for  one  of  the 
garrison,  appeared  before  Lieutenant  Hamilton  as  though  in  great  distress. 
She  was  taken  inside  the  stockade  and  when  free  from  observation  disclosed 
the  plot  of  the  would-be  assassins.  Her  simple  story  touched  the  heart  of 
every  man,  and  though  their  long  siege  had  wrorn  them  down  well  nigh  to 
despair,  her  love  and  devotion  inspired  a  strength  and  courage  which  wrould 
only  falter  when  the  spirit  had  fled  and  left  the  useless  body  a  clod  upon  the 
field. 

"Lieutenant  Hamilton  caused  a  six-pounder,  loaded  with  grapeshot,  to  be 
masked  and  ranged  full  upon  the  stockade  entrance.  Sentinels  were  posted 
with  orders  to  allow  no  more  than  one  Indian  to  enter  at  a  time.  Quashquame 
and  his  companions  duly  appeared  and  were  admitted  singly.  The  warriors 
within  to  a  considerable  number  gathered  about  the  entrance,  the  designated 
place,  and  began  their  dance,  raising  with  their  whoops  and  yells  a  din  to 
heaven.     Suddenly  the  dance  was  suspended  by  the  warriors  making  a  furious 


62  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

rush  for  the  gate,  which  conveniently  opened.  Confident  that  the  plot  had 
been  successfully  carried  out  by  those  inside,  the  others  outside  madly  charged 
the  angle.  A  lighted  fuse,  flashed  above  the  unmasked  cannon,  brought  those 
in  front  to  a  sudden  halt,  while  those  behind,  by  reason  of  it,  were  plunged 
headlong  into  a  confused  and  confounded  mass.  Aghast  at  their  miserable 
miscarriage,  a  general  retreat  was  attempted,  but  this  was  not  accomplished 
by  Quashquame  and  his  immediate  followers,  who  were  made  prisoners. 

"Finding  himself  in  disgrace  and  fearing  condign  punishment,  Quashquame 
renounced  hostilities  against  the  Americans,  was  released,  and,  with  slight 
exception,  remained  thereafter  their  steadfast  friend.  His  followers,  who  were 
imprisoned  finally  confessed  the  plot  in  its  every  detail  and  when  released, 
as  they  immediately  were,  maintained  a  lasting  penitence." 

Black  Hawk,  on  the  other  hand,  since  the  declaration  of  war  by  the  United 
States  Congress  in  June,  1812,  had  openly  aligned  himself  and  band  with 
the  British  interests.  Previous  to  the  Fort  Madison  affair  the  English  trader 
at  Prairie  du  Chien  had  supplied  him  with  presents,  money  and  ammunition. 
Afterward  Black  Hawk  and  200  of  his  followers  went  to  Green  Bay  to  join 
the  British  expedition  being  organized  there  and  was  elevated  to  the  rank  of 
General  Black  Hawk  and  aid  to  Tecumseh.  Leaving  Green  Bay  immediately 
the  troops  marched  past  Chicago  and  joined  the  British  forces  at  Detroit. 
The  ruins  of  Fort  Dearborn  bore  mute  testimony  to  the  massacre  of  American 
troops,  women  and  children  in  the  preceding  August.  The  Pottawatomi  were 
chiefly  responsible  for  the  outrage.  General  Hull,  in  command  at  Detroit, 
had  ordered  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Dearborn  and  the  distribution  of  the  goods 
on  hand,  but  Captain  Heald,  the  post  commander,  as  a  matter  of  precaution 
had  given  the  Indians  broadcloth,  calico  and  paints,  but  withheld  arms,  am- 
munition and  liquor.  Red  prowlers  around  the  fort  discovered  broken  muskets 
and  casks  of  spirits,  which  so  enraged  them  that  it  is  thought  to  have  brought 
on  the  massacre  the  following  day.  Without  stopping  to  consider  this  act 
of  the  commander  as  one  of  self-preservation  as  applied  to  the  garrison  under 
his  protection,  Black  Hawk,  while  passing  Fort  Dearborn,  entered  into  the 
spirit  of  the  red  men  with  the  remark,  "if  they  (the  whites)  had  fulfilled 
their  word  to  the  Indians,  I  think  they  would  have  gone  safe." 

Before  Detroit,  Black  Hawk  had  his  first  experience  in  an  open  fight  with 
the  Americans.  He  stated :  ' '  The  Americans  fought  well  and  drove  us  with 
considerable  loss.  I  was  surprised  at  this,  as  I  had  been  told  that  the  Amer- 
icans could  not  fight."  The  result  of  the  Battle  of  the  Thames,  on  August 
5,  1813,  brought  General  Black  Hawk  to  this  conclusion:  "I  was  now  tired 
of  being  with  them  (the  British),  our  success  being  bad  and  having  got  no 
plunder. ' ' 
• 

BLACK  HAWK  AND  KEOKUK  CONTRASTED 

When  Black  Hawk  returned  to  his  village,  rather  discredited  on  account 
of  the  unsuccessful  eastern  campaigns  which  he  had  shared  with  the  British, 
he  found  «that  Keokuk  had  been  made  principal  war  chief  of  the  Sauk  nation. 
How  his  rival  received  this  honor  is  thus  told  in  his  purported  autobiography 
by  Black  Hawk  himself:     "Keokuk  was  introduced  to   me   as  the   war-chief 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  63 

of  the  braves  then  in  the  village.  1  inquired  how  ho  had  become  a  chief. 
They  said  that  a  Large  armed  force  was  seen  by  their  spies  going  towards 
Peoria;  that  fears  were  entertained  that  they  would  come  npon  and  attack 
onr  village;  and  that  a  council  had  been  convened  to  decide  upon  the  best 
course  to  be  adopted,  which  concluded  upon  leaving  the  village  and  going  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  to  get  out  of  the  way.  Keokuk,  during  the 
sitting  of  the  council  had  been  standing  at  the  door  of  the  lodge  (not  being 
allowed  to  enter,  never  having  killed  an  enemy),  where  he  remained  until  old 
Wacome  came  out.  He  then  told  him  what  they  had  decided  upon,  and  Keokuk 
was  anxious  to  be  permitted  to  go  in  and  speak  before  the  council  adjourned. 
"Wacome  returned  and  asked  leave  for  Keokuk  to  come  in  and  make  a  speech. 
His  request  was  granted.  Keokuk  entered  and  addressed  the  chiefs.  He  said: 
'  I  have  heard  with  sorrow  that  you  have  determined  to  leave  our  village  and 
cross  the  Mississippi,  merely  because  you  have  been  told  that  the  Americans 
were  seen  coming  in  this  direction.  Would  you  leave  our  village,  desert  our 
homes  and  fly,  before  an  enennr  approached?  Would  you  leave  all — even  the 
graves  of  our  fathers — to  the  mercy  of  an  enemy,  without  trying  to  defend 
them?  Give  me  charge  of  your  warriors.  I'll  defend  the  village,  and  you 
may  sleep  in  safety!' 

"The  council  consented  that  Keokuk  should  be  a  war-chief.  He  marshalled 
his  braves,  sent  out  spies,  and  advanced  with  a  party  himself  on  the  trail 
leading  to  Peoria.  They  returned  without  seeing  an  enemy.  The  Americans  did 
not  come  by  our  village.  All  were  satisfied  with  the  appointment  of  Keokuk ; ' ' 
and  Black  Hawk  himself  professes  to  hold  the  same  sentiment.  He  then  visited 
his  wife  and  children.  "I  found  them  well,"  continues  the  narrative,  "and 
my  boys  were  growing  finely.  It  is  not  customary  for  us  to  say  much  about 
our  women,  as  they  generally  perform  their  part  cheerfully  and  never  interfere 
with  business  belonging  to  the  men.  This  is  the  only  wife  I  ever  had,  or  ever 
will  have.     She  is  a  good  woman  and  teaches  my  boys  to  be  brave." 

Keokuk,  the  Watchful  Fox,  had  been  made  principal  war  chief  of  the  Sauk 
nation  and  as  the  younger  leader  already  ranked  him  in  civil  affairs,  Keokuk's 
superiority  was  doubly  assured.  The  two  were  antipodal.  Keokuk  was  amiable, 
balanced,  cool  of  head,  and  logical  yet  eloquent  if  occasion  demanded  it,  a 
peace  maker  and  maintainer  and  constant  friend  of  the  Americans  whom  he 
had  the  good  judgment  to  perceive  would  eventually  be  masters  of  the  coun- 
try. Black  Hawk  was  of  unreliable  temper,  bitter  in  his  prejudices,  brave  in 
the  way  of  the  red  man  and  consumed  by  an  ever  burning  fire  against  the 
alleged  injustice  of  the  treaty  of  1804  by  which  a  few  chiefs  made  a  bad 
bargain  for  his  people  and  bartered  away  the  tribal  lands  for  a  small  mess 
of  pottage.  The  elder  Sauk  had  little  of  the  forgiving  or  magnanimous  in 
his  disposition,  was  a  warrior  and  not  a  statesman,  and  was  utterly  bereft 
of  the  character  of  the  seer  who  could  project  himself  into  the  future  and 
see  the  inevitable  mastery  and  development  of  his  country  by  an   alien  race. 

No  better  antithesis  of  Black  Hawk  and  Keokuk,  both  sons  of  the  Watch 
Towei-  village,  has  been  written  than  that  published  in  "A  History  of  the 
People  of  Iowa,"  by  Cyrenus  Cole.  It  reads:  "The  names  of  Black  Hawk 
and  Keokuk  must  be  included  in  any  list  of  great  American  Indians.  And 
measured  by  what  they  were  and  what  they  did,  their  names  must  stand  near 


64  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

the  top  of  .such  a  list.  That  out  of  a  tribe  numbering  only  a  few  thousand 
persons  two  such  men  should  have  been  developed  at  one  time  is  in  itself 
remarkable. 

"The  roles  played  by  these  two  Indians  are  diametrically  opposed  to  each 
other.  Black  Hawk's  part  was  that  of  unavailing  protest,  and  Keokuk's  that 
of  equally  unavailing  acquiescence.  Black  Hawk  resisted,  while  Keokuk  com- 
promised. Keokuk's  course  was  based  on  an  intelligent  calculation  of  conse- 
quences, while  Black  Hawk  followed  the  instincts  and  aspirations  of  his  race, 
regardless  of  consequences.  It  came  about  that  Keokuk  was  pleased  with  the 
praise  of  white  men,  while  Black  Hawk  found  no  pleasure  in  anything  except 
a  satisfied  racial  conscience.  Black  Hawk  died  nobly  in  the  virtues  of  his 
own  race,  while  Keokuk  passed  out  in  many  of  the  vices  of  the  white  man. 
History  may  praise  Keokuk,  but  it  must  admire  Black  Hawk. 

"First  of  all,  and  most  of  all,  the  historian  wonders  how  these  two  men, 
out  of  their  meager  opportunities,  gathered  so  much  human  wisdom,  and  how 
out  of  their  miserable  surroundings  they  gathered  so  much  human  nobility. 
If  it  is  true  that  many  of  their  acts  were  brutal,  it  is  also  true  that  many  of 
their  thoughts  were  lofty.  The  beautiful  imagery  of  many  of  their  spoken 
words  betokens  both  wealth  of  mind  and  health  of  heart.  Only  fine  instru- 
ments produce  fine  music.  In  their  speeches  one  comes  often  upon  the  evi- 
dences of  a  rare  appreciation  of  nature,  and  of  a  philosophy  of  life  which  is 
almost  profound.  One  discovers  also  the  evidences  of  manners  and  morals; 
of  things  ethical  and  religious;  and  of  that  fairest  of  all  human  qualities, 
charity.  Embittered  rivals,  they  forgave  each  other.  Keokuk  intervened  for 
Black  Hawk  when  he  was  down  and  out,  and  Black  Hawk  in  his  swan  song 
said,  'Do  not  blame  him,'  after  he  had  depicted  Keokuk  as  the  cause  of  his 
great  undoing. 

"Black  Hawk  and  Keokuk  read  no  books,  and  yet  they  knew  and  uttered 
the  things  that  are  written  in  books.  But  if  neither  one  could  read  or  write 
in  any  human  language,  is  it  not  true  that  all  the  books  are  not  printed  ones? 
Is  not  wisdom  expressed  also  in  fields  and  in  forests ;  in  meadows  and  in  streams ; 
in  clouds  and  in  stars,  as  well  as  in  books  and  pictures?  What  writers  and 
artists  garner  for  others,  these  Indians  might  have  garnered  for  themselves 
out  of  the  bounteous  nature  around  them.  It  is  worth  while  to  study  the 
man  in  the  forest  as  well  as  the  man  in  the  library;  the  savage  as  well  as  the 
civilized  man ;  the  primal  as  well  as  the  final  man. 

"Black  Hawk  was  all  Indian,  but  Keokuk  had  in  him  an  admixture  of 
Caucasian  blood.  Black  Hawk  speaks  of  his  father,  Pyesa,  but  his  mother 
remained  nameless;  Keokuk's  father  had  no  name  that  survives,  but  his  mother 
was  LaLott,  a  half-breed.  Among  Indians  he  bore  the  distinction  of  blue  eyes. 
But  Keokuk  regarded  himself  as  an  Indian.  He  was  a  Sac,  and  that  meant 
a  proud  Indian.  Physically,  as  well  as  mentally,  and  in  their  careers,  the 
two  men  were  opposites.  Black  Hawk  was  probably  five  feet  and  eight  inches 
in  height,  thin  and  wiry;  Keokuk  stood  nearly  six  feet  in  height,  robust  and 
massive.  Black  Hawk  had  an  aquiline  nose  and  his  eyes  are  spoken  of  as 
the  most  piercing  ever  seen  in  a  human  head.  Keokuk  was  described  as  a 
'magnificent  specimen  of  manhood,'  and  when  he  was  wrought  upon,  as  in 
speaking,  he  is  said  to  have  'looked  like  thunder.'  " 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  65 

TUB   BATTLE   OF    CAMPBELL  *S    ISLAND 

Soon  after  reaching  his  village  near  the  mouth  of  the  Rock  River,  Black 
Hawk  and  his  followers  were  upon  the  warpath  against  the  Americans.  Prairie 
du  Chien  had  just  been  abandoned  by  the  British,  under  the  supervision  of 
Governor  Clark  fortifications  were  erected  there  and  called  Fort  Shelby,  and 
the  new  military  post  thus  established  by  the  Americans  had  been  recaptured 
by  the  enemy.  Another  expedition  then  started  from  St.  Louis  in  command 
of  Lieutenant  John  Campbell,  of  the  regular  army.  At  this  time  there  was 
a  young  lawyer  of  Cahokia,  about  twenty-three  years  of  age,  who  afterward 
became  governor  of  Illinois,  member  of  Congress  and  a  notable  public  man 
of  Illinois;  no  less  a  personage  than  John  Reynolds.  In  March,  1813,  with 
three  of  his  brothers,  he  enlisted  in  the  United  States  Ranging  Company  or- 
ganized by  Captain  William  B.  Whiteside,  a  member  of  the  old  Kentucky 
family  of  Indian  fighters.  After  Governor  Reynolds'  active  and  useful  public 
life  was  nearly  run  he  published  a  book,  part  history  and  part  biography, 
called  "My  Own  Times,"  and  among  its  graphic  and  instructive  pages  are 
those  dealing  with  the  Campbell  expedition  to  recover  Fort  Shelby.  His  ac- 
count reads:  "About  the  first  of  July  three  barges,  well  fortified,  with  forty- 
two  regulars  and  sixty-six  rangers,  set  sail  from  St.  Louis  for  Prairie  du  Chien. 
Lieutenant  Campbell  commanded  the  boat  with  the  regulars,  and  Captain 
Stephen  Rector  and  Lieutenant  Riggs  the  two  other  barges  manned  by  the 
rangers. 

"The  expedition  reached  Rock  Island  in  peace;  but  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians 
in  great  numbers  swarmed  around  the  boats,  but  still  professed  peace.  The 
barge  commanded  by  Rector  was  navigated  mostly  by  the  French  of  Cahokia 
who  were  both  good  sailors  and  soldiers;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the 
company  under  Lieutenant  Riggs,  except  as  to  the  knowledge  of  navigation. 

"The  boats  lay  still  all  night,  at  or  near  the  Sac  and  Fox  villages  at  Rock 
Island,  and  the  Indians  were  all  night  making  hollow  professions  of  friend- 
ship. Many  of  the  French,  after  the  battle,  informed  me  that  they  knew  the 
Indians  would  attack  the  boats;  and  accordingly  they  informed  Lieutenant 
Campbell,  but  he  disbelieved  them.  The  French  said  the  Indians  wanted  them 
to  leave  the  Americans  and  go  home.  They  would  squeeze  the  hands  of  the 
French  and  pull  their  hands  down  the  river,  indicating  to  leave.  The  Indians 
disliked  to  fight  their  old  friends,  the  French. 

"The  fleet  all  set  sail  in  the  morning,  and  above  Rock  Island  the  wind 
blew  so  hard  that  Campbell's  boat  was  forced  on  a  lee  shore  and  lodged  on 
a  small  island  near  the  mainland,  known  from  this  circumstance  as  Camp- 
bell's  Island  (six  miles  east  of  the  present  Moline).  The  Indians,  commanded 
by  Black  Hawk,  when  the  wind  drifted  the  boat  on  shore  commenced  an  attack 
on  it.  The  boats  of  Rector  and  Riggs  were  ahead,  and  could  see  the  smoke 
of  the  firearms,  but  could  not  hear  the  report  of  the  guns.  They  returned 
to  assist  Campbell,  but  the  wind  was  so  high  that  their  barges  were  almost 
unmanageable.  They  anchored  near  Campbell,  but  could  not  reach  him,  the 
storm  raged  so  severely. 

"When  Campbell's  boat  was  driven  ashore  by  the  wind,  he  placed  sentinels 
and  the  men  commenced  cooking  their  breakfast,  but  the  enemy  in  hundreds 


66  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

rushed  on  them,  killing-  many  on  the  spot  and  the  rest  took  refuge  in  the 
boat.  Hundreds  and  hundreds  of  the  warriors  were  in  and  around  the  boat 
and  at  last  set  it  on  fire.  Campbell's  boat  was  burning,  and  the  bottom 
covered  with  the  dead,  the  wounded  and  blood.  They  had  almost  ceased  firing 
when  Rector  and  his  brave  men  most  nobly  came  to  the  rescue.  Campbell 
himself  lay  wounded  on  his  back  in  the  bottom  of  his  boat,  with  many  of  his 
men  dead  and  dying  around  him.  Riggs'  boat  was  well  fortified,  but  his  men 
were  inexperienced  sailors.  Rector  and  company  could  not  remain  inactive 
spectators  of  the  destruction  of  Campbell  and  men,  but  in  a  tempest  of  wind 
raised  their  anchor  in  the  face  of  almost  a  thousand  Indians  and  periled  their 
lives  in  the  rescue  of  Campbell.  No  act  of  noble  daring  and  bravery  sur- 
passed the  rescue  of  Campbell  during  the  war  in  the  West.  The  rangers  under 
Rector  were  mostly  Frenchmen,  and  were  well  acquainted  with  the  manage- 
ment of  a  boat  in  such  a  crisis.  Rector  and  his  men  were  governed  by  the 
high  and  ennobling  principles  of  chivalry  and  patriotism.  Rector's  boat  was 
lightened  by  the  casting  overboard  of  quantities  of  provisions,  and  then  many 
of  the  crew  actually  got  out  of  the  boat  into  the  water,  leaving  the  vessel 
between  them  and  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  and  pushed  their  boat  against  the 
fire  of  the  warriors  to  Campbell's  boat,  which  was  in  possession  of  the  Indians. 
This  was  a  most  hazardous  exploit  for  forty  men — forcing  their  barge  to  a 
burning  boat  in  possession  of  the  enemy,  nearly  a  thousand  strong,  and  tak- 
ing from  it  the  wounded  and  living  soldiers,  together  with  their  commander. 

"A  salt-water  sailor  by  the  name  of  Hoadley  did  gallant  service  in  this 
daring  enterprise,  by  his  superior  knowledge  of  the  management  of  a  vessel. 
Rector  took  all  the  live  men  from  Campbell's  boat  into  his  and  his  men,  in 
the  water,  hauled  their  own  boat  out  into  the  stream.  The  Indians  feasted 
on  the  abandoned  boat  of  Campbell.  Rector  had  his  boat  crowded  with  the 
wounded  and  dying,  but  rowed  night  and  day  until  they  reached  St.  Louis. 
It  was  supposed  the  boat  of  Riggs  was  captured  by  the  enemy,  but  the  vessel 
was  strongly  fortified  so  that  it  lay,  as  it  were,  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians 
for  several  hours,  the  enemy  having  possession  of  the  outside  and  the  whites 
of  the  inside,  but  the  wind  in  the  evening  subsided  and  Riggs  got  his  boat 
off  without  losing  many  men. 

"It  was  a  general  jubilee  and  rejoicing  when  Riggs  arrived  at  St.  Louis. 
The  hearts  of  the  people  swelled  with  patriotic  joy  to  know  that  the  lives 
of  so  many  brave  soldiers  were  saved  by  the  courage  and  energies  of  Rector, 
Riggs  and  their  troops.  I  saw  the  soldiers  on  their  return  to  St.  Louis  and 
the  sight  was  distressing.  Those  who  were  not  wounded  were  worn  down  to 
skeletons  by  labor  and  fatigue." 

Another  contemporaneous  account  of  the  Battle  of  Campbell's  Island  which 
has  been  often  quoted  is  that  published  July  30,  1814,  at  St.  Louis,  in  the 
Missouri  Gazette.  There  is  some  similarity  between  Governor  Reynolds'  story 
and  the  article  published  in  the  Gazette.  The  newspaper  account  also  gives 
some  facts  which  are  omitted  in  "My  Own  Times."  Prom  the  narrative  given 
by  the  Gazette  it  is  learned  that  the  whole  party  ambuscaded  in  the  Camp- 
bell Island  region  numbered  133,  including  boatmen  and  women.  During  the 
engagement  with  the  Indians,  three  regulars  were  killed  and  14  wounded  on 
Campbell's  barge,  before  Rector  took  the  commander's  crew  aboard  his  own 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  67 

boat.  Two  other  regulars  died  on  their  passage  to  St.  Louis.  Among  the 
severely  wounded  were  Major  Campbell  and  Dr.  Stewart,  the  physician  of  the 
expedition.  One  ranger  was  killed  and  four  wounded  on  Lieutenant  Rector's 
barge.  Two  women  and  a  child  were  severely  wounded;  one  of  the  women 
and  the  child  afterward  died.  On  the  boat  commanded  by  Riggs,  which  at 
first  was  given  up  as  captured  and  lost,  three  men  were  killed  and  four  wounded. 
"  Every  account  of  the  attack  on  Campbell's  detachment,"  says  the  Gazette, 
"reflects  highest  encomium  on  the  skill  and  undaunted  bravery  of  Lieutenants 
Elector  and  Riggs  of  the  rangers.  The  former,  after  a  contest  of  two  hours 
and  twenty  minutes,  withdrew  to  a  favorable  position,  which  enabled  him  to 
save  the  few  regular  troops,  as  well  from  the  flames  which  surrounded  them 
as  from  the  fury  of  the  savages.  The  high  wind  which  then  prevailed,  and 
the  loss  of  his  anchors,  prevented  his  rendering  a  like  assistance  to  Lieutenant 
Riggs.  The  latter,  though  stranded  and  in  a  hopeless  situation,  kept  up  an 
incessant  fire  on  the  Indians,  and  by  a  ruse  de  guerre  afforded  his  party  an 
opportunity  of  making  the  savages  feel  some  of  the  consequences  of  their  perfidy. 
He  ordered  his  men  to  cease  firing  for  about  ten  minutes,  and  at  the  same  time 
ordered  howitzers  to  be  well  loaded  with  grape  and  the  small  arms  to  be  in  readi- 
ness. The  Indians  believing  the  rangers  to  be  all  killed,  or  that  they  had  sur- 
rendered, rushed  down  the  bank  to  extinguish  the  fire  on  board  Lieutenant 
Campbell's  barge  and  to  board  Riggs'.  Our  hero  then  opened  upon  them  a 
well-directed  fire,  which  drove  them  in  all  directions,  leaving  several  of  their 
dead  behind." 

zachary  Taylor's  expedition  turned  back 

To  break  the  Indian  alliance  with  the  British  in  the  West,  it  became  evi- 
dent to  the  American  military  authorities  that  the  first  step  was  to  control, 
if  not  subdue,  the  Sauk  war  party  headed  by  Black  Hawk.  The  valley  of 
the  Mississippi  was  in  the  hands  of  the  British  from  what  is  now  the  Alton 
region  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  with  Black  Hawk's  village  as  the  center  of  Indian 
hostility  against  the  Americans.  Major  Zachary  Taylor  was  therefore  placed 
in  command  of  an  expedition  having  as  its  objective  this  gathering  place  of 
the  Indians  in  alliance  with  the  British.  In  August,  1814,  it  sailed  from  St. 
Louis  on  eight  barges,  and  comprised  between  three  and  four  hundred  regulars, 
rangers  and  volunteers.  John  Reynolds  had  two  brothers  in  it,  but  did  not 
accompany  it  himself.  Captains  Vale,  Samuel  Whiteside,  Nelson  Rector,  Hemp- 
stead and  other  officers  commanded  boats.  When  the  expedition  reached  the 
Rock  Island  neighborhood  on  the  4th  of  September,  Major  Taylor  found  the 
islands  just  above  the  mouth  of  Rock  River  swarming  with  Black  Hawk's 
hostile  braves  and  a  masked  battery  of  six  field  pieces  on  the  Mississippi  bank 
ready  to  be  served  by  a  detachment  of  British  regulars. 

Major  Taylor  had  recently  been  promoted  for  bravery  in  action  against 
Tecumseh,  and  Black  Hawk  was  not  loath  to  claim  the  engagement  of  Sep- 
tember 5,  1814,  as  his  victory  over  the  young  American  Indian  fighter.  The 
enmmander  of  the  expedition  makes  a  characteristic  report  of  the  affairs  to 
Brigadier  General  Howard,  at  the  head  of  the  military  district  of  Missouri, 
as  follows: 

Vol.  1—5 


68  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

"Sir: — In  obedience  to  your  orders,  I  left  Port  Independence  on  the  2d 
ult.  and  reached  Rock  River,  our  place  of  destination,  on  the  evening  of  the 
4th  inst.,  without  meeting  a  single  Indian  or  any  occurrence  worthy  of  relation. 

"On  my  arrival  at  the  mouth  of  Rock  River,  the  Indians  began  to  make 
their  appearance  in  considerable  numbers ;  running  up  the  Mississippi  to  the 
upper  village  and  crossing  the  river  below  us.  After  passing  Rock  River, 
which  is  very  small  at  the  mouth,  from  an  attentive  and  careful  examination, 
as  I  proceeded  up  the  Mississippi,  I  was  confident  it  was  impossible  for  us 
to  enter  its  mouth  with  our  large  boats.  Immediately  opposite  its  mouth  a 
large  island  commences,  which,  together  with  the  western  shore  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, was  covered  with  a  considerable  number  of  horses,  which  were  doubt- 
less placed  in  those  situations  in  order  to  draw  small  detachments  on  shore; 
but  in  this  they  were  disappointed,  and  I  determined  to  alter  the  plan  which 
you  had  suggested,  which  was  to  pass  the  different  villages  as  if  the  object 
of  the  expedition  was  Prairie  du  Chien,  for  several  reasons.  First,  that  I 
might  have  an  opportunity  of  viewing  the  situation  of  the  ground  to  enable 
me  to  select  such  a  landing  as  would  bring  our  artillery  to  bear  on  the  villages 
with  the  greatest  advantage.  I  was  likewise  in  hopes  a  party  would  approach 
us  with  a  flag,  from  which  I  expected  to  learn  the  situation  of  affairs  at  the 
Prairie,  ascertain  in  some  measure  their  numbers  and  perhaps  bring  them  to 
a  council,  when  I  should  have  been  able  to  have  retaliated  upon  them  for 
their  repeated  acts  of  treachery;  or,  if  they  were  determined  to  attack  us, 
I  was  in  hopes  to  draw  them  some  distance  from  their  towns  towards  the  rapids, 
run  down-  in  the  night  and  destroy  them  before  they  could  return  to  their 
defense.  But  in  this  I  was  disappointed.  The  wind,  which  had  been  in  our 
favor,  began  to  shift  about  at  the  time  we  passed  the  mouth  of  Rock  River, 
and  by  the  time  we  reached  the  head  of  the  island,  which  is  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  long,  it  blew  a  perfect  hurricane  quarterly  down  the  river,  and  it 
was  with  great  difficulty  Ave  made  land  at  a  small  island  containing  six  or 
eight  acres  covered  with  willows  near  the  middle  of  the  river  and  about  sixty 
yards  from  the  upper  end  of  the  island.  In  this  situation  I  determined  to 
remain  during  the  night  if  the  storm  continued,  as  I  knew*  the  anchors  of 
several  of  the  boats  in  that  event  would  not  hold  them,  and  there  was  a  great 
probability  of  their  being  drifted  on  sandbars,  of  which  the  river  is  full  in 
this  place,  which  would  have  exposed  the  men  very  much  in  getting  them  off, 
even  if  they  could  have  prevented  their  filling  with  water. 

"It  was  about  four  o'clock  in  the  evening  when  we  were  compelled  to 
land  and  large  parties  of  Indians  were  on  each  side  of  the  river,  as  well  as 
crossing  in  different  directions  in  canoes;  but  not  a  gun  was  fired  from  either 
side.  The  wind  continued  to  blow  the  whole  night  with  violence  accompanied 
with  some  rain,  which  induced  me  to  order  the  sentinels  to  be  brought  in  and 
placed  in  the  bow  of  each  boat.  About  daylight  Captain  Whiteside's  boat  was 
firod  on  at  the  distance  of  about  fifteen  paces  and  a  corporal,  who  was  on  the 
outside  of  the  boat,  was  mortally  wounded.  My  orders  were  that  if  a  boat 
was  fired  on  to  return  it;  but  not  a  man  to  leave  the  boat  without  positive 
orders  from  myself.  So  soon  as  it  got  perfectly  light,  as  the  enemy  continued 
about  the  boat,  I  determined  to  drive  them  from  the  island,  let  their  numbers 
be  what  they  might,  provided  we  were  able  to  do  so,     I  then  assigned  each 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  69 

boat  a  proper  guard,  formed  the  troops  for  action  and  pushed  through  the 
willows  to  the  proper  shore;  but  those  fellows  who  had  the  boldness  to  fire 
on  the  boats  cleared  themselves  as  soon  as  the  troops  were  formed  by  wading 
from  the  island  we  were  encamped  on  to  the  one  just  below  us.  Captain  White- 
side, who  was  on  the  left,  was  able  to  give  them  a  warm  fire  as  they  reached 
the  island  they  had  retreated  to.  They  returned  the  fire  for  a  few  moments, 
when  they  retreated.     In  this  affair  we  had  two  men  badly  wounded. 

"When  Captain  Whiteside  commenced  the  fire,  I  ordered  Captain  Rector 
to  drop  down  with  his  boat  to  ground  and  to  rake  the  island  below  with  ar- 
tillery, and  to  fire  on  every  canoe  he  should  discover  passing  from  one  shore 
to  another  which  should  come  within  reach.  In  this  situation  he  remained 
about  one  hour  and  no  Indians  making  their  appearance  he  determined  to 
drop  down  the  island  about  sixty  yards  and  destroy  several  canoes  that  were 
laying  to  shore.  This  he  effected  and  just  on  setting  his  men  on  board,  the 
British  commenced  a  fire  on  our  boats  with  a  six,  a  four  and  two  swivels  from 
behind  a  knoll  that  completely  covered.  The  boats  were  entirely  exposed  to 
the  artillery,  which  was  distant  three  hundred  and  fifty  paces  from  us.  So 
soon  as  the  first  gun  fired,  I  ordered  a  six-pounder  brought  out  and  placed, 
but  on  recollecting  a  moment  I  found  the  boat  would  be  sunk  before  any  im- 
pression could  be  made  on  them  by  our  cannon,  as  they  were  completely  under 
cover  and  had  already  brought  their  guns  to  bear  on  our  boats,  for  the  round 
shot  from  their  six  passed  through  Lieutenant  Hempstead's  boat  and  shattered 
her  considerably.  I  then  ordered  the  boats  to  drop  down,  which  was  done  in 
order  and  conducted  with  the  greatest  coolness  by  every  officer,  although  ex- 
posed to  a  constant  fire  from  their  artillery  for  more  than  half  a  mile. 

"So  soon  as  they  commenced  firing  from  their  artillery,  the  Indians  raised 
a  yell  and  commenced  firing  on  us  from  every  direction,  whether  they  were 
able  to  do  us  any  damage  or  not.  From  each  side  of  the  river,  Captain  Rector, 
who  was  lying  to  the  shore  of  the  island,  was  attacked  the  instant  the  first 
gun  was  fired  by  a  very  large  party,  and  in  a  close  and  well  contested  action 
of  about  fifteen  minutes,  they  drove  them,  after  giving  three  rounds  of  grape 
from  his  three-pounder. 

"Captain  Whiteside,  who  was  nearest  to  Captain  Rector,  dropped  down  and 
anchored  nigh  him,  and  gave  the  enemy  several  fires  with  his  swivel;  but  the 
wind  was  so  hard  down-stream  as  to  drift  his  anchor.  Captain  Rector,  at 
that  moment,  got  his  boat  off,  and  we  were  then  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the 
Indians  for  two  miles,  which  we  returned  with  interest  from  our  small  arms 
and  small  pieces  of  artillery,  whenever  we  could  get  them  to  bear.  I  was 
compelled  to  drop  down  for  about  three  miles  before  a  proper  place  presented 
itself  for  landing,  as  but  few  of  the  boats  had  anchors  sufficient  to  stop  them 
in  the  river.  Here  I  halted  for  the  purpose  of  having  the  wounded  attended 
and  some  of  the  boats  repaired,  as  some  had  been  injured  by  the  enemy's 
artillery.  They  followed  us  in  their  boats  until  we  halted  on  a  small  prairie 
and  prepared  for  action,  when  they  returned  in  as  great  a  hurry  as  they  fol- 
lowed us. 

"I  then  collected  the  officers  and  put  the  following  question  to  them:  'Are 
we  able,  334  effective  men,  officers,  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates,  to 
fight  the  enemy  with  any  prospect  of  success  and  effect,  which  is  to  destroy 


70  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

their  villages  and  corn?'  They  were  of  opinion  the  enemy  was  at  least  three 
men  to  one,  and  that  it  was  not  practicable  to  effect  either  object.  I  then 
determined  to  drop  down  the  river  to  Lemoine  without  delay,  as  some  of  the 
ranging  officers  informed  me  their  men  were  short  of  provisions,  and  execute 
the  principal  object  of  the  expedition,  in  erecting  a  fort  to  command  the  river. 
This  shall  be  effected  as  soon  as  practicable  with  the  means  in  my  power,  and 
should  the  enemy  attempt  to  descend  the  river  in  force  before  the  fort  can 
be  completed  every  foot  of  the  way  from  the  fort  to  the  settlements  shall  be 
contested. 

"In  the  affair  at  Rock  River,  I  had  eleven  men  badly  wounded,  three 
mortally,  of  whom  one  has  since  died.  I  am  much  indebted  to  the  officers 
for  their  prompt  obedience  to  orders,  nor  do  I  believe  a  braver  set  of  men 
could  have  been  collected  than  those  who  compose  this  detachment.  But,  sir, 
I  believe  it  would  have  been  madness  in  me,  as  well  as  a  direct  violation  of 
my  orders,  to  have  risked  the  detachment  without  a  prospect  of  success.  I 
believe  I  should  have  been  fully  able  to  have  accomplished  your  views  if  the 
enemy  had  not  been  supplied  with  artillery  and  so  advantageously  posted  as 
to  render  it  impossible  for  us  to  have  dislodged  him  without  imminent  danger 
of  the  loss  of  the  whole  detachment." 

Obviously,  it  was  the  conclusion  of  Major  Taylor  that  he  could  have  mas- 
tered the  Indians,  had  he  not  been  obliged  to  contend  with  the  British  artillery. 
His  expedition  descended  the  river  to  the  site  where  Warsaw  now  stands,  nearly 
opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Moines  River  and  Keokuk,  on  the  Iowa  side. 
There  Fort  Edwards  was  built  and  Fort  Johnson,  a  few  miles  above,  was  burned. 

This  engagement  between  Zachary  Taylor  and  Black  Hawk  centered  at  what 
was  known  as  Credit  Island.  It  was  the  only  battle  of  the  War  of  1812  fought 
in  the  western  waters  of  the  Mississippi  and  virtually  closed  the  war  in  the 
West,  Reynolds  says  that  he  "saw  in  the  harbor  of  St.  Louis  the  boats  that 
were  in  Taylor's  battle  at  Rock  Island  and  they  were  riddled  with  the  cannon 
balls." 

INDIAN    TREATIES   FOLLOWING   THE  WAR    OF    1812 

The  Treaty  of  Ghent  which  diplomatically  terminated  the  war  was  not 
ratified  until  February  18,  1815,  and  even  that  did  not  deter  Black  Hawk 
and  his  followers  from  attacking  Fort  Howard  and  scattered  settlers  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Mississippi.  Sauk,  Foxes,  Iowas  and  Winnebago  composed 
the  bulk  of  these  war  parties.  The  United  States  then  appointed  commis- 
sioners to  conclude  treaties  of  peace  with  the  Indians  on  the  Mississippi  and 
its  waters  who  were  still  hostile  to  the  United  States.  Those  commissioned 
were  William  Clark,  Governor  of  Missouri  Territory  and  Superintendent  of 
Indian  Affairs,  Ninian  Edwards,  Governor  of  Illinois  Territory  and  Auguste 
Chouteau,  the  Indian  trader  noted  for  his  success  in  dealing  with  the  north- 
western tribes.  On  May  11th  they  met  at  St.  Louis  and  sent  out  both  whites 
and  Indians  to  invite  friendly  and  warring  tribes  of  the  Mississippi  Valley 
to  meet  with  them  on  July  6th  at  Portage  des  Sioux,  a  small  settlement  a  few 
miles  above  the  confluence  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  rivers  and  nearly 
opposite  the  present  city  of  Alton,  Illinois. 


THE  ROC  K  R I V  ER  VALLEY  71 

Notwithstanding  the  counter  efforts  of  the  British  to  prevent  such  con- 
ciliation, when  it  became  generally  known  that  Andrew  Jackson  had  been  placed 
in  military  command  of  the  western  districts  in  which  the  Indian  troubles 
had  mostly  occurred,  the  tribes  which  had  been  slow  in  responding  were  brought 
to  terms.  The  first  treaties  were  made  on  July  18,  1815,  when  the  Potta- 
watomi  residing  on  the  Illinois  River  came  into  friendly  relations  with  the 
United  States,  but  the  remaining  Illinois  tribes  were  still  unwilling  to  be  peace- 
ful. By  September  2nd,  however,  the  Kickapoo  were  induced  to  sign  a  treaty. 
On  the  13th  of  September,  the  Sauk  residing  on  the  Missouri  River  reaffirmed 
their  policy  of  peace,  assented  to  the  1804  treaty  and  further  promised  "to 
remain  distinct  and  separate  from  the  Sacs  of  Rock  River,  giving  them  no 
aid  or  assistance  whatever,  until  peace  shall  also  be  concluded  between  the 
United  States  and  the  said  Sacs  of  Rock  River."  The  treaty  with  the  Foxes 
made  on  the  following  day,  signed  by  twenty-two  chiefs  and  warriors  of  that 
tribe,  also  confirmed  the  treaty  of  1804.  Through  all  these  negotiations  and 
peace  agreements  Black  Hawk  and  a  few  of  his  followers  remained  aloof,  but 
the  pressure  brought  to  bear  against  him  by  not  only  the  authorities  of  the 
United  States  but  by  the  leaders  of  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  finally  dissolved  his 
stoicism. 

BLACK    HAWK    CONFIRMS    TREATY    OF    1804 

On  the  13th  of  May,  1816,  at  a  convention  attended  by  the  government 
commissioners,  Black  Hawk  and  twenty-one  other  head  men  of  the  Rock  River 
Sauk  accepted  the  proffered  friendship  of  the  United  States.  The  chiefs  and 
warriors  who  signed  the  treaty  were,  in  the  order  in  which  they  "set  their 
hands  and  affixed  their  seals,"  as  follows:  Anowart,  or  the  one  who  speaks; 
Xamawenane,  Sturgeon  Man;  Nasawarku,  the  Fork;  Namatchesa,  the  Jumping 
Sturgeon;  Matchequawa,  the  Bad  Axe;  Mashco,  Young  Eagle;  Aquaosa,  Lion 
coming  out  of  the  water;  Mucketamachekaka,  Black  Sparrow  Hawk;  Sakeetoo, 
the  Thunder  that  frightens;  Warpaloka,  the  rumbling  Thunder;  Kemealosha, 
the  Swan  that  flies  in  the  rain;  Pashekomack,  the  Swan  that  flies  low;  Keo- 
tasheka,  the  Running  Partridge;  Wapalamo,  the  White  Wolf;  Caskupwa,  the 
swan  whose  wings  crack  when  he  flies;  Poinaketa,  the  Cloud  that  don't  stop; 
Mealesata,  Bad  Weather;  Anawashqueth,  the  Bad  Root;  Wassekenequa,  Sharp- 
Faced  Bear;  Napataka,  he  who  has  a  Swan's  throat  around  his  neck;  Mashashe, 
the  Fox;  Wapamukqua,  the  White  Bear.  After  reciting  the  efforts  of  the 
United  States  to  effect  a  treaty  of  peace  and  amity  with  the  Sauk  of  Rock 
River  Valley  and  the  rejection  of  all  such  overtures,  it  is  charged  that  their 
continued  hostilities  "would  have  justified  the  infliction  of  the  severest  chastise- 
ment upon  them."  The  United  States  forebore,  however,  and  the  hostile  tribe 
"having  earnestly  repented  of  their  conduct,  now  imploring  mercy  and  being 
anxious  to  return  to  the  habits  of  peace  and  friendship  with  the  United  States," 
the  treaty  of  1816  was  made.  The  Indians  confirmed  the  treaty  of  1804,  as 
well  as  all  other  contracts  and  agreements  made  between  the  Sauk  tribe  or 
nation  and  the  United  States.  Before  being  restored  to  their  standing  prior  to 
the  war  the  Sauk  were  to  restore  all  the  property  they  had  taken  from  Amer- 
ican citizens  since  the  ratification  of  the  Ghent  treaty.     If  this  was  not  done 


72  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

before  the   first  of   the  coming  July,   the    offending   Indians   were  to    forfeit 
forever  their  proportion  of  the  annuities  provided  by  the  treaty  of  1804. 

THE   BUILDING    OF   FORT    ARMSTRONG 

Three  days  before  the  treaty  of  1816  was  concluded,  the  Eighth  United 
States  Regiment  of  riflemen  arrived  at  Rock  Island  and  commenced  the  con- 
struction of  a  fort  at  its  lower  point.  It  was  to  be  built  to  carry  out  the  policy 
of  the  "War  Department  (temporarily  interrupted  by  the  retreat  of  Zachary 
Taylor  and  his  detachment)  to  establish  a  military  post  through  which  the 
movements  of  Black  Hawk  and  his  warriors  could  be  observed  and,  if  need 
be,  checked.  The  fort  was  named  in  honor  of  General  John  Armstrong,  former 
Secretary  of  War.  The  negotiation  of  the  treaty  did  not  halt  the  building 
of  the  fort,  and  its  final  completion  was  doubtless  a  greater  source  of  restraint 
to  Black  Hawk  and  other  Pro-British  Indians  than  all  the  treaties  which  were 
concluded  before  the  precipitation  of  the  war  which  bore  his  name  sixteen 
years  afterward.  Naturally,  the  fiery  Sauk  warrior  witnessed  this  military 
movement  in  the  very  shadow  of  his  village  with  marked  displeasure.  He 
looked  upon  it  both  as  an  invasion  of  his  country  and  his  gods,  and  is  credited 
with  the  following  charge  of  sacrilege  in  connection  with  the  building  of  the 
fort:  "A  good  spirit  had  care  of  it  (the  island),  who  lived  in  a  cave  in  the 
rocks  immediately  under  the  place  where  the  fort  now  stands,  and  has  often 
been  seen  by  our  people.  He  was  white,  with  large  wings  like  a  swan's,  but 
ten  times  larger.  We  were  particular  not  to  make  much  noise  in  that  part 
of  the  island  which  he  inhabited  for  fear  of  disturbing  him.  But  the  noise 
of  the  fort  has  since  driven  him  away,  and  no  doubt  a  bad  spirit  has  taken 
his  place." 

REAL   PIONEERS    OF   THE   VALLEY 

Fort  Armstrong  soon  became  the  nucleus  of  the  first  permanent  settlement 
in  the  Rock  River  Valley.  Among  those  who  arrived  with  its  builders  to 
take  advantage  of  its  protection  and  assist  in  its  construction  was  George 
Davenport,  gallant  soldier  in  war,  and  army  commissary  and  thrifty  trader 
in  peace.  Like  other  English-American  soldiers  and  adventurers  he  brought 
his  wife  with  him;  and  she  was  the  first  American  woman  to  ascend  the  Mis- 
sissippi to  that  point.  In  the  following  year  after  Mr.  Davenport  settled  on 
Rock  Island  and  commenced  to  trade  with  the  Indians,  his  good  wife  bore 
him  a  son,  George  L.  Davenport,  the  first  native  white  child  of  the  Rock  River 
Valley.  This  addition  to  his  family  doubtless  suggested  expansion  to  the  hus- 
band and  father  and  he  erected  a  double  log  cabin  which  combined  living 
quarters,  with  trading  accommodations.  His  competitor,  Antoine  Leclaire, 
French  trader  and  half-breed,  then  settled  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Rock  River 
among  his  Indian  relatives  at  Saukenuk.  While  the  settlement  at  the  foot  of 
the  valley  was  commencing  to  take  shape,  the  head  of  the  valley  was  being 
agitated  by  an  increasing  migration  into  the  Galena  lead  district.  The  result 
was  that  the  contact  of  white  explorers,  adventurers  and  home-seekers,  with 
the  Sauk  of  the  lower  valley  and  the  Winnebago  and  Pottawatomi  of  the  upper 
region  became  pronounced. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  73 

It  is  known  that  a  Frenchman  named  Pierre  LaPorte  trapped  for  skins 
in  the  Rock  River  Valley  before  even  Fort  Armstrong  was  founded — before 
even  there  was  any  War  of  1812.  Another  Frenchman,  whose  name  is  spelt 
variously  as  LaSallier,  LeSaller  and  LeSellier,  came  into  the  upper  Rock  River 
Valley  at  a  somewhat  later  date  than  LaPorte.  He  is  said  to  have  married 
a  Pottawatomie  woman,  and  their  daughter  became  the  wife  of  Joseph  Ogee, 
of  ferry  fame.  Not  long  after  peace  was  declared  concluding  the  War  of  1812, 
a  fur  trader  named  Stephen  Mack  came  to  the  Rock  River  region  from  Green 
Hay,  the  great  fur  market  of  the  west,  and  located  in  the  Grand  Detour  dis- 
trict. He  married  the  daughter  of  a  Pottawatomie  chief,  and  is  believed  to 
have  lived  later  in  Winnebago  County  and  to  have  passed  his  last  years  with 
his  faithful  Indian  wife,  in  the  upper  Rock  River  Valley.  After  the  Black 
Hawk  War  he  founded  Macktown  on  the  site  of  the  Rockton  of  today.  During 
the  earlier  period  of  his  residence  in  the  valley,  Mack  was  a  contemporary  of 
LaSallier,  but  the  latter  seemed  never  to  have  lived  long  in  any  one  place; 
evidently  LaSallier  was  a  roving  trader  and  a  guide  to  white  travelers  and 
explorers  of  the  early   '20s. 

webb's  trip  down  the  valley 

When  well  along  in  years,  LaSallier  came  in  contact  with  several  notable 
expeditions  which  traversed  Rock  River  Valley.  One  which  has  been  graphically 
recorded  was  that  performed  under  the  leadership  of  James  Watson  Webb, 
the  twenty-year  old  adjutant  at  Fort  Dearborn.  In  February,  1822,  he  bore 
a  message  to  Fort  Armstrong  across  northern  Illinois,  to  be  forwarded  to 
Colonel  Snelling  in  command  of  the  garrison  at  St.  Peters  (Falls  of  St. 
Anthony),  warning  him  of  a  contemplated  Sioux  massacre  designed  to  wipe 
out  a  regiment  of  troops  with  the  women  and  children  who  accompanied  them. 
The  journey  was  deemed  so  hazardous  that  Webb  could  induce  only  a  sergeant 
at  the  post,  a  good  woodsman,  and  an  Indian  of  his  own  age,  to  make  the  start. 

From  his  graphic  account  of  the  trip,  published  twenty-four  years  after- 
ward, these  extracts  are  taken:  "The  first  two  or  three  days  were  days  of 
weariness  to  me  and  of  frolic  and  fun  to  the  Indian;  because  we  necessarily 
traveled  on  foot,  in  consequence  of  the  extreme  severity  of  the  weather,  with 
our  provisions  on  a  pack-horse,  and  a  horse  to  break  the  snow  and  make  a 
trail  in  which  to  walk.  The  actual  suffering  consisted  in  riding  our  regular 
tour;  but  I,  being  all  unused  to  travel  through  the  snow  on  foot,  for  hour 
after  hour  consecutively,  was  weary  and  worn  out  when  we  came  to  bivouac 
at  night;  while  the  Indian  was  apparently  as  fresh  as  when  we  started,  and 
cracked  his  jokes  without  mercy  upon  the  fagged  Che-mo-ca-mun  or  Long 
Knife,  as  they  denominated  all  whites.  I  found,  however,  as  I  had  been  told 
by  those  who  weve  learned  in  such  matters  that  endurance  of  the  Indian  bears 
no  comparison  with  that  of  the  white  man.  He  will  start  off  on  a  dog  trot 
and  accomplish  his  eighty  or  one  hundred  miles  in  an  incredibly  short  space 
of  time;  but  when  he  comes  to  day  after  day  of  regular  work  and  endurance 
he  soon  begins  to  flag  and  finally  becomes  worn  out;  while  each  succeeding 
day  inures  the  white  man  to  his  work,  trains  him  for  further  exertion  and  the 
better   tits   him  for  the  following  day's   labors.     Thus    it   was   with   the   Indian 


74  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

and  myself,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  fourth  day  I  came  to  camp  fresh  as 
when  we  started,  while  the  Indian  came  in  weary  and  fatigued;  and,  of  course, 
it  was  then  my  turn  to  boast  of  the  endurance  of  the  Che-mo-ca-mun  and  the 
effeminacy  of  the  Nichenawby. 

"My  instructions  were  to  employ  the  Pottawatomie  as  a  guide  to  the  Rock 
River,  where  the  country  of  the  Winnebagoes  commenced,  and  then  take  a 
Winnebago  as  a  guide  to  Fort  Armstrong — the  leading  object  being  so  to  ar- 
range our  line  of  travel  as  to  avoid  the  prairies  upon  which  we  would  neces- 
sarily suffer  from  the  cold.  I  had  been  apprised  that  I  would  find  an  old 
Canadian  voyageur  residing  with  his  Indian  family  in  a  trading  hut  on  Rock 
River,  and  it  was  to  him  my  Pottawatomie  was  to  guide  me. 

''Toward  evening  on  the  fifth  day  we  reached  our  place  of  destination, 
and  old  La  Sallier,  recognizing  us  as  whites  and,  of  course,  from  the  fort, 
intimated  by  signs,  as  he  conducted  us  to  the  loft  of  his  hut,  that  we  were 
to  preserve  a  profound  silence.  All  who  live  in  the  Indian  country  learn  to 
obey  signs,  and  it  is  wonderful  how  soon  we  almost  forget  to  ask  questions. 
I  knew  that  something  was  wrong,  but  it  never  entered  my  head  to  inquire 
what  it  was — Indian -like,  quite  willing  to  bide  my  time,  even  if  the  finger, 
closely  pressed  upon  the  lips  of  the  old  man  had  not  apprised  me  that  I  should 
get  no  answer  until  it  suited  his  discretion  to  make  a  communication. 

"It  was  nearly  dark  when  we  were  consigned  to  the  loft  of  the  good  old 
man,  and  for  three  long  hours  we  saw  him  not.  During  this  period  there 
was  abundant  time  for  meditation  upon  our  position ;  when  all  at  once  the 
profound  stillness,  which  reigned  in  and  around  the  hut,  was  broken  by  the 
startling  sound  of  a  Winnebago  war  dance  in  our  immediate  vicinity !  This, 
as  you  may  imagine,  was  no  very  agreeable  sound  for  my  sergeant  and  my- 
self, and  it  was  perfectly  horrifying  to  my  Pottawatomie;  all  of  which  tribe, 
as  well  as  their  neighbors,  were  as  much  in  awe  of  a  Winnebago  as  is  a  flying 
fish  of  a  dolphin.  But  all  suspense  has  its  end,  and  at  length  the  war  dance 
ceased — the  music  of  which,  at  times,  could  only  be  likened  to  the  shrieks  of 
the  damned  and  then,  again,  partook  of  the  character  of  the  recitative  in  an 
Italian  opera,  until  at  length  it  died  away  and  all  was  silence. 

"Then  came  old  La  Sallier,  whose  head,  whitened  by  the  snows  of  eighty 
winters,  as  it  showed  itself  through  the  trap  in  the  floor,  was  a  far  more  ac- 
ceptable sight  than  I  could  have  anticipated  it  would  be  when  I  left  the  fort. 
Having  been  informed  who  we  were  and  my  desire  to  procure  a  Winnebago 
to  guide  me  to  Fort  Armstrong,  he  inquired  whether  we  had  not  heard  the 
war  dance  and  if  we  could  conjecture  its  object!  He  then  proceeded  to  state 
that  two  Winnebagoes,  who  had  been  tried  and  sentenced  to  be  executed  for 
the  murder  of  a  soldier  at  Fort  Armstrong  had  escaped  from  the  jail  at  Kas- 
kaskia  and  arrived  on  the  river  a  few  days  previous;  that  in  consequence  the 
whole  nation  was  in  a  state  of  extraordinary  excitement,  and  that  the  war- 
dance  to  which  we  had  listened  was  preparatory  to  the  starting  of  a  war  party 
for  Fort  Armstrong  to  attack  it,  or  to  destroy  such  of  the  garrison  as  they 
could  meet  beyond  its  palisades,  and  that,  of  course,  our  only  safety  was  in 
making  an  early  start  homeward.  I  inquired  whether  I  could  not  avoid  the 
Indians  by  crossing  the  Great  Prairie  and  thus  striking  the  Mississippi  above 
the  fort.    He  answered  that  by  such  a  route  I  would  certainlv  avoid  the  Indians 


TIIK  ROCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  75 

until  I  reached  the  vicinity  of  the  Mississippi;  hut  that  we  would  as  certainly 
perisli  with  the  cold,  as  there  was  no  wood  to  furnish  a  fire  at  night.  Tlio 
mercury  in  the  thermometer,  as  I  well  know,  had  stood  at  five  degrees  helow 
zero  when  I  left  the  garrison,  and  it  had  certainly  heen  growing  eolder  each 
day;  and  therefore  1  apparently  acquiesced  in  his  advice,  and  requesting  to 
be  called  some  three  hours  before  daylight,  winch  would  give  us  a  fair  start 
of  any   pursuing  party,  and  bade  him  good  night.     *     *     * 

"Again  we  were  left  to  ourselves  and  then  doubtless  I  wished  myself  safe 
in  garrison,  lint  to  return,  and  that  too  from  fear  and  the  object  of  my 
journey  unaccomplished,  was  inevitable  disgrace.  But  what  was  still  more 
important  was  the  consequence  to  others  of  my  return.  I  could  not  but  think 
there  was  an  understanding  between  the  Winnebago  and  the  Sioux,  and  if 
there  had  lingered  in  my  mind  a  doubt  of  the  story  of  the  Pottawatomie  chief, 
that  doubt  was  now  at  an  end  and,  of  course,  a  sense  of  duty  to  a  whole  regi- 
ment of  officers  and  men,  their  wives  and  children,  was  as  imperative  in  re- 
quiring my  advance  as  was  the  fear  of  disgrace  in  preventing  my  return. 
With  two  such  motives  for  a  right  decision,  there  could  be  no  doubt  as  to  my 
course.  It  required  more  courage  to  retreat  than  to  advance,  and  I  determined 
upon  the  latter. 

"Some  hours  before  the  dawn  of  day  we  started,  apparently  for  garrison; 
but  once  out  of  sight  of  old  La  Sallier  we  knocked  the  shoes  off  our  horses  to 
avoid  being  tracked  by  them  in  crossing  the  river,  threw  away  our  caps,  tore 
up  a  blanket  to  make  the  hood  worn  by  Indians  in  extremely  cold  weather, 
and  took  a  course  by  the  stars  directly  west.  I  should  have  mentioned  that  my 
Indian,  now  having  become  valueless,  I  urged  his  return  to  his  own  tribe.  But 
neither  persuasion  nor  threats  could  induce  him  to  go.  In  every  bush  he 
imagined  he  saw  a  AVinnebago,  and  he  dared  not  return  alone.     *     *     * 

"The  second  day  after  leaving  Rock  River  was  the  coldest  I  ever  experienced. 
The  ground  was  covered  with  about  eight  inches  of  snow,  and  no  one  who  has 
not  experienced  it  can  well  imagine  with  what  piercing  effect  the  wind  passes 
over  those  boundless  fields  of  snow  unbroken  by  a  single  tree.  On  that  day,  at 
Fort  Armstrong,  sixty  miles  south  of  us  and  sheltered  by  woods,  I  afterward 
ascertained  the  mercury  never  rose  above  fourteen  degrees  below  zero.  How 
cold  it  was  where  we  were,  it  is  impossible  to  conjecture;  but  I  know  that  when 
my  Indian  failed  in  strength  and  absolutely  refused  to  take  his  turn  in  riding 
the  horse  to  break  a  trail  through  the  snow,  I  rode  his  tour  of  ten  minutes  in 
addition  to  my  own,  and  when  I  got  down  discovered  that  my  feet,  face,  hands 
and  knees  were  frozen! 

'To  encamp  without  wood  was  an  impossibility.  The  country  is  a  high, 
rolling  prairie  and  from  a  naked  hill,  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  I  dis- 
covered an  island  of  woods  lying  southwest  of  us  and  distant  some  ten  miles. 
When  the  Indian  saw  the  distance  yet  to  travel,  the  hope  with  which  I  had  all 
along  cheered  him  failed,  and  he  announced  his  utter  inability  to  proceed. 
To  place  him  on  our  horse  was  certain  death  to  him;  to  remain  with  him  in 
the  prairie,  without  wood  and  consequently  without  fire,  was  as  certain  death 
to  all ;  yet  he  begged  most  piteously  that  we  would  not  abandon  him.  He  was, 
but  a  boy,  although  even  at  that  age,  he  might  meet  death  at  the  stake  with 
all   an   Indian's  coolness,  he   could  not   make   up   his   mind    to    a    death   from 


76  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

fatigue  and  cold.  I  reasoned  with  him  upon  the  folly  of  all  perishing  in  an 
idle  attempt  to  save  one,  pointed  out  the  wood  to  him  and  promised  him  to 
build  a  large  fire  to  guide  him  to  us  as  soon  as  we  reached  it  and,  with  a 
heavy  heart,  took  leave  of  him  with  but  little  expectation  of  seeing  him  again. 

"Night  set  in  shortly  after  we  separated  and  not  a  solitary  star  was  vis- 
ible; but  our  course  to  the  wood  lying  southwest  and  the  wind  blowing  cut- 
tingly severe  from  the  northwest,  there  was  but  little  difficulty  in  keeping  our 
way.  In  about  an  hour  the  wind  lulled  and  then  we  felt  the  awkwardness  of 
our  position.  On  a  trackless  prairie  covered  with  snow,  without  trail,  moon, 
star  or  wood — what  evidence  did  we  possess  that  we  were  going  in  the  direction 
we  desired?  The  reflection  was  not  a  comfortable  one,  but  we  knew  the  worst 
of  our  position.  We  could  wander  at  random  all  night  on  the  prairie  and 
find  our  way  to  shelter  in  the  morning1 ;  but  not  so  our  poor  Indian ;  and  with 
the  lulling  of  the  wind  the  last  gleam  of  hope  for  him  was  necessarily  abandoned. 

"This  calm  may  have  continued  nearly  two  hours,  when  again  the  wind 
rose;  but  instead  of  blowing  upon  our  right  cheeks  it  struck  us  upon  the  left. 
The  weather  had  not  moderated,  we  had  too  much  reason  to  believe,  and  conse- 
quently we  came  to  a  halt,  lighted  our  punk,  held  it  to  my  pocket  compass — 
and,  behold,  we  were  traveling  northeast,  or  directly  from  instead  of  to  our 
haven  of  rest.  This  created  no  surprise,  though,  of  course,  we  were  not  par- 
ticularly pleased  to  discover  that  we  had  lost  so  much  time  on  such  a  night 
in  the  wilderness  of  a  prairie  with  which  we  were  surrounded;  but  life  in 
the  wilderness  is  a  life  of  action.  We  promptly  resumed  our  march  in  the 
proper  direction,  with  the  wind  a  certain  guide  if  it  did  not  again  lull.  And 
now  comes  the  wonder.  In  less  than  an  hour  we  overtook  our  Indian  traveling 
leisurely  in  the  same  direction  as  ourselves.  Never  before  nor  since  have  I 
been  so  surprised.  My  salutation  was  'Where  are  you  going?'  He  answered 
'To  the  woods.'  'And  how  do  you  know  that  you  are  going  to  the  woods?'  He 
could  not  tell  how,  or  why;  he  knew  he  was  right,  was  certain,  had  not  a  doubt. 
I  then  undertook  to  question  him  more  closely,  but  it  was  of  no  avail.  He  knew 
not  why  it  was,  but  he  was  as  certain  that  he  was  traveling  in  the  right  direc- 
tion as  if  it  had  been  broad  daylight  and  the  wood  directly  in  view.  He  had 
traveled  slowly,  was  somewhat  refreshed,  and  we  all  traveled  leisurely  until 
about  ten  o'clock  at  night,  when  we  reached  our  anxiously-sought  wood,  built 
a  fire,  scraped  away  the  snow  for  a  couch  and  slept,  as  only  travelers  under 
such  circumstances  can  sleep." 

Then  follows  a  long  consideration  by  the  author  on  the  wonderful  or  in- 
stinctive sense  of  direction  possessed  by  the  Indian  and  other  primitive  people. 
On  the  part  of  the  red  man  he  notes  the  anatomical  fact  that  more  generous 
provision  is  made  in  their  skulls  for  the  mechanical  exercise  of  such  senses 
as  smell,  sight  and  sound  than  in  those  of  the  white  race;  and  that  of  direction 
is  largely  based  on  these  senses.  "In  regard  to  the  result  of  my  expedition," 
Webb  concludes,  "I  ought  to  add  that  most  providentially  we  reached  Fort 
Armstrong  without  meeting  with  an  Indian,  or  approaching  sufficiently  near 
to  one  to  be  recognized  as  whites,  although  we  passed  for  miles  (unconsciously) 
through  woods  filled  with  them,  and  were  informed  on  reaching  the  fort  that 
for  some  weeks  the  mainland  had  not  been  visited  unless  accompanied  by  a  strong 
guard.    My  dispatches  were  forwarded  to  the  Palls  of  St.  Anthony  by  soldiers 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  77 

who  traveled  all  the  way  on  the  frozen  Mississippi  and  fortunately,  when  they 
were  received,  a  number  of  Sioux  chiefs  were  about  the  garrison.  They  were 
immediately  placed  in  the  guardhouse,  and  others  sent  for  and  served  in  like 
manner.  None  of  them  was  released  until  the  opening  of  spring  and  satisfactory 
proofs,  that  the  proposed  rising  had  been  finally  abandoned  as  equally  dan- 
gerous and  hopeless." 

Webb  returned  safely  to  Fort  Dearborn,  although  it  was  reported  in  one 
of  the  post  bulletins  that  he  and  his  companions  had  been  killed  by  the  Indians. 
In  1827  he  resigned  his  commission  as  adjutant,  moved  to  New  York  and, 
although  then  but  twenty-five  years  of  age,  became  editor  of  the  Morning 
Courier.  He  proved  to  be  a  very  enterprising  news-gatherer  as  well  as  aggres- 
sive editor,  was  sentenced  for  duelling  and  finally  met  his  quietus  through 
the  forceful  and  caustic  thrusts  of  Horace  Greeley  whom  he  had  attacked 
editorially. 

THE    MAJOR    LONG    EXPEDITION 

The  year  following  the  Webb  trip  to  Fort  Armstrong,  the  old-time  trapper 
and  guide,  LaSallier,  conducted  the  expedition  organized  by  Major  S.  H.  Long 
to  explore  the  headwaters  of  the  St.  Peter's  River  from  Chicago  to  his  home 
neighborhood  near  the  mouth  of  the  Pecatonica  River,  the  chief  western  branch 
of  the  Rock,  and  accompanied  it  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  or  Fort  Crawford.  From 
a  narrative  of  the  expedition,  compiled  mainly  from  the  notes  of  Major  Long, 
it  is  learned  that  when  the  decision  was  made  at  Chicago  to  select  the  route  by 
way  of  Galena  and  Fort  Crawford  rather  than  by  way  of  Fort  Armstrong, 
no  person  could  be  found  as  a  guide  until  ''an  old  French  engage  of  the  name 
Le  Seller"  undertook  the  office.  "This  man,"  continues  the  narrative,  "who 
had  lived  for  upwards  of  thirty  years  with  the  Indians,  had  taken  a  wife  among 
the  Winnebagoes  and  settled  on  the  headwaters  of  Rock  River;  knowing  that 
country  as  far  as  that  stream,  he  presumed  that  he  could  find  his  way  thence 
to  Fort  Crawford." 

LaSallier  guided  the  party  safely  until  the  Pecatonica  River  had  been 
reached,  a  few  miles  above  its  junction  with  the  Rock  River.  At  this  point  it 
became  evident  that  he  had  reached  the  limit  of  his  knowledge  of  the  country. 
Accordingly  he  was  sent  ahead  to  secure  an  Indian  guide  to  lead  the  party  to 
Prairie  du  Chien.  Although  the  Indian  village  to  which  he  went  was  mostly 
composed  of  Winnebago,  its  chief  was  a  Sauk  and  his  elder  brother,  Waneba, 
agreed  to  act  as  guide  for  the  balance  of  the  journey.  During  the  trip  from 
the  Indian  village  in  what  is  now  Winnebago  County  to  Fort  Crawford,  LaSal- 
lier is  said  to  have  conveyed  much  valuable  information  to  Major  Long  and 
other  white  members  of  the  expedition.  He  is  credited  with  translating  certain 
words  uttered  by  a  Winnebago  into  the  Sauk  language;  then  into  French  and 
then  into  English,  in  order  to  test  the  accuracy  of  some  of  the  vocabulary 
which  Major  Long  had  written  during  a  former  trip.  He  also  gave  other  infor- 
mation, especially  about  the  Sauk,  useful  to  the  student  of  ethnology,  and  inter- 
preted a  discourse  made  by  Waneba,  the  guide,  on  the  soul  and  the  spirit. 
This  is  the  last  picture  which  is  given  in  the  printed  page  of  LaSallier,  one 
of  the  notable  characters  of  the  upper  Rock  River  Valley. 


78  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

KEOKUK    AND    THE   SAUK   AT    PRAIRIE    DU    CHIEN 

It  is  a  matter  of  record  that  Black  Hawk  and  his  people  received  annuities 
from  the  United  States  Government,  for  a  number  of  years,  as  well  as  various 
favors  from  the  British.  British  flags  and  medals  were  worn  by  his  followers 
to  the  exclusion  of  like  tokens  offered  by  the  United  States.  In  May,  1823, 
he  led  the  party  which  nearly  annihilated  the  Iowas,  and  joined  with  the 
Winnebago  in  all  their  forays.  Finally  on  August  19,  1825,  less  than  a  decade 
after  the  conference  at  the  Portage  des  Sioux,  the  Sioux,  Chippewa,  Sauk  and 
Poxes,  Menominee,  Iowas,  Winnebago,  Ottawa  and  Pottawatomi,  were  called 
to  Prairie  du  Chien  by  the  United  States  Government  not  for  the  cession  of 
any  lands  or  to  secure  any  direct  American  benefit,  but  to  induce  the  Indians 
to  cease  fighting  among  themselves.  Black  Hawk  did  not  attend.  Keokuk 
was  there,  as  the  leader  of  his  American  peace  party,  as  was  Henry  School- 
craft, the  educated  and  talented  New  Yorker,  who  was  then  Indian  agent  at 
Sault  Ste.  Marie  and  had  married  the  educated  granddaughter  of  an  Indian 
chief.  The  young  man  who  was  to  become  so  famous  as  an  authority  on  Indian 
history  and  lore  came  in  his  canoe  from  the  far  northern  country  to  assist  in 
the  negotiations  at  Prairie  du  Chien  and  long  afterward  wrote  an  account  of 
the  treaty  of  1825  in  his  book  "Thirty  Years  with  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the 
Northwestern  Frontier."  The  Government  had  appointed  William  Clark  and 
Lewis  Cass  commissioners  to  treat  with  the  assembled  tribal  representatives. 

Schoolcraft  describes  his  canoe  trip  to  Prairie  du  Chien  and  some  of  the 
Indian  chiefs  assembled  in  the  council  of  peace,  continuing:  "But  no  tribes 
attracted  as  intense  a  degree  of  interest  as  the  Iowa  and  the  Sacs  and  Foxes — 
tribes  of  radically  diverse  languages,  yet  united  in  a  league  against  the  Sioux. 
These  tribes  were  encamped  on  the  island  or  opposite  coast.  They  came  to 
the  treaty  ground  armed  and  dressed  as  a  war  party.  They  were  all  armed 
with  spears,  clubs,  guns  and  knives.  Many  of  the  warriors  had  a  long  tuft 
of  red  horse  hair  tied  at  their  elbows  and  wore  a  necklace  of  grizzly  bears' 
claws.  Their  head  dress  consisted  of  red  dyed  horse  hair  tied  in  such  manner 
to  the  scalplock  as  to  present  the  shape  of  the  decoration  of  a  Roman  helmet. 
The  rest  of  the  head  was  completely  shaved  and  painted.  A  long  iron-shod 
lance  was  carried  in  the  hand.  A  species  of  baldric  supported  part  of  their 
arms.  The  azian,  moccasin  and  leggings  constituted  part  of  their  dress.  They 
were  indeed  nearly  nude  and  painted.  Often  the  print  of  a  hand  in  white  clay 
marked  the  back  or  shoulders.  They  bore  flags  of  feathers.  They  beat  drums. 
They  uttered  yells  at  definite  points.  They  landed  in  compact  ranks.  They 
looked  the  very  spirit  of  defiance.  Their  leader  stood  as  a  prince,  majestic  and 
frowning.  The  wild  native  pride  of  man  in  the  savage  state,  flushed  by  suc- 
cess in  war  and  confident  in  the  strength  of  his  arm,  was  never  so  fully  depicted 
to  my  eyes.  And  the  forest  tribes  of  the  continent  may  be  challenged  to 
have  ever  presented  a  spectacle  of  bold  daring  and  martial  progress  equal  to 
their  landing. 

"Their  martial  bearing  and  their  high  tone  and  whole  behavior  during 
their  stay,  in  and  out  of  the  council,  was  impressive,  and  demonstrated  in  an 
eminent  degree  to  what  a  high  pitch  of  physical  and  moral  courage,  bravery 
and  success  in  war  may  lead  a  savage  people.     Keokuk,  who  led  them,  stood 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  79 

with  his  war  Lance,  high  crest  of  feathers  and  daring  eye,  like  another  Corio- 
lanus,  and  when  he  spoke  in  council  and  at  the  same  time  shook  his  lance  at 
his  enemies,  the  Sioux,  it  was  evident  that  he  wanted  but  an  opportunity  to 
make  their  blood  flow  like  water.  Wapelo  and  other  chiefs  backed  him,  and 
the  whole  array,  with  their  shaved  heads  and  high  crests  of  red  horse  hair, 
told  the  spectator  plainly  that  each  of  these  men  held  his  life  in  his  hand  and 
was  ready  to  spring  to  the  work  of  slaughter  at  the  cry  of  their  chief.     *     *     * 

"When  nearly  a  month  had  been  consumed  in  these  negotiations,  a  treaty 
of  limits  was  signed  that  will  long  be  remembered  in  the  Indian  reminiscences. 

*  *  It  was  a  pleasing  sight  to  see  the  explorer  of  the  Columbia  in  1806 
(Clark)  and  the  writer  of  the  proclamation  of  the  army  which  invaded  Canada 
in  1812  (Cass)  uniting  in  a  task  boding  so  much  good  to  the  tribes  whose 
passions  and  trespasses  on  each  other's  lands  kept  them  perpetually  at  war. 

"At  the  close  of  the  treaty  an  experiment  was  made  on  the  moral  sense 
of  the  Indians  with  regard  to  intoxicating  liquors  which  was  evidently  of  too 
refined  a  character  for  their  just  appreciation.  It  had  been  said  by  the  tribes 
that  the  true  reason  for  the  commissioners  of  the  United  States  speaking 
against  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  by  the  Indians,  and  refusing  to  give  them, 
was  not  a  sense  of  its  bad  effects  so  much  as  the  fear  of  the  expense.  To  show 
them  that  the  Government  was  above  such  a  petty  principle,  the  commissioners 
had  a  long  row  of  camp  kettles  holding  several  gallons  each  placed  on  the 
grass,  from  one  end  of  the  council  house  to  the  other,  and  then,  after  some 
suitable  remarks,  each  kettle  was  spilled  out  in  their  presence.  The  thing  was 
evidently  ill  relished  by  the  Indians.  They  loved  the  whiskey  better  than 
the  joke." 

The  Winnebago  War  of  1827  had  its  origin  in  the  attack  of  a  body  of 
Winnebago  upon  a  band  of  Chippewa,  at  Fort  Snelling,  and  the  surrender 
and  execution  of  the  four  leaders  who  were  chiefly  responsible  for  the  outrage. 
This  was  followed  by  acts  of  reprisal  and  murder  on  the  part  of  the  Winne- 
bago  or  Sioux,  by  clashings  between  the  lead  miners  and  the  Indians  as  to 
land  titles,  by  an  aggravating  attack  upon  a  supply  boat  from  Fort  Snelling 
made  by  Sauk  and  Winnebago  bands  near  the  mouth  of  the  Bad  Axe  and 
(alleged  by  some  authorities)  the  mistreatment  of  some  drunken  squaws  by 
equally  drunken  boatmen.  All  these  acts  and  clashings  between  the  warring 
trihes  and  the  government  troops  under  General  Henry  Atkinson  in  the  early 
sunimer  of  1827  resulted  in  a  number  of  deaths,  and  the  surrender  and  imprison- 
ment of  Red  Bird,  the  great  war  chief  of  the  Winnebago.  Civil  trials  of 
those  charged  with  murder  and  the  attack  on  the  supply  boat,  from  which 
resulted  half  a  dozen  fatalities  among  the  crew,  brought  the  conviction  of 
a  number  of  Indians.  All  efforts  to  directly  connect  either  Red  Bird  or  Black 
Hawk  with  such  bloodshed  were  futile.  The  confinement  of  Red  Bird,  however, 
was  soon  followed  by  his  death   (February  16,  1828). 

KEOKUK    AGAIN    AMERICA'S    GOOD   INDIAN    GENIUS 

In  the  late  summer  of  1829,  the  government  concluded  treaties  with  the 
Pottawatomi,  Chippewa,  Ottawa  and  YVinnebapo,  by  which  it  was  thought  peace- 
ful possession  would  be  assured  of  the  country  between  the  Rock  River  Valley 


80  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

and  southern  Lake  Michigan ;  and,  in  fact,  after  these  treaties  there  were 
never  any  clashes  with  these  tribes  over  the  ownership  of  their  lands.  These 
treaties  were  held  at  Prairie  du  Chien.  That  made  with  the  Pottawatomi, 
Chippewa  and  Ottawa  ceded  to  the  United  States  the  territory  between  Rock 
River  and  the  Mississippi  and  between  Rock  River  and  Lake  Michigan,  west 
and  south  of  the  cession  of  1816.  Caleb  Atwater,  one  of  the  government  com- 
missioners who  subscribed  to  the  treaty,  thus  comments  on  the  part  taken  by 
Keokuk  in  making  the  negotiations  a  success:  "The  Winnebagoes  appeared  in 
council  and  delivered  many  speeches  to  us.  They  demanded  the  $20,000  worth 
of  goods.  'Wipe  out  your  debt'  was  their  reply  'before  you  run  in  debt  again 
to  us.' 

"Our  goods,  owing  to  the  low  stage  of  water  had  not  arrived  yet,  and  the 
Indians  feared  we  did  not  intend  to  fulfill  Governor  Cass'  agreement  of  the 
year  before.  When  our  goods  did  arrive  and  they  saw  them,  they  then  changed 
their  tone  a  little ;  but  in  the  meantime  great  uneasiness  existed.  *  *  *  We 
were  told  by  the  Winnebagoes  that  they  'would  use  a  little  switch  upon  us.'  In 
plain  English,  they  would  assassinate  the  whole  of  us  out  of  the  fort.  Two 
hundred  warriors,  under  Keokuk  and  Morgan,  of  Sauk  and  Foxes,  arrived 
and  began  their  war  dance  for  the  United  States,  and  they  brought  word 
that  thirty  steamboats,  with  cannon  and  United  States  troops,  and  400  war- 
riors of  their  own,  were  near  at  hand.  The  Winnebagoes  were  silenced  by 
this  intelligence  and  by  demonstrations  not  understood  by  them. 

"It  was  a  season  of  great  joy  with  me,  who  placed  more  reliance  on 
Keokuk  and  his  friendly  warriors  than  all  our  other  forces.  Good  as  our 
officers  were,  our  soldiers  of  the  army  were  too  dissipated  and  worthless  to 
be  relied  upon  one  moment.  Taking  Keokuk  aside  and  alone,  I  told  him  in 
plain  English  all  I  wanted  of  him,  and  what  I  would  do  for  him,  and  what 
I  expected  from  him  and  his  good  offices.  He  replied  in  good  English :  '  I 
understand  you,  sir,  perfectly,  and  it  shall  all  be  done.'  It  was  all  done 
faithfully  and  turned  the  tide  in  our  favor." 

On  the  1st  of  August,  1829,  the  treaty  was  concluded  with  the  Winnebago 
by  which  the  tribe  ceded  8,000,000  acres  of  land,  in  three  tracts,  extending 
from  the  upper  end  of  Rock  Island  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin.  The  United 
States  now  owned  the  entire  country  east  of  the  Mississippi  from  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  River,  but  the  supreme  test  of  that 
ownership  was  to  come  in  the  clash  of  arms  between  the  government,  the  citizen 
soldiery  and  the  implacable  Black  Hawk  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  of  Illinois 
and  on  the  Mississippi  bluffs  of  southwestern  Wisconsin. 


CHAPTER  IV 
BLACK  HAWK'S  FLITTING  SHADOWS 

WHEN  THE  WHITES  CAME  TO  SAUKENUK — APPEALS  TO  GOVERNOR  REYNOLDS — CALLS 
TO  VOLUNTEERS  AND  REGULARS — STATE  MILITIA  PROMPTLY  RESPOND DIFFICUL- 
TIES IN  ORGANIZATION   OF  VOLUNTEER  ARMY ADVANCE  AGAINST  BLACK   HAWK'S 

TOWN — FOUND  DESERTED BURNED  BY  VOLUNTEERS THE  WARRIOR 'S  DEFENSE — 

UK    PROCLAIMS   POLICY   OF   NON-RESISTANCE CONFERENCES   WITH    THE   PROPHET 

— GENERAL  GAINES   CALLS  A   COUNCIL  AT  ROCK   ISLAND BLACK   HAWK  AT   FIRST 

DEFIANT — FINALLY  SIGNS  TREATY  OF  JUNE  30,  1831 AGREES  NEVER  TO  RECROSS 

THE  MISSISSIPPI — GENERAL  GAINES  AND  GOVERNOR  REYNOLDS  RELIEVE  DISTRESS  OF 
BLACK  HAWK  's  BAND — ARMY  OF  REGULARS  AND  VOLUNTEERS  DISPERSES— BLOODY 
REPRISALS  BETWEEN  SAUK  AND  FOXES,  SIOUX  AND  MENOMINEE — BLACK  HAWK 
AND  PROPHET  FAIL  TO  WEAN  SHABBONA  FROM  THE  UNITED  STATES — LAST  AT- 
TEMPT to  break  keokuk's  power — black  hawk  recrosses  the  Mississippi 

with  his  people encamps  below  the  prophet's  village} — expresses  from 

general  atkinson  sent  back regulars  and  volunteers  again  organized 

to   pursue    black    hawk — collapse    of    the   campaign colonel    henry 

gratiot's  narrow  escape — reorganization  of  the  pursuit  expedition  under 

general  atkinson  and  governor  reynolds colonel  zachary  taylor  in 

active  command  of  regulars general  samuel  whiteside  brigadier  gen- 
eral of  vom/nteers state  troops  leave  heavy  baggage  behind set  out 

to  overtake  black  hawk  by  forced  marches first  definite  news  as  to 

black  hawk's  location  obtained  at  dixon  s  ferry. 

Acting  upon  the  honest  belief  that  the  government  title  to  the  fertile  lands 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Rock  River  was  beyond  lawful  dispute,  and  would  not 
be  seriously  contested  even  by  Black  Hawk,  in  1828  President  Adams,  by 
proclamation,  opened  them  to  settlement.  The  survey  included  the  Sauk  vil- 
lage, which  by  May  of  that  year  had  been  abandoned  by  all  except  Quashquame 
and  the  band  led  by  Black  Hawk.  Keokuk,  chief  of  the  Sauk,  and  Wapello, 
tlic  head  chief  of  the  Foxes,  and  other  acknowledged  leaders  of  their  tribes, 
had  been  followed  by  the  bulk  of  the  allied  nations  of  the  Rock  River  to  lands 
provided  for  them  west  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  situation  of  affairs  in  May,  1829,  when  white  settlers  commenced  to 
occupy  the  land  included  in  the  site  of  Saukenuk,  the  Indian  village  still  held 
by  Black  Hawk  and  Quashquame  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Rock  River,  is 
thus  described  by  Major  Thomas  Forsythe,  Indian  agent  at  Rock  Island,  to 
Governor  Clark,  his  superior: 

"Rocky  Island,   17th  May,   1829 

"Sir: — Some  time  early  in  the  spring  a  number  of  settlers  came  to  the 
Sac  village  on  Rock  River  and  enclosed  nearly  all  the  Sac  Indians'  corn  fields. 

81 


82  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

The  Indians,  on  their  arrival,  were  surprised  at  this,  as  also  the  destruction 
committed  by  the  settlers  by  tearing  down  many  of  their  lodges.  The  settlers 
who  reside  at  the  Sac  village  have  called  on  me  frequently,  wishing  me  to 
drive  the  Indians  away ;  that  they  must  go,  ought  to  go,  pointing  out  the  neces- 
sity of  sending  them  away,  etc.,  etc. 

"I  yesterday  had  a  meeting  with  a  number  of  Indians  and  had  a  very  long 
talk  with  them  on  the  subject  of  all  the  Indians  moving  on  to  their  own  lands. 
Quashquame  denying  that  he  ever  sold  any  land  above  Rock  River,  etc.  The 
Black  Hawk  also  saying  that  the  white  people  were  in  the  habit  of  saying  one 
thing  to  the  Indians  and  putting  another  on  paper;  and  both  those  Indians 
made  use  of  every  argument  they  were  masters  of,  to  convince  me  that  they 
had  never  sold  the  land  above  Rock  River. 

"I  acquainted  all  the  Indians  with  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of  1804, 
where  Quashquame 's  name  is,  as  one  of  the  chiefs  who  sold  the  land  in  question 
(the  other  chiefs  being  dead).  I  also  reminded  the  Black  Hawk  of  the  treaty 
of  1816,  when  the  commissioners  refused  to  smoke  with  him  and  the  other 
Sac  chiefs  (who  accompanied  him  down  to  St.  Louis)  to  make  peace  until  they 
signed  the  treaty. 

"The  Black  Hawk  denied  that  any  mention  was  made  to  him  about  land 
in  making  the  treaty  of  1816;  but  that  the  commissioners  must  have  inserted 
in  the  treaty  what  was  not  expressly  explained  to  him  and  friends. 

' '  The  Indians  and  myself  had  a  great  deal  of  talk  at  this  meeting,  the  most 
of  which  was  quite  unnecessary,  at  the  winding  up  of  which  I  told  the  Indians 
I  would  not  listen  to  any  complaints  that  might  come  in  the  future  from  any 
Indians  who  remained  at  Rocky  River. 

"The  chief  Keokuk  inquired  of  me  in  private  if  he  and  some  of  his  friends 
could  remain  at  Rocky  River  to  raise  the  corn  they  had  planted,  saying  at 
the  same  time  that  most  of  the  principal  chiefs  and  braves  had  gone  to  reside 
at  a  place  a  few  miles  within  the  mouth  of  Ioway  River,  and  that  more  than 
one-half  of  those  now  at  Rocky  River  would  also  go  shortly  to  the  same  place. 
I  told  Keokuk  that  he  had  heard  what  I  had  said  to  the  Indians  in  council, 
and  that  it  was  out  of  my  power  to  give  any  Indians  such  permission  as  he 
had  asked. 

"It  is  my  opinion  that  but  few  Indians  will  remain  at  Rocky  River  this 
summer,  but  yet  I  am  fearful  that  some  difficulties  will  take  place  among  them 
and  the  settlers  during  the  ensuing  summer.  All  the  Fox  Indians  formerly 
residing  in  this  vicinity  have  gone  and  made  a  new  village  at  the  Grand 
Muscatin." 

APPEALS  TO   GOVERNOR   REYNOLDS 

Depredations  on  the  growing  and  mature  crops  of  the  white  settlers  who 
had  located  in  the  Rock  Island  region  continued  through  the  spring  and  sum- 
mer of  1830,  and  in  the  autumn  Black  Hawk  and  his  band  departed  on  their 
winter's  hunt.  In  the  following  spring  the  Indians  returned,  found  Black 
Eawk's  lodge  occupied,  with  the  rest  of  the  village,  and  the  whites  prepared 
to  resist  an  ejectment  from  their  lands.  From  this  time,  Black  Hawk  and  his 
followers  became  continually  more   aggressive  and   threatening.     The   settlers 


(Through    the   courtesy   of   the    Rock    Island    Arsenal) 

FOET  ARMSTRONG  AS  BUILT  IN  1816 
Prom  photograph  of  an  old  drawing.     Refuge  of  whites  from  enemy  Indians — Center  of 
important    Treaties — Meeting    place    of    famous    American    Statesmen,    Military    Leaders    ami 
Indian    Chiefs — Once    residence    of   famous   Dred   Scott   slave — Evacuated    as    military   post 
in  18.'56.     Last  vestige  of  fort  removed  in  1863. 


—a 


(Through    the  oourtesj    of   the    Boca    [dead    A 
BITE   OF   OLD   FORT    A  h'MSTWONC    LOOKING    DOWN    THE   MISSISSIPPI 


Vol.  I— « 


84  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

perceived  that  they  had  to  contend  with  a  serious  uprising  against  their  oc- 
cupancy of  the  soil  and  commenced  to  appeal  to  Governor  John  Reynolds  for 
protection.  Their  first  formal  petition  to  the  chief  executive  was  dated  April 
30,  1831.  It  read:  "We,  the  undersigned,  being  citizens  of  Rock  River  and 
its  vicinity,  beg  leave  to  state  to  your  honor  the  grievances  which  we  labor 
under,  and  pray  your  protection  against  the  Sac  and  Pox  tribe  of  Indians, 
who  have  again  taken  possession  of  our  lands  near  the  mouth  of  Rock  River 
and  vicinity.  They  have,  and  now  are  burning  our  fences,  destroying  our  crops 
of  growing  wheat  by  turning  in  all  their  horses.  They  also  threaten  our  lives 
if  we  attempt  to  plant  corn,  and  say  they  will  cut  it  up ;  that  we  have  stolen 
their  lands  from  them,  and  they  are  determined  to  exterminate  us  provided 
we  don't  leave  the  country.  Your  honor  is,  no  doubt,  aware  of  the  outrages 
that  were  committed  by  said  Indians  heretofore.  Particularly  last  fall  they 
almost  destroyed  all  our  crops  and  made  several  attempts  on  the  owners'  lives 
when  they  attempted  to  prevent  their  depredations,  and  actually  wounded  one 
man  by  stabbing  him  in  several  places.  This  spring  they  act  in  a  much  more 
outrageous  and  menacing  manner,  so  that  we  consider  ourselves  compelled  to 
beg  protection  of  you,  which  the  agent  and  garrison  on  Rock  Island  refuse  to 
give,  inasmuch  as  they  say  they  have  no  orders  from  government;  therefore, 
should  we  not  receive  adequate  aid  from  your  honor,  we  shall  be  compelled  to 
abandon  our  settlement  and  the  lands  which  we  have  purchased  from  govern- 
ment, Therefore  we  have  no  doubt  your  honor  will  better  anticipate  our  con- 
dition than  it  is  represented,  and  grant  us  immediate  relief  in  the  manner 
that  to  you  may  seem  most  likely  to  produce  the  desired  effect.  The  number 
of  Indians  now  among  us  is  about  six  or  seven  hundred.  They  say  there  are 
more  coming,  and  that  the  Pottawatomies  and  some  of  the  Winnebagoes  will 
help  them  in  case  of  an  irruption  with  the  whites.  The  warriors  now  here 
are  the  Black  Hawk's  party,  with  other  chiefs,  the  names  of  whom  we  are 
not  acquainted." 

Virtually  the  same  petition  was  carried  to  the  much-harassed  governor  about 
two  weeks  later,  and  several  depositions,  setting  forth  the  distressing  condition 
of  affairs  in  the  region  of  the  lower  Rock  River  Valley,  were  presented  to 
him  at  the  gubernatorial  residence  in  Belleville.  Such  pleas  for  protection 
placed  Governor  Reynolds  in  a  perplexing  position,  which  he  explains  in  "My 
Own  Times"  as  follows:  "If  I  did  not  act  and  the  inhabitants  were  murdered 
after  being  informed  of  their  situation,  I  would  be  condemned  'from  Dan  to 
Bersheba';  and  if  I  levied  war  by  raising  troops,  when  there  was  no  necessity 
for  it,  I  would  also  be  responsible.  I  had  just  been  elected  governor  and  my 
friends  had  pledged  myself  and  themselves  that  I  would  act  rightly  and  honor- 
ably in  all  my  official  duties.  This  made  me  feel,  if  possible,  more  responsibility 
to  my  friends  than  to  myself.  I  passed  a  few  weeks  of  intense  feeling  in  rela- 
tion to  my  duty. 

"Having  before  me  a  vast  amount  of  information,  all  tending  to  establish 
the  following  facts:  That  about  three  hundred  warriors,  headed  by  a  hostile 
war  chief,  Black  Hawk,  were  in  possession,  with  the  citizens,  of  the  old  Sac 
village  near  Rock  Island ;  that  the  Indians  were  determined  to  retain  possession 
of  the  country  by  force ;  and  that  they  had  already  done  mischief  to  the  citizens. 
I  knew,  also,  that  the  citizens  had  applied  to  the  Indian  agents  and  the  military 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  85 

officers  of  the  United  States,  and  had  obtained  no  relief.  I  was  well  aware 
that  in  this  kind  of  war  there  was  but.  one  step  between  the  sublime  and  the 
ridiculous,  and  that  I  was  incurring  a  great  responsibility. 

"On  mature  reflection,  I  considered  it  my  duty  to  call  on  the  volunteers 
to  move  the  Indians  to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  according  to  the  treaty 
made  by  the  general  government  with  them.  Accordingly,  on  the  26th  of  May, 
1831,  without  any  requisition  from  the  United  States  I  made  a  call  on  the 
militia  for  seven  hundred  mounted  men." 

STATE    MILITIA    PROMPTLY    RESPOND 

Governor  Reynolds  communicated  the  fact  of  his  call  to  General  Clark,  the 
Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs,  on  the  same  day  it  was  made.  He,  in  turn, 
forwarded  it  to  General  Edmund  P.  Gaines,  commander  of  the  Western  De- 
partment, U.  S.  A.  General  Gaines,  within  three  days,  wrote  from  the  head- 
quarters of  his  department  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  St.  Louis,  that  he  had  ordered 
to  the  hostile  Sauk  territory  six  companies  of  regulars.  If  necessary,  four 
companies  could  be  added.  "With  this  force,"  adds  the  general  with  due 
military  dignity,  "I  am  satisfied  that  I  shall  be  able  to  repel  the  invasion  and 
give  security  to  the  frontier  inhabitants  of  the  State.  But  should  the  hostile 
band  be  sustained  by  the  residue  of  the  Sac,  Fox  and  other  Indians  to  an 
extent  requiring  an  augmentation  of  my  force,  I  will,  in  that  event,  communicate 
with  Your  Excellency  by  express,  and  avail  myself  of  the  cooperation  which 
you  propose.  But  under  existing  circumstances,  and  the  present  aspect  of 
our  Indian  relations  on  the  Rock  Island  section  of  the  frontier,  I  do  not  deem 
it  accessary  or  proper  to  require  militia,  or  any  other  description  of  force, 
other  than  that  of  the  regular  army  at  this  place  and  Prairie  du  Chien. " 

The  department  commander  quickly  set  out  for  Fort  Armstrong  to  in- 
vestigate the  situation  at  Rock  Island  and  found  it  so  serious  that  he  com- 
municated with  Governor  Reynolds  on  June  5th,  accepting  the  battalion  of 
mounted  men  which  had  been  offered  as  a  cooperating  force;  adding  that  the 
volunteers  would  find  at  Fort  Armstrong  "a  supply  of  rations  for  the  men, 
with  corn  for  their  horses,  together  with  a  supply  of  powder  and  lead."  Gen- 
eral Gaines'  change  in  attitude  toward  the  proffered  services  of  the  state  troops 
was  caused  by  the  fact  that,  while  disavowing  any  hostility,  he  had  found  Black 
Hawk's  band  standing  stubbornly  by  their  expressed  determination  to  remain 
in  their  village.  The  commander  also  learned  that  the  Rock  River  Sauk  had 
made  overtures  to  the  Prophet's  band  of  Winnebago,  with  some  Pottawatomi 
and  Kickapoo,  to  join  them.  He  concluded:  "I  have  deemed  it  expedient 
under  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case  to  invite  the  frontier  inhabitants  to 
bring  their  families  to  this  post  until  the  difference  is  over." 

Commenting  on  the  significance  of  this  letter,  Governor  Reynolds  admits : 
"I  was  very  much  rejoiced  on  receiving  this  letter,  as  it  put  my  whole  pro- 
ceeding on  a  legal  and  constitutional  footing,  and  the  responsibility  of  the  war 
removed  from  me  to  the  United  States." 

The  mounted  militia  responded  to  Governor  Reynolds'  call,  supported  by 
the  United  States  military  department  through  General  Gaines,  with  such 
promptness  and  enthusiasm  that  by  the  10th  of  June  fifteen  hundred  of  these 


86  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

backwoods  fighters,  mainly  from  the  northern  and  central  counties,  had  as- 
sembled at  Beardstown  "ready  for  business."  Again  the  Governor  remarks: 
"I  believe  it  was  the  expeditious  and  efficient  movement  of  the  mounted  volun- 
teers that  quieted  the  Indian  disturbances  near  Rock  Island.  Black  Hawk 
and  his  band  were  not  in  fear  of  the  regular  soldiers  who  could  not  move  with 
celerity  so  as  to  strike  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  Indians.  Moreover,  the 
Indians  dreaded  the  backwoods  white  men.  They  knew  the  volunteers  were 
their  natural  enemies  and  would  destroy  them  on  all  occasions.  This  class  of 
troop  was  raised  and  marched  to  Rock  Island  with  extraordinary  celerity  and 
in  such  an  imposing  force  that  it  struck  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  Indians. 
"I  knew  from  the  time  I  made  the  first  call  on  the  militia,  and  time  has 
since  confirmed  it,  that  many  of  the  Indians  for  hundreds  of  miles  around 
the  frontiers  were  hostile  to  the  United  States  and  had  promised  Black  Hawk 
succor,  and  would  have  joined  him  had  not  the  extraordinarily  quick  and  strong 
movement  of  the  Illinois  volunteers  prevented  it.  It  is  probable  that  the  deter- 
mined and  hasty  volunteering  of  the  Illinois  troops  saved  the  Government 
from  a  destructive  Indian  war  all  around  the  northwest  frontiers." 

DIFFICULTIES    IN    ORGANIZING    VOLUNTEER    ARMY 

Governor  Reynolds  notes  the  difficulties  which  he  had  to  encounter  in  the 
organization  of  the  volunteer  army.  The  most  independent,  energetic  and  able 
citizens  had  volunteered  their  services,  many  of  them,  unaccustomed  to  military 
subordination,  applying  for  office.  "Many  of  these  individuals  had  standing," 
he  added,  "and  their  wishes  were  not  to  be  disregarded.  On  the  whole  the 
proper  organization  of  a  volunteer  army  is  a  matter  that  requires  much  serious 
attention  and  a  knowledge  of  human  nature.  A  volunteer  army,  without  the 
proper  organization  and  properly  officered,  will  turn  out  a  mob  and  a  dis- 
grace to  themselves  and  country. 

"I  appointed  the  Hon.  Joseph  Duncan,  who  was  then  a  member  of  con- 
gress, brigadier  general,  to  take  immediate  command  of  the  brigade,  and  Samuel 
Whiteside,  a  major,  to  take  command  of  a  spy  battalion.  These  officers  were 
important  to  the  success  of  the  campaign  and  I  took  the  responsibility  to 
appoint  them.  The  other  officers  except  the  staff  officers  I  ordered  the  volun- 
teers to  elect." 

Joseph  Duncan  had  already  earned  standing  in  the  War  of  1812  and  had 
afterward  served  as  major  general  of  the  state  militia.  Politically,  he  repre- 
sented a  central  district  of  the  state  centering  at  Jacksonville,  and  after  the 
coming  war  with  Black  Hawk  had  been  concluded  was  to  be  called  to  the 
gubernatorial  chair.  Samuel  Whiteside  was  a  member  of  the  Monroe  County 
family  of  famous  Indian  fighters. 

Governor  Reynolds  appointed  as  his  aides  Colonel  James  D.  Henry  and 
Colonel  Milton  K.  Alexander.  Colonel  Henry  was  from  the  Springfield  dis- 
trict, had  served  with  credit  in  the  Winnebago  War  and  was  a  victim  of  the 
Black  Hawk  War,  as  he  died  soon  after  its  conclusion  from  disease  contracted 
from  exposure  during  the  campaign.  Colonel  Alexander  was  from  Edgar 
County,  eastern  Illinois,  had  had  his  first  active  military  experience  in  the 
War  of  1812  and  obtained  his  title  as  colonel  of  the  state  militia. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  87 

The  principal  officers  identified  with  the  volunteer  army  were  not  only  in 
high  standing  with  the  state  militia,  but  had  had  actual  experience  as  cam- 
paigners. Politically,  they  represented  widely  separated  districts  in  the  state, 
and  obviously  the  selections  were  made  with  forethought  from  the  viewpoint 
of  availability  and  civic  consideration. 

The  entire  volunteer  force  was  divided  into  two  regiments,  an  odd  battalion 
and  ;i  spy  battalion.  The  First  Regiment  was  commanded  by  Colonel  Henry, 
the  Second,  by  Colonel  Daniel  Lieb,  the  odd  battalion  by  Major  Nathaniel 
Buckmaster  and  the  spy  battalion  by  Major  Whiteside.  The  entire  brigade 
was  in  command  of  Major  General  Duncan.  This  was  the  largest  military 
force  of  Illinoians  which  had  ever  been  assembled  in  the  state,  and  made  an 
imposing  appearance  as  it  traversed  the  then  unbroken  wilderness  of  prairie. 

In  the  spy  battalion  of  Major  Samuel  Whiteside  was  a  young  lawyer  named 
Thomas  Ford.  He  represented  the  contingent  from  Monroe  County,  the  family 
home  of  the  Whitesides.  Young  Ford  was  the  half-brother  of  George  Forquer, 
then  Attorney  General  of  the  State  and  one  of  its  leading  public  men.  This 
same  spy  who  joined  Major  Whiteside's  battalion  was  in  after  years  to  be  a 
prominent  judge  and  governor  of  the  state;  and,  what  is  more  to  the  point 
of  the  present  writing,  was  to  write  a  history  of  Illinois  after  his  public  service 
was  a  chapter  of  the  past. 

The  Ford  narrative  which  pictures  the  advance  of  the  American  forces  upon 
what  had  then  become  known  as  Black  Hawk's  Town,  with  the  burning  of  the 
ancient  Indian  settlement,  is  extracted  from  his  history:  "The  army  pro- 
ceeded in  four  days  to  the  Mississippi  at  a  place  now  called  Rockport,  about 
eight  miles  below  the  mouth  of  Rock  River,  where  it  met  General  Gaines  in 
a  steamboat  with  a  supply  of  provisions.  Here  it  encamped  for  one  night  and 
here  the  two  generals  concerted  a  plan  of  operations.  General  Gaines  had 
been  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Indian  town  for  about  a  month,  during  which  time 
it  might  be  supposed  that  he  had  made  himself  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
the  localities  and  topography  of  the  country.  The  next  morning  the  volunteers 
inarched  forward,  with  an  old  regular  soldier  for  a  guide.  The  steamboat  with 
General  Gaines  ascended  the  river.  A  battle  was  expected  to  be  fought  that 
day  on  Yandruff's  Island  opposite  the  Indian  town. 

"The  plan  was  for  the  volunteers  to  cross  the  slough  on  to  this  island, 
give  battle  to  the  enemy  if  found  there,  and  then  to  ford  the  river  into  the 
town,  where  they  were  to  be  met  by  the  regular  force  coming  down  from  the 
fort.  The  island  was  covered  with  bushes  and  vines,  so  as  to  be  impenetrable 
to  the  sight  at  a  distance  of  twenty  feet.  General  Gaines  ran  his  steamboat 
np  to  the  point  of  the  island,  and  fired  several  rounds  of  grape  and  canister 
shot  into  it  to  test  the  presence  of  an  enemy.  The  spy  battalion  formed  in 
line  of  battle  and  swept  the  island;  but  it  was  soon  ascertained  that  the  ground 
rose  so  high  within  a  short  distance  of  the  bank  that  General  Gaines'  shot 
could  not  have  taken  effect  one  hundred  yards  from  the  shore.  The  main  body 
of  the  volunteers,  in  three  columns,  came  following  the  spies;  but  before  they 
had  gone  to  the  northern  side  of  the  island,  they  were  so  jammed  up  and  mixed 
together,  officers  and  men,  that  no  man  knew  his  own  company  or  regiment, 
or  scarcely  himself. 

"General  Gaines  had  ordered  the  artillery  of  the  regular  army   to  be  sta- 


88  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

tioned  on  a  high  bluff  which  looked  down  upon  the  contemplated  battlefield, 
a  half  mile  distant,  whence,  in  case  of  battle  with  the  Indians  in  the  tangled 
thickets  of  the  island,  their  shot  were  likely  to  kill  more  of  their  friends  than 
their  enemies.  It  would  have  been  impossible  for  the  artillerists  to  distin- 
guish one  from  the  other.  And  when  the  army  arrived  at  the  main  river,  they 
found  it  a  bold,  deep  stream,  not  fordable  for  a  half  mile  or  more  above  by 
horses,  and  no  means  of  transportation  was  then  ready  to  ferry  them  over. 
Here  they  were  in  sight  of  the  Indian  town,  with  a  narrow  but  deep  river 
running  between,  and  here  the  principal  part  of  them  remained  until  scows 
could  be  brought  to  ferry  them  across  it.  When  the  volunteers  reached  the 
town  they  found  no  enemy  there.  The  Indians  had  quietly  departed  the  same 
morning  in  their  canoes  for  the  western  side  of  the  Mississippi. 

"Whilst  in  camp  twelve  miles  below,  the  evening  before,  a  canoe  load  of 
Indians  came  down  with  a  white  flag  to  tell  the  General  that  they  were  peace- 
able Indians,  that  they  expected  a  great  battle  to  come  off  next  day,  that  they 
desired  to  remain  neutral,  and  wanted  to  retire  with  their  families  to  some 
place  of  safety  and  they  asked  to  know  where  that  was  to  be.  General  Gaines 
answered  them  very  abruptly,  and  told  them  to  be  off  and  go  to  the  other  side 
of  the  Mississippi.  That  night  they  returned  to  their  town,  and  the  next  morn- 
ing early  the  whole  band  of  hostile  Indians  recrossed  the  river  and  thus  entitled 
themselves  to  protection.     *     *     * 

ADVANCE   AGAINST    BLACK    HAWK'S    TOWN 

"The  enemy  having  escaped,  the  volunteers  were  determined  to  be  avenged 
upon  something.  The  rain  descended  in  torrents  and  the  Indian  wigwams 
would  have  furnished  a  comfortable  shelter;  but  notwithstanding  the  rain  the 
whole  town  was  soon  wrapped  in  flames.  And  thus  perished  an  ancient  village 
which  had  once  been  the  delightful  home  of  six  or  seven  thousand  Indians; 
where  generation  after  generation  had  been  born,  had  died  and  been  buried; 
where  the  old  men  had  taught  wisdom  to  the  young;  whence  the  Indian  youth 
had  often  gone  out  in  parties  to  hunt  or  to  war,  and  returned  in  triumph  to 
dance  around  the  spoils  of  the  forest,  or  the  scalps  of  their  enemies ;  and  where 
the  dark-eyed  Indian  maidens,  by  their  presence  and  charms,  had  made  it  a 
scene  of  enchantment  to  many  an  admiring  warrior." 

The  departure  of  Black  Hawk  and  his  band  for  the  other  side  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi without  offering  united  physical  resistance  is  in  conformity  with  the 
explanation  of  his  policy  as  given  in  his  "autobiography."  The  traders,  the 
Indian  agents,  Keokuk  and  even  the  British  authorities  at  Maiden,  Canada, 
advised  him  to  move  across  the  Mississippi ;  his  British  advisers  assuring  him 
that  if  he  had  not  ceded  the  lands  upon  which  the  village  stood  and  resided 
there  peaceably  he  would  not  be  molested.  Standing  upon  the  assurance  of 
Qnashquame,  he  not  only  insisted  that  his  village  had  never  been  sold  but 
propounded  the  following  philosophy  which  might  warm  the  kindred  soul  of 
Henry  George:  "My  reason  teaches  me  that  land  cannot  be  sold.  The  Great 
Spirit  gave  it  to  his  children  to  live  upon  and  cultivate  as  far  as  is  necessary 
for  their  subsistence;  and  so  long  as  they  occupy  and  cultivate  they  have  the 
right  to  the  soil — but  if  they  voluntarily  leave  it,  then  any  other  people  have 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  89 

a  right  to  settle  upon  it,    Nothing  can  be  sold  but  such  things  as  can  be  car- 
ried away." 

the  warrior's  defense 

If  Black  Hawk's  assertions  were  true — that  he  had  never  knowingly  been 
a  party  to  the  cession  of  the  village  site  to  the  government — the  assurance 
of  his  British  supporters  that  he  and  his  band  could  not  be  molested  might 
have  seemed  much  like  the  assurance  of  the  lawyer  to  his  client  in  jail,  viz., 
that  the  defendant  could  not  be  imprisoned.  Black  Hawk  represented  thus: 
"In  consequence  of  the  improvements  of  the  intruders  on  our  fields,  we  found 
considerable  difficulty  to  get  ground  to  plant  a  little  corn.  Some  of  the  whites 
permitted  us  to  plant  small  patches  in  the  fields  they  had  fenced,  keeping  all 
the  best  ground  for  themselves.  Our  women  had  great  difficulty  in  climbing 
their  fences  (being  unaccustomed  to  the  kind)  and  were  ill-treated  if  they 
left  a  rail  down. 

' '  One  of  my  old  friends  thought  he  was  safe.  His  corn  field  was  on  a  small 
island  of  the  Rock  River.  He  planted  his  corn;  it  came  up  well — but  the 
white  man  saw  it! — he  wanted  the  island,  took  his  teams  over,  ploughed  up 
the  corn  and  replanted  it  for  himself.  The  old  man  shed  tears;  not  for  him- 
self but  the  distress  his  family  would  be  in  if  they  raised  no  corn. 

"The  white  people  brought  whiskey  into  our  village,  made  our  people  drunk 
and  cheat  I'd  them  out  of  their  horses,  guns  and  traps.  This  fraudulent  system 
was  carried  to  such  an  extent  that  I  apprehended  serious  difficulties  might 
take  place  unless  a  stop  was  put  to  it.  Consequently,  I  visited  all  the  whites 
and  begged  them  not  to  sell  whiskey  to  my  people.  One  of  them  continued 
the  practice  openly.  I  took  a  party  of  my  young  men,  went  to  his  house,  took 
out  his  barrel,  broke  in  the  head  and  poured  out  the  whiskey.  I  did  this  for 
fear  some  of  the  whites  might  be  killed  by  my  people  when  drunk. 

"Our  people  were  treated  badly  by  the  whites  on  many  occasions.  At  one 
time  a  white  man  beat  one  of  our  Avomen  cruelly  for  pulling  a  few  suckers 
out  of  his  field  to  suck  when  hungry.  At  another  time  one  of  our  young  men 
was  beaten  with  clubs  by  two  white  men  for  opening  a  fence  which  crossed 
our  road  to  take  his  horse  through.  His  shoulder  blade  was  broken  and  his 
body  badly  bruised,  from  which  he  soon  after  died. 

"Bad  and  cruel  as  our  people  were  treated  by  the  whites,  not  one  of  them 
was  hurt  or  molested  by  any  of  my  band.  I  hope  this  will  prove  that  we  are 
a  peaceable  people — having  permitted  ten  men  to  take  possession  of  our  corn- 
fields; prevented  us  from  planting  corn;  burn  our  lodges;  ill-treat  our  women, 
and  heat  to  death  our  men  without  offering  resistance  to  their  barbarous  cruel- 
tics.  This  is  a  lesson  worthy  for  the  white  man  to  learn;  to  use  forbearance 
when  injured. 

"We  acquainted  our  agent  daily  with  our  situation  and,  through  him,  the 
great  chief  at  St.  Louis  (General  Clark),  and  hoped  that  something  would 
be  done  for  us.  The  whites  were  complaining  at  the  same  time  that  we  were 
intruding  on  their  rights.  They  made  themselves  out  the  injured  party  and 
we.  the  intruders,  and  called  loudly  to  the  great  war  chief  to  protect  their 
property. 


90  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

"How  smooth  must  be  the  language  of  the  whites,  when  they  can  make 
right  look  like  wrong  and  wrong  like  right!" 

It  is  little  wonder  that  Black  Hawk  was  wrenched  with  conflicting  emo- 
tions, or  in  his  own  words:  "I  fasted  and  called  upon  the  Great  Spirit  to 
direct  my  steps  to  the  right  path.  I  was  in  great  sorrow — because  all  the 
whites  with  whom  I  was  acquainted  and  had  been  on  terms  of  friendship, 
advised  me  so  contrary  to  my  wishes  that  I  began  to  doubt  whether  I  had  a 
friend  among  them.  Keokuk,  who  has  a  smooth  tongue  and  is  a  great  speaker, 
was  busy  in  persuading  my  band  that  I  was  wrong,  and  thereby  making  many 
of  them  dissatisfied  with  me.  I  had  one  consolation — for  all  the  women  were 
on  my  side,  on  account  of  their  corn-fields."  After  visiting  the  Indian  agent 
at  Rock  Island,  Thomas  Forsythe,  and  the  great  trader,  Colonel  George  Daven- 
port, Black  Hawk  was  induced  to  make  an  offer  of  removal  to  the  west  side 
of  the  Mississippi,  provided  the  "great  chief  at  St.  Louis"  would  give  him 
$6,000  for  the  purchase  of  provisions  and  other  articles  to  relieve  the  neces- 
sities of  his  band.  After  a  few  days,  this  offer  was  peremptorily  refused, 
accompanied  by  renewed  threats  of  ejectment. 

"I  was  not  much  displeased  with  the  answer  brought  by  the  war  chief," 
says  Black  Hawk,  "because  I  would  rather  have  laid  my  bones  with  my  fore- 
fathers than  remove  for  any  consideration.  Yet  if  a  friendly  offer  had  been 
made,  as  I  expected,  I  would,  for  the  sake  of  my  women  and  children,  have 
removed  peaceably. 

PROCLAIMS  POLICY  OP  NON-RESISTANCE 

' '  I  now  resolved  to  remain  in  my  village  and  make  no  resistance,  if  the 
military  came,  but  submit  to  my  fate.  I  impressed  the  importance  of  this 
course  on  all  my  band  and  directed  them,  in  case  the  military  came,  not  to 
raise  an  arm  against  them." 

CONFERENCES  WITH  THE  PROPHET 

Black  Hawk's  final  decision  to  remain  in  his  village  was  the  result  of  his 
conferences  with  Wabokiesshiek,  White  Cloud,  the  Winnebago  Prophet.  White 
Cloud  is  described  as  a  stout,  fine-looking  Indian,  about  forty  years  of  age. 
A  full  and  flowing  suit  of  hair  graced  his  head,  which  was  surmounted  by 
a  fantastic  white  head-dress  several  inches  in  height,  resembling  a  turban  and 
emblematic  of  his  office.  The  Prophet  claimed  that  one  of  his  parents  was  a 
Sauk,  the  other  a  Winnebago.  He  was  shrewd,  eloquent,  reckless  and  mis- 
chievous and  as  inveterate  a  hater  of  the  whites  as  Black  Hawk.  White  Cloud's 
home  town  was  about  thirty-five  miles  up  the  Rock  River  from  Black  Hawk's 
village,  and  as  the  affairs  between  the  whites  and  Indians  reached  their  climax 
in  the  threatened  widespread  clash,  the  visits  between  the  leaders  became  f re- 
fluent. When  it  became  known  that  the  Gaines-Duncan  expedition  was  headed 
for  Rock  River,  in  spite  of  the  Prophet's  assurance  that  the  enemy  Sauk  could 
not  be  removed,  Black  Hawk  made  another  call  upon  his  supernatural  adviser, 
"who  requested  a  little  more  time  to  see  into  the  matter.  Early  next  morning," 
llie  Sauk  warrior  continues,  "he  came  to  me  and  said  he  had  been  dreaming! 


WA  BO-KIES-SHIEK 

(White   Cloud   "the  Prophet") 
Prom  ;i  painting  (from  life)  by  Oetlin 


92  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

'That  he  saw  nothing  bad  in  this  great  war  chief  (General  Gaines)  who  was 
now  near  Rock  River.  That  the  object  of  his  mission  was  to  frighten  us  from 
our  village  that  the  white  people  might  get  our  land  for  nothing.'  He  assured 
us  that  this  'great  war  chief  dare  not,  and  would  not  hurt  any  of  us.  That 
the  Americans  were  at  peace  with  the  British,  and  when  they  made  peace  the 
British  required  (which  the  Americans  agreed  to)  that  they  should  never  inter- 
rupt any  nation  of  Indians  that  was  at  peace — and  that  all  we  had  to  do  to 
retain  our  village  was  to  refuse  any  and  every  offer  that  might  be  made  by 
this  war  chief.' 

GENERAL  GAINES  CALLS  A   COUNCIL  AT  ROCK  ISLAND 

"The  war  chief  arrived  and  convened  a  council  at  the  agency.  Keokuk 
and  Wapello  were  sent  for  and  came  with  a  number  of  their  band.  The  council 
house  was  opened  and  they  were  all  admitted.  Myself  and  band  were  then 
sent  for  to  attend  the  council.  When  we  arrived  at  the  door,  singing  a  war 
song  and  armed  with  lances,  spears,  war  clubs  and  bows  and  arrows,  as  if 
going  to  battle,  I  halted  and  refused  to  enter — as  I  could  see  no  necessity  in 
having  the  room  crowded  with  those  who  were  already  there.  If  the  council 
was  convened  for  us,  why  have  others  in  our  room?  The  war  chief  having 
sent  all  out  except  Keokuk,  Wapello  and  a  few  of  their  chiefs  and  braves,  we 
entered  the  council  house  in  this  warlike  appearance,  being  desirous  to  show 
the  war  chief  that  we  were  not  afraid.  He  then  rose  and  made  a  speech.  He 
said:  'The  President  is  very  sorry  to  be  put  to  the  trouble  and  expense  of 
sending  a  large  body  of  soldiers  here  to  remove  you  from  the  lands  you  have 
long  since  ceded  to  the  United  States.  Your  Great  Father  has  already  warned 
you  repeatedly,  through  your  agent,  to  leave  the  country,  and  he  is  very  sorry 
to  find  that  you  have  disobeyed  his  orders.  Your  Great  Father  wishes  you  well 
and  asks  nothing  from  you  but  what  is  reasonable  and  right.  I  hope  you  will 
consult  your  own  interests  and  leave  the  country  you  are  occupying  and  go 
to  the  other  side  of  the  Mississippi.' 

"I  replied  that  we  had  never  sold  our  country.  'We  never  received  any 
annuities  from  our  American  father  and  we  are  determined  to  hold  on  to  our 
village. ' 

"The  war  chief,  apparently  angry,  rose  and  said:  'Who  is  Black  Hawk? 
Who  is  Black  Hawk?' 

"I  responded:  'I  am  a  Sac,  my  forefather  was  a  Sac  and  all  the  nations 
call  me  a  Sac!' 

' '  The  war  chief  said :  '  I  came  here  neither  to  beg  nor  to  hire  you  to  leave 
your  village.  My  business  is  to  remove  you,  peaceably  if  I  can,  but  forcibly 
if  I  must !  I  will  now  give  you  two  days  to  remove  in — and  if  you  do  not  cross 
the  Mississippi  I  will  adopt  measures  to  force  you  away.' 

"I  told  him  that  I  never  would  consent  to  leave  my  village  and  was  deter- 
mined not  to  leave  it!  The  council  broke  up  and  the  war  chief  retired  to 
the  fort." 

Black  Hawk  again  consulted  the  Prophet,  who  said  that  the  Great  Spirit 
had  directed  that  the  daughter  of  the  old  chief  of  the  village  should  go  to  the 
white  war  chief  and  tell  him  that  her  father  had  always  been  the  white  men's 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  93 

friend,  had  been  wounded  in  their  service  and  that  she  had  never  heard  him 
say  that  he  had  sold  their  village.  The  whites  could  take  it  from  the  occupants 
if  they  choose;  but  she  had  one  favor  to  ask,  that  her  people  be  allowed  to 
gather  the  provisions  growing  in  the  fields  to  save  the  children  from  perishing 
with  hanger.  But  General  Gaines  refused  to  make  treaties  with  women,  and 
I  Mack  Hawk  directed  his  village  crier  to  proclaim  his  orders  to  the  effect  that 
if  the  war  chief  came  to  their  village  to  remove  the  Indians  "not  a  gun  should 
be  fired  nor  any  resistance  offered.  That,  if  he  be  determined  to  fight  for 
them  to  remain  quietly  in  their  lodges  and  let  him  kill  them  if  he  choose." 

BLACK   HAWK    FINALLY   SIGNS  TREATY 

Despite  the  Prophet's  assurance  that  Black  Hawk  would  not  be  molested 
if  he  remained  passively  in  his  village,  when  the  warrior's  spies  reported  "a 
large  body  of  mounted  men"  coming  toward  his  town  his  attitude  changed. 
When  the  great  '"war  chief,"  General  Gaines,  entered  Rock  River  with  his 
soldiers  and  one  big  gun,  the  incident  passed  without  alarm.  Says  Black  Hawk : 
"No  attention  was  paid  to  the  boat  b}r  any  of  our  people — even  our  little  chil- 
dren, who  were  playing  on  the  bank  of  the  river  as  usual,  continued  their 
amusement.  *  *  *  Their  people  were  permitted  to  pass  and  repass  through 
our  village  and  were  treated  with  friendship  by  our  people.  The  war  chief 
appointed  the  next  day  to  remove  us.  I  would  have  remained  and  been  taken 
prisoner  by  the  regulars,  but  was  afraid  of  the  multitude  of  pale  faces  who 
were  on  horseback,  as  they  were  under  no  restraint  of  their  chiefs. 

"We  crossed  the  Mississippi  during  the  night  and  encamped  some  distance 
below  Rock  Island.  The  great  war  chief  convened  another  council  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  a  treaty  with  us." 

Black  Hawk  and  his  band  obviously  had  a  wholesome  respect  for  Governor 
Reynolds'  volunteer  horsemen,  and  after  crossing  the  Mississippi  camped  on 
the  west  side  about  twelve  miles  below  Rock  Island  to  await  developments. 
On  the  morning  of  the  next  day,  the  citizen  rangers  encamped  on  the  prairie 
on  the  site  of  what  afterward  became  the  town  of  Stephenson  and  still  later 
the  city  of  Rock  Island.  The  horses  of  the  brigade  were  confined  in  a  bend 
of  the  Mississippi  and  during  the  night  the  coming  of  a  steamboat  up  the  river 
stampeded  them  along  the  banks  for  miles.  This  delayed  the  assembling  of 
the  council  for  a  time;  also  the  fact  that  Black  Hawk  failed  to  appear  at  Rock 
Island  for  several  days.  Finally,  General  Gaines  peremptorily  ordered  him 
and  his  men  to  appear  at  Fort  Armstrong  and  conclude  a  treaty  of  peace. 
The  presence  of  these  fifteen  or  sixteen  hundred  determined  and  mounted  men, 
expert  as  riflemen,  as  horsemen  and  as  woodscraftmen,  was  what  brought  Black 
Hawk  and  his  twenty-seven  chiefs  and  headsmen  to  the  conference  at  Fort 
Armstrong.  Antoine  Le  Claire,  "a  man  of  good  sense  and  excellent  character, 
was  the  interpreter,"  says  Governor  Reynolds,  "and  explained  the  whole  trans- 
action so  that  all  the  warriors,  including  Black  Hawk  himself,  were  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  contents  of  the  treaty  and  the  whole  transaction." 

The  treaty  was  signed  on  June  30,  1831,  by  General  Gaines  and  Governor 
Reynolds,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  and  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  "the 
chiefs  and  braves  of  the  band  of  Sac  Indians,  usually  called  the  British  band, 


94  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

of  Rock  River,  with  their  old  allies  of  the  Pottawatomi,  Winnebago  and  Kick- 
apoo  nations."  It  recites  the  violation  of  the  treaties  of  1804,  1816  and  1825, 
in  that  this  British  band  continued  to  hold  and  cultivate  the  Rock  River  lands 
after  they  had  been  ceded  to  the  United  States  and  sold  to  its  citizens;  com- 
mitted acts  of  hostility  against  settlers  and  invited  many  of  the  Pottawatomi, 
Winnebago  and  the  Kickapoo  to  join  them,  and  had  only  been  restrained  from 
other  acts  of  war,  particularly  against  the  State  of  Illinois,  by  the  appearance 
of  an  annihilating  force.  Peace  was  therefore  granted  them  only  on  condition 
that  the  British  band  submit  to  the  authority  of  the  friendly  chiefs  and  braves 
of  the  united  Sauk  and  Fox  nation ;  move  west  of  the  Mississippi  and  never 
recross  it  without  the  express  permission  of  the  President  of  the  United  States 
or  the  Governor  of  Illinois;  that  the  United  States  guarantee  to  the  united 
nation  the  integrity  of  their  western  lands,  at  the  same  time  demanding  the 
right  to  establish  upon  them  military  posts  and  roads  for  the  protection  of 
the  frontier  inhabitants;  that  the  Indians  Who  were  parties  to  the  peace  treaty 
cease  to  hold  any  communication  with  British  communities  or  agents;  that  if 
at  any  time  "they  find  themselves  unable  to  restrain  their  allies,  the  Pot- 
tawatomies,  Kickapoos  or  Winnebagoes,  to  give  immediate  information  thereof 
to  the  nearest  military  post." 

The  conclusion  of  the  treaty  is  as  follows:  "And  it  is  finally  agreed  by 
the  contracting  parties  that  henceforth  permanent  peace  and  friendship  be 
established  between  the  United  States  and  the  aforesaid  band  of  Indians." 

The  Sauk  chiefs  who  signed  the  treaty  were :  Pashepaho,  Stabbing  Chief ; 
Wash ut,  Sturgeon  Head;  Chakeepaxhepaho,  Little  Stabbing  Chief;  Chickak- 
alako,  Turtle  Shell;  Pemesee,  the  one  that  flies.  The  warriors  and  braves: 
Macalamichicatak,  the  Black  Hawk ;  Menacon,  the  Seed ;  Kakekamah,  All  Fish ; 
Neepeek,  Water;  Asamesaw,  the  one  that  flies  too  fast;  Panseenanee,  Paunce- 
man ;  Wawapolasa,  White  Walker ;  Wapaqunt ;  White  Hare ;  Keosatah,  Walker. 

The  Fox  chiefs:  Wapala,  the  Prince;  Keeteesee,  the  Eagle;  Pawesheek,  One 
that  sifts  through;  Namee,  One  that  has  gone.  Braves  and  warriors:  Allotah, 
Morgan ;  Kakakew,  the  Crow ;  Sheshequanas,  Little  Gourd ;  Koekoskee ;  Takona, 
the  Prisoner;  Nakiskawa,  the  one  that  meets;  Pamaketah,  the  one  that  stands 
about ;  Topokia,  the  Night ;  Molansat,  the  one  that  has  his  hair  pulled  out ; 
Kakamekapeo,  sitting  in  the  grease. 

The  witnesses  to  the  treaty  were:  Joseph  M.  Street,  United  States  Indian 
Agent,  at  Prairie  du  Chien ;  W.  Morgan,  Colonel  First  Infantry ;  J.  Bliss, 
Brevet  Major  First  Infantry;  George  A.  M'Call,  Aid-de-camp  to  Major  Gen- 
eral Gaines;  Samuel  Whiteside;  Felix  St.  Vrain,  Indian  Agent,  Fort  Arm- 
strong; John  S.  Greathouse,  M.  K.  Alexander,  A.  S.  West,  Antoine  LeClaire 
(Interpreter),  Joseph  Danforth,  Dan  S.  Witter  and  Benjamin  F.  Pike. 

GAINES  AND  REYNOLDS  RELIEVE  INDIANS'  DISTRESS 

"During  the  progress  of  this  treaty,"  says  Stevens,  "the  women  and  chil- 
dren remained  encamped  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  reduced  by  the  im- 
providence of  the  men  to  the  extremity  of  starvation.  In  many  cases  they 
had  nothing  to  cover  their  nakedness,  presenting  a  spectacle  so  appealing  to 
Gaines  and  Reynolds  that  the  former  took  from  the  general  store  of  provisions 


THE  HOCK  RIVER  VALLEY  95 

and  delivered  to  Black  Hawk  and  his  band  a  quantity  sufficient  to  tide  them 
over  until  another  crop  should  have  been  gathered." 

As  to  this  preliminary  phase  of  the  Black  Hawk  War,  Reynolds  himself 
says:  "Although  General  Gaines  was  a  brave  and  stern  warrior,  who  aided 
much  in  raising  the  army  of  the  United  States  to  the  glory  and  grandeur  it 
so  deservedly  possesses,  yet  his  heart  responded  in  the  kindest  manner  to  the 
distresses  of  human  nature. 

"The  unfortunate  women  and  children  pertaining  to  the  band  of  Black 
Hawk  were  camped  on  the  bank  of  the  river  where  they  had  nothing  to  eat 
or  nothing  to  cover  them  from  the  inclemency  of  the  weather.  They  had  been 
deluded  and  ruined  by  the  bad  counsels  and  worse  conduct  of  Black  Hawk 
and  other  leaders  of  the  tribe,  but  the  helpless  part  of  the  band  could  not 
avoid  it  ;  they  were  in  the  hands  of  the  chiefs  and  were  ruined.  Their  dis- 
tressed condition  made  a  strong  impression  on  General  Gaines  and  myself. 
1  knew  well  my  feelings  for  these  deluded  people  were  strong.  I  recollect  well 
the  argument  I  used  to  General  Gaines — although  perhaps  he  had  as  much 
benevolence  at  heart  as  I  had — I  observed  that  I  presumed  this  was  the  last 
time  the  Government  would  have  any  trouble  with  these  Indians.  The  women 
and  children  wrere  not  so  much  to  blame;  they  were  starving,  and  a  support 
for  them  for  one  summer  was  nothing  to  the  United  States ;  that  the  Government 
possessed  their  fine  country  and  I  could  not  be  satisfied  to  leave  them  starving. 
We  gave  them  more  provisions  than  they  would  have  raised  on  the  fields  they 
had  left  and  had  it  delivered  to  them  at  certain  periods.  But  they  are  a  race 
of  people  who  will  not  observe  the  least  economy  or  prudence  and  I  presume 
they  did  not  take  care  of  the  provisions;  and  they  were  in  want  toward  fall 
and  winter. 

"Our  treaty  was  ridiculed  by  the  volunteers.  It  was  called  a  corn  treaty. 
It  was  said  we  gave  them  food  when  it  ought  to  have  been  lead." 

In  his  account  of  the  treaty,  Black  Hawk  makes  no  mention  of  its  salient 
provisions  as  a  compact  of  peace  with  the  United  States;  a  pledge  to  remain 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  and  to  refrain  from  any  attempt  to  re- 
occupy  his  village  or  resume  friendly  relations  with  the  British.  He  says  that 
in  the  treaty  General  Gaines  "agreed  to  give  us  corn  in  place  of  that  we  had 
left  growing  in  our  fields.  I  touched  the  goose  quill  to  this  treaty  and  was 
determined  to  live  in  peace. 

'The  corn  that  had  been  given  us  was  soon  found  to  be  inadequate  to  our 
wants;  when  loud  lamentations  were  heard  in  the  camp  by  our  women  and 
children  for  their  roasting-ears,  beans  and  squashes.  To  satisfy  them,  a  small 
party  of  braves  went  over  in  the  night  to  steal  corn  from  their  own  fields. 
They  were  discovered  by  the  whites  and  fired  upon.  Complaints  were  again 
made  of  the  depredations  committed  by  some  of  my  people  on  their  own  corn 
fields!" 

REGULARS  AND  VOLUNTEERS   DISPERSE 

Such  incursions  upon  the  old  village  lands  indicate  that  Black  Hawk  either 
did  not  understand  the  purport  of  the  treaty,  or  chose  to  ignore  it.  The  regular 
troops  had  returned  to  St.  Louis  and  the  volunteers  to  their  home  counties  in 


96  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

July.  In  the  following  fall  and  winter,  Black  Hawk  and  his  band  became 
more  and  more  restless,  which  Governor  Reynolds  attributed  largely  to  the 
dislike  and  jealousy  of  the  "Warrior  for  Chief  Keokuk;  "but,"  adds  the  chief 
executive,  "I  had  not  the  most  remote  idea  that  he  and  his  band  would  dare 
to  attempt  to  recross  the  river  again  and  occupy  the  old  village.  I  thought 
this  an  absurdity  and  imprudence  that  no  tribe  of  Indians  would  dare  attempt 
after  the  proceedings  of  the  last  year. ' ' 

But  events  soon  to  transpire  showed  that  Governor  Reynolds'  measure  of 
the  situation  was  incorrect.  The  uneasiness  and  untamed  war  spirit  of  Black 
Hawk's  band  revived,  soon  after  the  dispersal  of  the  regular  and  volunteer 
army,  and  first  showed  itself  in  attacks  upon  old-time  hostiles,  the  Sioux  and 
Menominee,  west  of  the  Mississippi.  In  July,  1830,  the  Sioux  had  ceded  a  strip 
of  country  twenty  miles  in  width  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Des  Moines  river 
and  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  a  contiguous  strip  of  the  same  width.  This  forty  miles 
from  river  to  river  was  known  as  Neutral  Ground  into  which  the  tribes  on  either 
side  of  the  line  were  allowed  to  enter  and  hunt  and  fish  unmolested.  As  a  whole, 
the  treaty  was  considered  one  of  peace  and  amity,  but  in  the  very  month  that  the 
army  dispersed  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  attacked  a  peaceful  encampment  of  Sioux 
near  the  St.  Peters  Indian  agency  and  murdered  two  of  the  unoffending  Indians. 
Complaint  was  made  to  the  Indian  agent  and  a  threat  made  that  unless  the  out- 
rage was  adjusted  by  the  Government  before  October  1st,  the  Sioux  would 
invade  the  country  of  the  Sauk.  But  the  Sioux  as  a  tribe  could  not  wait  upon 
the  pleasure  of  the  Government  and  soon  one  of  its  war  bands  waylaid  a  party 
of  Foxes  traveling  from  Dubuque  to  Prairie  du  Chien  and  killed  Kettle,  a  chief 
of  that  tribe,  with  several  of  his  followers.  This  was  according  to  the  Indian 
code,  "blood  for  blood,"  and  no  action  appears  to  have  been  taken  against  those 
who  made  the  retaliatory  attack.  Both  Sioux  and  Menominee  participated  in 
the  surprise  and  bloodshed. 

BLOODY   INDIAN  REPRISALS 

A  more  serious  affair  than  either,  a  link  in  this  bloody  chain  of  reprisals, 
occurred  on  the  last  of  July,  1831,  by  which  twenty-five  Menominee  were  killed 
outright  and  others  wounded.  On  the  previous  day,  a  band  of  the  Menominee 
having  business  with  the  agent  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  Joseph  M.  Street,  was 
assembled  on  an  island  almost  under  the  guns  of  the  fort.  As  the  Indians 
drank  their'  fill  of  whisky,  caroused  far  into  the  night  and  became  helplessly 
drunk,  they  were  being  closely  observed  by  a  war  party  of  Sauk  and  Foxes. 
The  slaughter  of  the  helpless  Menominee  then  commenced. 

The  attack  is  thus  described  by  the  Indian  agent:  "Two  or  three  hours 
before  day  on  the  morning  of  the  31st  of  July,  1831,  a  party  consisting  of  80 
or  100  Sacs  and  Foxes  surprised  a  Menominee  camp,  three  or  four  hundi-ed 
paces  above  old  Fort  Crawford  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  killing  twenty- 
five  of  the  latter  and  wounding  many  who  may  recover.  There  were  about 
thirty  or  forty  Menominees,  men,  women  and  children,  in  the  camp,  most  of 
whom  were  drunk,  and  the  women  had  hidden  their  guns  and  knives  to  pre- 
vent their  hurting  each  other.  The  Sacs  and  Foxes,  though  so  greatly  superior 
in  numbers  and  attacking  by  surprise  a  drunken  and  unarmed  encampment, 


THE  BOCK  RIVEE  VALLEY  97 

Ins)  several  men  who  were  seen  to  fall  in  the  onset  and  retreated  in  less  than 
ten  minutes,  with  only  a  few  scalps,  pursued  by  four  or  five  Menominees,  who 
fired  on  them  until  they  were  half  a  mile  below7  the  village.  I  received  informa- 
tion and  was  on  the  ground  in  an  hour  and  a  half  after  the  murders  were  com- 
mitted. The  butchery  was  horrid,  and  the  view  can  be  imagined  only  by  those 
acquainted  with  savage  warfare." 

As  the  chief  Pashquamee  led  the  war  party  of  Sauk  and  Foxes  which  mas- 
sacred  the  Menominees  near  Fort  Crawford  a  council  was  held  at  Fort  Arm- 
strong in  September,  1831,  at  which  Major  J.  Bliss,  its  commandant,  and  Felix 
St.  Vrain,  the  United  States  Indian  Agent,  demanded  that  the  leader  and  other 
principals  concerned  be  surrendered  to  the  Government  through  them.  The 
chiefs  who  participated  in  the  council  represented  that  they  could  not  restrain 
their  young  men,  and  that  their  attack  on  the  Menominee  was  justifiable.  Even 
Keokuk  went  so  far  as  to  ask  "Why  do  you  not  let  us  fight?  Your  whites  are 
constantly  fighting.  Why  do  you  not  let  us  be  as  the  Great  Spirit  made  us 
and  let  us  settle  our  difficulties?" 

Black  Hawk  comments  on  this  move  of  the  United  States  authorities  thus: 
'This  retaliation  (which  with  us  is  considered  lawful  and  right)  created  con- 
siderable excitement  among  the  whites!  A  demand  was  made  for  the  Foxes  to 
be  surrendered  to,  and  tried  by  the  white  people!  The  principal  men  came 
to  me  during  the  fall  and  asked  my  advice.  I  conceived  that  they  had  done 
right  and  that  our  Great  Father  acted  very  unjustly  in  demanding  them,  when 
he  had  suffered  all  their  chiefs  to  be  decoyed  away  and  murdered  by  the 
Menominees  without  having  ever  made  a  similar  demand  of  them.  If  he  had  no 
right  in  the  first  instance,  he  had  none  now;  and  for  my  part  I  considered  the 
right  very  questionable,  if  not  altogether  usurpation,  in  any  case  where  a 
difference  exists  between  two  nations,  for  him  to  interfere!" 

It  is  probable  that  the  Prophet  threw  the  deciding  weight  of  his  great  in- 
fluence  against  the  United  States  and  finally  induced  Black  Hawk  to  commit 
the  overt  act  which  led  to  the  war  which  ruined  him.  About  the  time  of  the 
massacre  of  the  Menominee  band  near  Fort  Crawford,  Neapope,  Black  Hawk's 
lieutenant,  returned  from  another  interview  with  the  British  authorities  at 
.Maiden.  He  brought  back  the  oft-repeated  British  assurances  that  the  Sauk 
lands  could  not  be  alienated  without  the  express  action  of  the  entire  nation,  and 
that  Black  Hawk  and  his  people  could  not  be  forced  away  except  against  the  united 
opposition  of  the  British  and  Indians.  Neapope  said  he  had  called  at  the  Proph- 
et s  village  on  his  way  down  the  river  and  had  there  learned  for  the  first  time  that 
Saukenuk  had  been  abandoned.  According  to  White  Cloud,  expresses  had  been 
received  from  the  British  Father  that  guns,  ammunition,  provisions  and  clothing 
would  be  sent  to  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  by  way  of  Milwaukee  early  in  the  coming 
spring.  The  Prophet  had  likewise  received  wampum  and  tobacco  from  the  Ot- 
tawa, Chippewa  and  Pottawatomi — and  as  for  the  Winnebago,  he  had  them  all 
at  his  command.  Thus  the  wily  man  of  the  Great  Spirit  continued  to  project 
himself  into  the  affairs  of  Black  Hawk,  and  make  him  believe  that  the  combina- 
tion was  invincible.  But  neither  the  Prophet  nor  Black  Hawk  and  his  men 
•  •ould  move  Keokuk  in  his  determination  to  abide  by  his  promises  to  the  United 
States. 


98  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

SHABBONA  FAITHFUL  TO   UNITED  STATES 

One  of  the  keenest  disappointments  suffered  by  Black  Hawk  and  his  fellow 
conspirator,  the  Prophet,  was  their  failure  to  effect  a  formal  alliance  with  the 
Pottawatomi  and  Ottawa  against  the  United  States.  In  February,  1832,  they 
met  representatives  of  those  tribes  at  Indiantown,  now  Tiskilwa,  Bureau  County. 
In  that  council,  largely  attended,  the  voice  of  but  one  Pottawatomie  chief  was 
raised  in  favor  of  war  and  union  with  Black  Hawk  and  that  was  the  pledge  given 
by  old  Waupanseh.  Shabbona,  the  right  hand  man  of  Tecumseh  and  who  was 
at  the  side  of  the  great  Shawnee  when  he  fell  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames, 
opposed  the  alliance  with  all  the  strength  of  his  wide  influence  and  the  power 
of  his  eloquence.  In  this  attitude  he  had  stanchly  stood  with  Tecumseh 's  other 
lieutenant,  Billy  Caldwell,  the  Sauganash,  or  Britisher,  since  the  defeat  and 
death  of  their  superior  in  1813.  Shabbona,  chief  of  the  Pottawatomi,  is  described 
as  "a  fine  specimen  of  one  of  Cooper's  Indians,  dignified,  honest,  just  and 
straight  in  appearance  as  an  arrow."  For  his  services  to  the  white  men  of 
the  Illinois  and  Rock  River  valleys  his  memory  is  revered  and  numerous  are 
the  stories  of  his  manly  and  helpful  character  which  grace  the  local  pages  of 
the  Atkinson  section  of  Henry  County,  and  the  regions  around  Ottawa  and 
Morris,  La  Salle  and  Grundy  counties. 

The  father  of  Shabbona  belonged  to  the  Ottawa  tribe,  a  portion  of  which  at 
the  time  of  Pontiac's  conspiracy  against  the  United  States  inhabited  a  portion 
of  the  country  lying  south  of  Lake  Superior.  With  the  defeat  of  the  great 
Ottawa  chieftain,  the  father  returned  with  him  to  the  Illinois  country.  Shab- 
bona himself  was  born  near  the  Maumee  River,  in  Ohio,  about  the  time  of 
the  opening  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  In  early  manhood  he  married  the 
daughter  of  a  Pottawatomie  chief  whose  village  was  on  the  Illinois  River  bot- 
tom, a  few  miles  above  the  present  city  of  Ottawa.  After  living  there  for  sev- 
eral years  he  found  the  locality  so  unhealthful  that  he  moved  with  his  family, 
or  band,  to  what  afterward  was  known  as  Shabbona  Grove,  a  beautiful  "prairie 
is1  and"  situated  in  the  southern  part  of  DeKalb  County,  some  twenty-five 
miles  north  of  Ottawa.  Here  he  and  his  band  had  their  village  and  council 
house  until  the  fall  of  1837,  at  which  time  they  numbered  about  130  souls.  His 
immediate  family  included  two  wives,  children,  grandchildren,  nephews  and 
other  relatives  numbering  twenty-five  of  the  band. 

In  1810,  when  Shabbona  was  about  twenty-five  years  of  age,  Tecumseh,  ac- 
companied by  Caldwell  and  two  others,  visited  the  Pottawatomie  villages  in  the 
Illinois  country  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  them  to  join  his  tribal  combination 
against  the  whites.  He  induced  Shabbona  to  accompany  the  party  on  their 
mission  and  together  they  visited  the  scattered  tribes  in  the  valleys  of  the 
Illinois,  Fox  and  Rock  rivers;  thence,  via  Green  Bay  and  the  Wisconsin  River 
as  far  northwest  as  La  Crosse  and  south  as  far  as  Rock  Island.  At  this  point, 
Shabbona  left  his  companions  and  returned  home  to  his  Grove.  The  young 
Pottawatomie  chief  tain  was  wisely  selected  by  Tecumseh  to  accompany  the 
party ;  for,  as  stated  by  Colonel  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  the  famed  fur  trader  and 
Chicago  pioneer,  who  afterward  met  and  admired  Shabbona:  "He  had  an 
uncommonly  retentive  memory  and  a  perfect  knowledge  of  this  western  country. 
He  could  readily  draw  on  the  sand  or  bed  of  ashes  quite  a  correct  map  of 


GOVERNOR  THOMAS  FORD 
Early  resident  of  Oregon 


Vol.  I— T 


100  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

the  whole  district  from  the  lakes  west  to  the  Missouri  River,  giving  general 
courses  of  rivers,  designating  towns  and  places  of  notoriety,  though  he  had 
never  seen  them. ' ' 

It  was  such  a  strong  Indian  as  this  that  Black  Hawk  and  the  Prophet  vainly 
endeavored  to  win  over  to  their  proposed  war  against  the  United  States.  Like 
Sauganash  and  Keokuk,  Shabbona  had  come  to  an  unshaken  realization  that 
the  white  man's  power  could  never  be  really  shaken  by  any  force  which  his 
race  might  bring  against  it.  Therefore,  at  the  council  held  in  Indiantown,  when 
Black  Hawk  asserted  that  a  union  with  the  Pottawatomi  would  raise  up  an  army 
of  warriors  equal  in  number  to  the  trees  of  the  forest,  Shabbona  replied:  "Yes, 
and  the  army  of  the  pale  faces  you  will  have  to  encounter  will  be  as  numerous 
as  the  leaves  on  those  trees." 


But  Black  Hawk  was  now  determined  to  recross  the  Mississippi  and  recruit 
his  army  on  its  peaceable  march  up  the  Rock  River  Valley.  He  made  a  last 
desperate  attempt  to  break  the  power  of  Keokuk  and  unite  the  Sauk  and  Foxes 
as  an  Indian  nation  hostile  to  the  United  States.  His  dramatic  attempt  and 
total  defeat  by  his  powerful  and  wise  adversary  are  described  by  Dr.  M.  M. 
Quaife,  in  his  "History  of  Wisconsin."  The  main  facts  of  this  oratorical  en- 
counter between  the  leaders  of  the  war  and  the  peace  parties  are  said  to  have 
entered  historical  channels  through  the  agency  of  one  Josiah  Smart,  an  eaves- 
dropper sent  by  Colonel  George  Davenport,  the  noted  Indian  trader  and  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  town  which  bears  his  name.  Perry  A.  Armstrong,  of  the 
prominent  La  Salle  County  family,  brings  the  story  out  at  length  in  his  history 
of  "The  Sauks  and  the  Black  Hawk  War,"  and  Dr.  Quaife  draws  the  follow- 
ing picture  from  all  the  accessible  sources  of  information:  "With  the  object 
of  winning  over  Keokuk's  followers,  Black  Hawk  paid  a  visit  to  the  village  of 
the  latter,  accompanied  by  several  hundred  of  his  own  warriors.  Here  he 
planted  a  war  post  and  in  ancient  Indian  fashion  issued  the  call  to  arms. 
After  his  braves  had  indulged  in  the  usual  war  dance,  Black  Hawk  delivered 
a  fiery  oration  which  had  the  effect  of  rousing  his  hearers  to  a  delirious  frenzy. 
Painting  an  idyllic  picture  of  the  ancient  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  tribe, 
he  retold  the  story  of  the  coming  of  the  white  man  and  dwelt  upon  the  numer- 
ous evils  which  had  flowed  from  this  visitation.  Slowly  but  surely  they  were 
driving  the  Indians  toward  the  setting  sun,  'burning  our  villages,  destroying 
our  growing  crops,  ravishing  our  wives  and  daughters,  beating  our  papooses 
with  cruel  sticks,  and  brutally  murdering  our  people  upon  the  most  flimsy 
pretenses  and  trivial  causes.  Even  now,'  he  continued,  'they  are  running 
their  plows  through  our  graveyards,  turning  up  the  bones  and  ashes  of  our 
sacred  dead,  whose  spirits  are  calling  to  us  from  the  land  of  dreams  for  ven- 
geance on  the  despoilers. '  The  oration  concluded  with  an  appeal  to  his  hearers 
not  to  belie  the  ancient  reputation  of  their  tribe  for  valor,  and  recited  the 
promises  of  aid  that  had  been  held  out  to  them. 

"Among  savages  as  among  civilized  people  the  leader  who  opposes  the  call 
to  war  labors  under  a  fearful  handicap.  The  fiery  eloquence  of  Black  Hawk 
swept  Keokuk's  followers  from  their  feet,  and  the  control  of  that  leader  over 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  101 

them  seemed  about  to  vanish.  Neapope  followed  Black  Hawk,  repeated  the 
assurances  of  support  to  be  received  from  other  tribes  and  from  the  British, 
and  even  naming  the  vessel  in  which  the  latter  would  be  brought  to  Milwaukee. 
Keokuk's  warriors  crowded  around  that  cbieftain  demanding  to  be  led  on  the 
warpath  with  Black  Hawk's  followers. 

"In  this  dilemma  Keokuk  chose  his  position  with  consummate  skill  and 
in  a  speech  which  deserves  to  rank  as  a  masterpiece  of  human  eloquence  undid 
the  work  of  his  rival.  Advancing  to  the  war  post  he  laid  his  hands  upon  it  and 
began  to  talk.  He  fully  shared,  he  said,  the  indignation  of  his  warriors  over 
the  wrongs  committed  by  the  white  men.  Continuing,  he  pictured  the  numbers 
of  the  whites  and  their  resources  in  guns  and  other  implements  of  warfare. 
'Their  cabins  are  as  plenty  as  the  trees  in  the  forest,  and  their  soldiers  are 
springing  up  like  grass  on  the  prairies.  In  a  contest  where  our  numbers  are 
so  unequal  to  theirs,  we  must  ultimately  fail.  All  that  we  can  reasonably 
hope  or  expect  is  to  wreak  the  utmost  of  our  vengeance  upon  their  hated  heads 
and  fall,  when  fall  we  must,  with  our  faces  to  the  enemy.  Great  is  our  undertak- 
ing and  desperate  must  be  our  exertions.  Every  brave  and  warrior  able  to 
throw  a  tomahawk  or  wield  a  war  club  must  go  with  us.  Once  across  the  Mis- 
sissippi, let  no  one  think  of  returning  while  there  is  a  foe  to  strike  or  a  scalp 
to  take,  and  when  we  fall,  if  our  strength  permits,  let  us  drag  our  feeble,  bleed- 
ing bodies  to  the  graves  of  our  ancestors  and  there  die,  that  our  ashes  may 
mingle  with  theirs,  while  our  departing  spirits  shall  follow  the  long  trail  made 
by  them  in  their  passage  to  the  land  of  spirits. 

"  'It  is  my  duty  as  your  chief  to  be  your  father  while  in  the  paths  of  peace 
and  your  leader  and  champion  while  on  the  warpath.  You  have  decided  to 
follow  the  path  of  war,  and  I  will  lead  you  forth  to  victory  if  the  Good 
Spirit  prevails.  If  not,  and  the  Bad  Spirit  rules,  then  will  I  perish  at  the 
post  of  duty. 

"  'But  what  shall  we  do  with  our  old  and  infirm,  our  women  and  children? 
"We  cannot  take  them  with  us  upon  the  warpath,  for  they  would  hamper  us 
in  our  movements  and  defeat  us  of  our  vengeance.  We  dare  not  leave  them 
behind  us,  doomed  to  perish  of  hunger  or  fall  captive  to  the  palefaces,  who 
would  murder  the  old  and  the  young,  but  reserve  our  wives  and  daughters 
for  a  fate  worse  than  death  itself. 

"  '  I  will  lead  you  forth  upon  the  warpath,  but  upon  this  condition :  That 
we  first  put  our  wives  and  children,  our  aged  and  infirm,  gently  to  sleep  in 
that  slumber  which  knows  no  waking  this  side  the  spirit  land,  and  then  care- 
fully and  tenderly  lay  their  bodies  away  by  the  side  of  our  sacred  dead,  whence 
their  fond  spirits  shall  depart  on  the  long  journey  to  the  happy  home  in  the 
land  of  dreams  beneath,  beyond  the  evening  star.  For  we  go  upon  a  long 
trail  which  has  no  turn,  from  which,  in  a  few  short  moons,  we  shall  follow 
them ;  but  they  must  not  follow  us.  This  sacrifice  is  demanded  of  us  by  the 
very  love  we  bear  those  dear  ones.  Our  every  feeling  of  humanity  tells  us 
that  we  cannot  take  them  with  us  and  dare  not  leave  them  behind  us.' 

"The  delirious  warriors  were  momentarily  cowed  by  the  orator's  vivid  pic- 
ture of  the  awful  sacrifice  demanded  of  them.  Pursuing  his  advantage,  Keokuk 
sought  to  show  the  falsity  of  the  promises  of  British  and  Indian  alliances  and 
the  folly  of  Black  Hawk's  undertaking.    His  appeal  to  that  leader  to  turn  aside 


102  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

from  the  'crooked  path  into  the  path  that  leads  to  peace'  was  fruitless,  but  he 
had  completely  won  his  case  with  his  own  warriors,  and  in  this  first  contest  of 
oratory  Black  Hawk  suffered  complete  defeat." 

The  nation  of  the  Sauk  and  the  Foxes  was  still  divided  into  the  parties  of 
peace  and  war.  Keokuk  knew  his  wing  of  the  nation  well  and,  while  he  seemed 
about  to  step  from  the  peace-path  to  the  warpath,  he  well  knew  that  the  awful 
proviso  that  he  held  forth — the  slaughter  of  loved  and  feeble  kindred — would 
prevent  his  warriors  from  following  him  to  futile  battle  against  the  white  race. 
The  reckless  followers  of  Black  Hawk  did  what  Keokuk  said  could  not  be  done. 
He  did  not  kill  his  women  and  children,  the  old  and  infirm — but  took  them 
with  him.  It  is  true  he  advertised  his  adventure  as  one  of  non-resistance  and 
peace,  but  he  and  his  followers  knew  that  he  could  not  invade  the  country  east 
of  the  Mississippi  and  maintain  such  an  attitude  toward  the  United  States. 

BLACK  HAWK  RECROSSES  THE  MISSISSIPPI 

After  the  verbal  contest  with  Keokuk,  Black  Hawk  and  his  party  of  women, 
children,  old  men  and  the  infirm,  with  their  dogs  and  household  goods,  moved 
down  the  river  and  spent  the  winter  of  1831-32  at  the  deserted  site  of  old  Fort 
Madison  near  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Moines  River.  In  the  early  days  of  April, 
1832,  Black  Hawk's  party  was  retracing  its  course  up  the  Mississippi  Valley  by 
land  and  water.  On  the  6th  of  the  month  a  point  was  reached  on  the  Iowa  side 
opposite  the  Yellow  Banks  at  what  is  now  Oquawka,  Henderson  County,  Illi- 
nois ;  and  on  that  day  and  at  that  place  the  motley  remnant  of  the  Sauk  nation 
crossed  its  Rubicon.  Some  two  thousand  souls  thus  ventured  into  forbidden 
territory,  of  whom  five  hundred  were  men  of  war,  fully  equipped  according  to 
the  traditions  and  adaptations  of  their  race. 

Black  Hawk's  account  of  his  return  to  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Mississippi 
and  the  commencement  of  his  march  up  the  Rock  River  Valley  is  thus  recorded : 
"Conceiving  that  the  peaceable  disposition  of  Keokuk  and  his  people  had  been, 
in  a  great  measure,  the  cause  of  our  having  been  driven  from  our  village,  I 
ascribed  their  present  feelings  to  the  same  cause;  and  immediately  went  to 
work  to  recruit  all  my  own  band  and  make  preparations  to  ascend  Rock  River. 
I  made  my  encampment  on  the  Mississippi  where  Fort  Madison  had  stood; 
requested  my  people  to  rendezvous  at  that  place,  and  sent  out  soldier's  to  bring 
in  the  warriors,  and  stationed  my  sentinels  in  a  position  to  prevent  any  from 
moving  up  until  all  were  ready. 

"My  party  having  all  come  in  and  got  ready,  we  commenced  our  march  up 
the  Mississippi — our  women  and  children  in  canoes,  carrying  such  provisions 
as  we  had,  camp  equipage,  etc.,  and  my  braves  and  warriors  on  horseback,  armed 
and  equipped  for  defense.  The  prophet  came  down  and  joined  us  below  Rock 
River,  having  called  at  Rock  Island  on  his  way  down  to  consult  the  war  chief, 
agent  and  trader,  who  (he  said)  used  many  arguments  to  dissuade  him  from 
going  with  us ;  and  requested  him  to  come  and  meet  us  and  turn  us  back.  They 
told  him,  also,  there  was  a  war  chief  on  his  way  to  Rock  Island  (General 
Atkinson)  with  a  large  body  of  soldiers.  The  Prophet  said  he  would  not  listen 
to  such  talk,  because  no  war  chief  dare  molest  us  as  long  as  we  are  at  peace. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  103 

That  we  had  a  right  to  go  where  we  pleased  peaceably;  and  advised  me  to  say 
nothing  to  my  braves  and  warriors  until  we  encamped  that  night. 

"We  moved  onward  until  we  arrived  at  the  place  where  General  Gaines 
had  made  his  encampment  the  year  before  and  encamped  for  the  night.  The 
Prophet  then  addressed  my  braves  and  warriors.  He  told  them  to  'follow  us 
and  act  like  braves,  and  we  had  nothing  to  fear,  but  much  to  gain.  That  the 
American  war  chief  might  come,  but  he  would  not,  dare  not,  interfere  with  us 
so  long  as  we  acted  peaceably  !  That  we  were  not  yet  ready  to  act  otherwise.  We 
must  wait  until  we  ascend  Rock  River  and  receive  our  reenforcements,  and  we 
will  then  be  able  to  withstand  any  army!' 

"That  night  the  "White  Beaver  (General  Atkinson)  with  a  party  of  soldiers 
passed  up  in  steamboats.  Our  party  became  alarmed,  expecting  to  meet  sol- 
diers at  Rock  River  to  prevent  us  from  going  up.  On  our  arrival  at  its  mouth 
we  discovered  that  the  steamboats  had  passed  on.  I  was  fearful  that  the  war 
chief  had  stationed  his  men  on  some  bluff  or  in  some  ravine,  that  we  might  be 
taken  by  surprise.  Consequently,  on  entering  Rock  River  we  commenced 
beating  our  drums  and  singing  to  show  the  Americans  that  we  were  not  afraid. 

"Having  met  with  no  opposition,  we  moved  up  Rock  River  leisurely  some 
distance,  when  we  were  overtaken  by  an  express  from  White  Beaver  with  an 
order  for  me  to  return  with  my  band  and  recross  the  Mississippi.  I  sent  him 
word  that  I  would  not  (not  recognizing  his  right  to  make  such  a  demand),  as  I 
was  acting  peaceably  and  intended  to  go  to  the  Prophet's  village,  at  his  request, 
to  'make  corn.' 

EXPRESSES  FROM  ATKINSON  SENT  BACK 

"The  express  returned.  We  moved  on  and  encamped  some  distance  below 
the  Prophet's  village.  Here  another  express  came  from  the  White  Beaver, 
threatening  to  pursue  us  and  drive  us  back,  if  we  did  not  return  peaceably! 
This  message  roused  the  spirit  of  my  band,  and  all  were  determined  to  remain 
with  me  and  contest  the  ground  with  the  war  chief  should  he  come  and  attempt 
to  drive  us.  We  therefore  directed  the  express  to  say  to  the  war  chief  'if  he 
wished  to  fight  us  he  might  come  on.'  We  were  determined  never  to  be  driven 
and  equally  so,  not  to  make  the  first  attack,  our  object  being  to  act  only  on 
the  defensive." 

As  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  had  made  no  attempt  to  deliver  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  those  of  their  nation  who  were  chiefly  responsible  for 
the  massacre  of  the  Menominee  Indians,  General  Henry  Atkinson,  then  in  com- 
mand at  Jefferson  Barracks,  received  an  order  from  the  War  Department  to 
demand  from  the  united  nation  at  least  eight  or  ten  of  the  principal  murderers. 
On  April  8,  1832,  a  week  later,  General  Atkinson  started  for  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi to  carry  out  that  order,  in  command  of  six  companies  (220  men)  of  the 
Sixth  Infantry.  A  second  lieutenant  in  that  command  and  assistant  to  the 
adjutant  general  was  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  who,  thirty  years  later,  was  to 
gain  fame  as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  military  leaders  of  the  Civil  War.  On 
April  10th.  the  expedition  arrived  at  the  rapids  of  the  Des  Moines,  when  Gen- 
eral Atkinson  was  informed  that  Black  Hawk  had  crossed  to  the  east  bank  of 
the  Mississippi  four  days  before.  Through  this  information  the  expedition  as- 
sumed significant  importance. 


104  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

REGULARS   AND  VOLUNTEERS  AGAIN   ORGANIZE 

General  Atkinson  and  his  troops  arrived  at  Fort  Armstrong  on  the  12th  and 
on  the  following  day  called  a  council.  It  was  attended  by  Keokuk  and  seventy 
of  his  head  men,  including  Wapello.  According  to  his  instructions  General 
Atkinson  demanded  the  surrender  of  ten  of  the  principal  men  concerned  in  the 
massacre.  Keokuk  replied  that  he  was  uable  to  deliver  them,  as  some  had 
joined  the  Prophet's  band  and  others  were  with  Black  Hawk.  Both  he  and 
Wapello  also  agreed  to  ask  Black  Hawk  to  turn  back  and  to  try  to  keep  their 
village  at  peace,  while  General  Atkinson  continued  to  Fort  Crawford.  On  the 
day  of  the  council,  the  General  sent  a  letter  to  Governor  Reynolds  asking  him 
to  again  call  out  the  militia  and  drive  Black  Hawk  and  his  band  from  the  State. 
General  Atkinson  also  started  up  the  river  for  Fort  Crawford  to  secure  all 
the  reenf orcements  which  could  be  secured  from  that  garrison,  and  returned  to 
Fort  Armstrong  with  two  companies  of  the  First  Infantry  and  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Zachary  Taylor.  At  the  same  time  he  sent  messengers  to  Fort  Winne- 
bago and  the  lead  mines  district  to  admonish  the  settlers  to  place  themselves  in 
a  state  of  defense. 

Governor  Reynolds  issued  his  call  for  an  indefinite  number  of  troops  on  April 
16th,  as  "the  British  band  of  Sacs  and  other  hostile  Indians  headed  by  Black 
Hawk"  were  in  possession  of  the  Rock  River  country  "to  the  great  terror  of 
the  frontier  inhabitants."  The  rendezvous  was  fixed  at  Beardstown;  the  time, 
April  22nd.  On  the  day  that  he  issued  his  call  for  troops,  the  Governor  advised 
the  Secretary  of  War,  Lewis  Cass,  of  his  military  proceedings,  and  also  com- 
municated with  Hon.  Joseph  Duncan,  congressman  at  Washington,  to  provide 
pay  for  the  volunteers. 

On  his  way  from  Belleville  to  Beardstown,  by  way  of  Jacksonville,  Reynolds 
visited  the  counties  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  state  and  the  news  which 
he  received  indicated  the  seriousness  of  the  situation  and  the  alarm  of  the  people 
in  the  Rock  River  Valley.  The  letter  which  he  received  from  Dixon  was  espe- 
cially of  a  disturbing  nature.  That  settlement  was  then  in  the  Indian  country 
and  the  center  of  a  considerable  force  of  Pottawatomi  and  Winnebago.  The 
communication,  dated  the  20th,  stated  that  these  tribes  had  joined  Black  Hawk, 
and  urged  the  speedy  protection  of  the  frontiers  in  that  section.  Kellogg 's 
trail  between  Peoria  and  Dixon's  Ferry  appeared  to  be  threatened,  and  com- 
munication cut  with  the  lead  district  of  Galena  and  the  northwest.  To  guard 
against  that  danger  the  Governor  sent  two  battalions  of  militia  under  Major 
Isaiah  Stillman  of  Fulton  County  and  Major  David  Bailey  of  Tazewell  County. 

By  the  27th  of  April,  the  volunteer  army  of  about  two  thousand  men  was 
all  ready  to  march  from  Beardstown.  Reports  were  so  threatening  from  the 
Rock  River  Valley  that  Governor  Reynolds  felt  that  he  could  not  wait  for  sup- 
plies from  St.  Louis,  or  even  for  wagons  to  convey  those  which  were  in  hand. 
So  with  only  a  few  days'  provisions  the  expedition  marched  for  the  Yellow 
Banks,  while  he  dispatched  one  of  his  officers  to  hurry  the  supplies  from  St. 
Louis  to  meet  his  army  at  that  point.  As  he  was  about  to  set  out  for  the  Mis- 
sissippi he  received  word  from  General  Atkinson  that  the  hostile  Indians  had 
passed  up  Rock  River  Valley.  This  news  was  a  great  disappointment  to  Rey- 
nolds, for,  as  he  says:     "This  information  was  one  day  too  late.     If  I  had 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  105 

received  it  in  time  I  would  have  made  Peoria  the  place  to  meet  the  provisions 
and  from  that  point  to  pursue  the  Indians — but  the  die  was  cast.  I  could  not 
do  otherwise  than  march  to  the  Yellow  Banks.  It  is  probable  that  if  we  had 
marched  by  Peoria,  direct  to  Rock  River,  the  campaign  would  have  been  closed 
in  eight  or  ten  days." 

COLLAPSE  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN 

When  the  volunteer  army  reached  the  Yellow  Banks,  no  provisions  had  ar- 
rived from  St.  Louis,  but  on  May  5th  the  welcome  relief  came,  and  ten  days' 
provisions  were  at  once  issued  to  each  soldier.  All  was  now  ready  for  a  direct 
march  of  the  whole  brigade  to  Dixon,  but  before  the  men  could  get  in  motion 
a  letter  was  received  by  Governor  Reynolds  that  Black  Hawk  and  his  Indians 
had  descended  Rock  River.  "So,"  concludes  the  chief  executive  and  commander 
of  the  home  troops  ""We  dashed  our  provisions  into  the  boat  in  disgust  and 
all  marched  to  the  mouth  of  Rock  River."  The  end  of  the  first  phase  of  the 
campaign  against  Black  Hawk  was  the  culmination  of  a  series  of  misunderstand- 
ings, misinformation  and  futile  marches  and  countermarches. 

COL.  HENRY  GRATIOT 'S  NARROW  ESCAPE 

In  the  meantime,  all  had  gone  wrong  with  the  plans  of  Black  Hawk  and 
the  Prophet.  The  head  warrior  found  that  he  had  been  deceived  as  to  the 
promise  of  assistance  and  alliance  given  him,  mainly  through  the  representa- 
tive of  the  Great  Spirit.  Black  Hawk  evidently  decided  that  he  could  go  for- 
ward— up  the  valley — with  less  risk  than  to  return.  He  had  sent  word  by  Gen- 
eral Atkinson's  messengers  who  had  overtaken  him  below  Prophetstown  that 
"his  heart  was  bad  and  he  was  determined  not  to  turn  back."  The  decision  of 
the  warrior  closely  followed  the  failure  of  the  General  to  convert  the  Prophet 
to  the  American  cause  and  persuade  him  to  use  his  influence  in  turning  the  deluded 
British  band  back  to  its  Iowa  reservation.  Prophetstown  was  in  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  United  States  Sub-Indian  agent,  Colonel  Henry  Gratiot,  whose  head- 
quarters were  just  over  the  state  line  in  Lafayette  County.  As  he  had  the 
unbounded  confidence  of  the  Winnebago,  his  special  wards,  the  Government 
believed  that  he  might  influence  the  Prophet,  who  was  considered  Black  Hawk's 
evil  genius.  Accompanied  by  twenty-four  Winnebago  chiefs  and  head  men, 
who  had  joined  him  at  Turtle  Village,  Colonel  Gratiot  had  descended  the  Rock 
River  in  canoes  from  Dixon's  Ferry  to  Prophetstown.  Despite  his  peaceful 
mission  and  the  flag  of  truce  which  he  bore,  the  Government  agent  was  made 
prisoner  by  hostile  Sauk.  The  British  flag  had  been  raised  in  Black  Hawk's 
camp  and  there  was  every  indication  that  Colonel  Gratiot's  life  was  in  danger 
when  the  council  lodge  in  which  he  was  staying  was  surrounded  by  Black 
Hawk's  braves.  There  are  several  stories  in  circulation  as  to  whether  the  War- 
rior or  the  Prophet  saved  his  life. 

Black  Hawk  says:  "After  the  council  adjourned,  I  placed  a  sentinel  at 
the  agent's  lodge  to  guard  him — fearing  that  some  of  my  warriors  might  again 
frighten  him.  I  had  always  thought  that  he  was  a  good  man  and  was  deter- 
mined that  he  should  not  be  hurt.    He  started,  with  his  chiefs,  for  Rock  Island." 


106  THE  ROCK  EIVER  VALLEY 

The  generally  accepted  version  of  Gratiot's  adventure,  which  is  far  more 
stirring  than  Black  Hawk's  bald  account,  is  that  prepared  by  Hon.  E.  B.  Wash- 
burne,  who  afterward  married  a  daughter  of  Colonel  Gratiot.  It  reads,  in  part: 
"The  Prophet,  seeing  the  danger  of  his  agent,  rushed  to  his  rescue,  crying 
'  Good  man,  good  man,  my  friend.  I  take  him  to  my  wigwam.  I  feed  him.  He 
be  good  friend  of  my  Indians. ' 

"When  the  Prophet  had  him  securely  in  the  wigwam,  Colonel  Gratiot  ex- 
plained the  peaceful  object  of  his  mission  and  the  perfidy  of  the  Indians  if  they 
refused  to  deal  honorably  with  him.  He  further  sought,  with  all  the  eloquence 
and  logic  he  could  muster,  to  dissuade  the  Prophet  and  Black  Hawk  from  their 
unrighteous  expedition.  The  Prophet  listened  attentively,  but  if  any  impres- 
sion had  been  made  upon  him  it  was  not  noticeable  in  word  or  action,  and 
neither  could  he  be  persuaded  to  try  to  influence  Black  Hawk  to  give  up  his 
mad  enterprise.  However,  as  a  friend,  the  Prophet  was  determined  to  save 
Colonel  Gratiot's  life,  if  such  a  thing  were  possible.  He  kept  him  in  the  wig- 
wam for  two  or  three  days,  watching  an  opportunity  to  free  him.  The  ferocious 
Sacs  clamored  louder  each  hour  for  scalps,  and  no  doubt  would  have  succeeded 
in  taking  them  had  not  the  Prophet  seduced  them  away  temporarily  by  prom- 
ises until  the  desired  opportunity  should  arrive.  Returning  hastily  on  the 
27th,  he  said  to  Colonel  Gratiot:  'Chouteau,  you  have  always  been  my  friend 
and  the  friend  of  my  people,  and  you  and  your  party  must  not  be  harmed; 
but  there  is  great  trouble.  My  young  men  will  never  consent  to  give  you  up 
and  so  you  must  leave  without  their  knowledge.  Your  canoes  are  on  the  shore. 
Go  to  them  when  I  shall  indicate  and  leave  instantly,  and  go  with  speed — like 
wild  fire — for  the  young  men  will  give  you  chase.  All  will  depend  on  the 
strength  of  your  arms.' 

"The  signal  was  given,  and  scarcely  had  the  canoes  been  launched  when  an 
alarm  in  the  village  brought  the  Sacs  and  young  Winnebagoes  to  the  river, 
where  a  wild  war  whoop  was  sounded  and  an  exciting  chase  down  Rock  River 
was  begun  to  capture  and  kill  Colonel  Gratiot.  Gratiot's  men  pulled  for  their 
lives,  first  losing  and  then  gaining.  The  maddened  Sacs  whooped  and  shrieked 
with  anger  at  the  possible  miscarriage  of  their  plans  as  they  lent  renewed  vigor 
to  their  strokes,  but  a  sense  of  their  overwhelming  danger  put  courage  and 
strength  into  the  oars  of  the  pursued  and  they  finally  distanced  their  pursuers, 
arriving  safely  at  Fort  Armstrong  on  April  27th,  unnerved  and  exhausted,  to 
report  that  nothing  could  be  done  by  moral  suasion  to  prevent  the  advance 
of  Black  Hawk  and  that  nothing  but  force  would  avail. 

"While  captive  in  the  Prophet's  tent,  Black  Hawk  came  to  see  him,  and 
in  response  to  the  appeal  of  Gratiot  to  return,  replied  that  his  heart  was  bad ; 
that  he  was  going  sixty  miles  up  the  river  and  if  molested  would  fight. ' ' 

REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  PURSUIT  EXPEDITION 

With  the  report  that  Black  Hawk  and  his  men  were  returning  down  the 
river,  Governor  Reynolds  gathered  his  volunteer  army  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Rock  River,  where  he  arrived  on  the  night  of  May  7,  1832.  On  the  following 
day  the  state  troops  were  sworn  into  the  service  of  the  United  States  by  Gen- 
eral Atkinson.     The  volunteers  were  organized  into  four  regiments,  two  spy 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  107 

battalions  and  an  odd  battalion.  Governor  Reynolds  as  commander-in-chief 
of  the  State  Militia  at  once  ordered  an  election  of  all  the  field  officers  of  the 
volunteer  army,  and  as  it  was  the  general  desire  that  he  march  with  the  brigade 
lie  named  his  staff.  He  also  appointed  Samuel  Whiteside  as  brigadier  general 
and  Nathaniel  Buckmaster,  brigade  major,  with  Major  James  D.  Henry  to  com- 
mand the  spy  battalion.  The  officers  elected  were:  John  Thomas,  colonel  of 
the  First  Regiment;  Jacob  Fry,  of  the  Second;  Abraham  B.  DeWitt,  of  the 
Third ;  Samuel  M.  Thompson,  of  the  Fourth ;  Major  Thomas  James,  commander 
of  the  odd  spy  battalion,  and  Major  Thomas  Long,  in  command  of  the  foot  bat- 
talion. In  addition  to  these  troops,  the  battalions  of  Major  Isaiah  Stillman  and 
David  Bailey  had  been  ordered  to  range  the  country  and  concentrate  at  Dixon's 
Ferry.    Although  not  sworn  in  formally,  they  were  considered  units  of  the  army. 

When  the  volunteers  were  sworn  into  the  service  of  the  United  States,  Gen- 
eral Atkinson  assumed  command  of  the  consolidated  army.  Governor  Reynolds' 
military  position  in  the  campaign  of  which  he  was  such  an  active  and  important 
figure  is  thus  explained  by  himself:  "Although  I  was  not  in  command,  it  was 
eonsidered  proper  by  General  Atkinson  and  myself  that  I  should  remain  with 
the  army,  and  I  did  so.  I  discovered  that  my  presence  and  counsel  to  the 
volunteers  had  a  tendency  to  harmonize  and  conciliate  them  with  the  regular 
army.  Immediately  under  my  command,  I  had  many  troops  guarding  the  fron- 
tiers (such  as  those  of  Major  Stillman  and  Major  Bailey),  so  that  I  consid- 
ered it  my  duty  in  advancing  the  service  for  me  to  act  with  the  army  all 
summer;  which  I  did.  Although  I  never  requested  it,  the  President  recognized 
me  as  a  major  general,  and  paid  me  accordingly.  Not  any  time  during  the 
summer  and  long  after  the  treaties  with  the  Indians  were  made,  did  I  know 
the  rank  and  situation  the  General  Government  recognized  me  in." 

The  total  force  of  state  troops,  eagerly  awaiting  the  call  of  General  Atkin- 
son to  advance  up  the  Rock  River  Valley  and  force  Black  Hawk  and  his  Brit- 
ish band  from  Illinois  soil,  was  1,935,  and  of  the  regulars  less  than  1,000. 

When  Black  Hawk  began  his  march  up  the  valley,  there  were  five  forts 
upon  which  the  Government  drew  for  troops  during  the  progress  of  the  cam- 
paign: Fort  Armstrong,  commanded  by  Major  John  Bliss,  of  the  First  Regi- 
ment, U.  S.  A. ;  Fort  Crawford,  in  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Zachary 
Taylor,  also  of  the  First;  Jefferson  Barracks,  of  which  the  commander  was 
Colonel  Henry  Atkinson,  of  the  Sixth ;  Canton  Leavenworth,  Major  William 
Davenport,  also  of  the  Sixth,  commandant,  and  Fort  Winnebago,  in  command 
of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Enos  Cutler. 

ZACHARY  TAYLOR  IN  COMMAND  OF  REGULARS 

On  the  9th  of  May,  1832,  the  army  was  set  in  motion  at  the  mouth  of  Rock 
River  and  headed  for  Dixon's  Ferry.  Under  orders  issued  by  General  Atkinson, 
commander-in-chief,  Colonel  Taylor  was  placed  in  active  command  of  the  forces 
in  the  field.  The  regulars  under  Zachary  Taylor  comprised  six  companies  of  the 
Sixth  Regiment,  under  the  immediate  command  of  Major  Bennet  Riley,  as  well 
as  companies  of  the  First  Infantry-,  drawn  from  Forts  Crawford  and  Arm- 
strong. Lieutenant  Sidney  Burbank,  of  the  First,  acting  quartermaster  of  the 
post  at  Fort  Armstrong,   was  ordered  to  store  such  clothing,  provisions  and 


CHAPTER  V. 
BATTLING  AND  BATTERING  BLACK  HAWK 

GOVERNOR   REYNOLDS   SENDS   RANGERS   AFTER   BLACK    HAWK STILLMAN    STARTS    FOR 

OLD  MAN'S  CREEK,  ABOVE  DIXON COMMAND  ROUTED  BY  PART  OF  BLACK  HAWK'S 

BAND REFUGEES   FLEE   TO   DIXON *S   FERRY ACCOUNT    OF   DISASTER   FROM    BOTH 

INDIAN    AND    AMERICAN    SOURCES SOBERING     EFFECT    ON    VOLUNTEERS — AWAIT 

PROVISIONS  FROM  FORT  ARMSTRONG REUNITED  ARMY  UNDER  GENERAL  ATKINSON 

LEAVES  DIXON  's  FERRY  IN  PURSUIT  OF  BLACK  HAWK  AND  HIS  BAND SHABBONA  'S 

SERVICE — THE  INDIAN    CREEK    MASSACRE CAPTURE   OF   THE   HALL  SISTERS THE 

MURDER  OF  ST.  VRAIN,  INDIAN  AGENT  AT  FORT  ARMSTRONG MUSTER-OUT  OF  VOL- 
UNTEERS  ONE  TWENTY-DAY  REGIMENT  REENLISTS CAPTAIN  SNYDER 's  COMPANY 

AMBUSHED  AT   KELLOGG 's  GROVE} NEW  VOLUNTEER   ARMY  OF   THREE   THOUSAND 

FORMED DISTURBANCES  IN  LEAD  DISTRICT HEROIC  REPULSE  OF  BLACK  HAWK'S 

WARRIORS  FROM  APPLE  RrVER  FORT MAJOR  DEMENT 'S  SPY  BATTALION  SURPRISED 

BY    THE   SAUK   AT    KELLOGG 'S    GROVES MOST   OF   THE*   AMERICANS    REACHED    THE 

FORT SEVERAL  MEN  AND  MANY  HORSES  KILLED  AND  WOUNDED ARMY  RE- 
SUMES ADVANCE  UP  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY REACHES  LAKE  KOSHKONONG GOV- 
ERNOR REYNOLDS  LEAVES  FOR  HOME BLACK  HAWK'S  CAMP  DEFINITELY  LOCATED 

PURSUIT  BY  HENRY  AND  DODGED — THE  BATTLE  OF  WISCONSIN  HEIGHTS BLACK 

HAWK  CRUSHED  AS  A  WARRIOR WITH  WARRIORS,  WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN  CROSSES 

THE  WISCONSIN — JUNCTURE  OF  REGULARS  AND  VOLUNTEERS  AT  HELENA BAT- 
TLE AND  MASSACRE  NEAR  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  BAD  AXE  AND  ON  THE  MISSISSIPPI 

BLACK  HAWK  AND  SMALL  BAND  ESCAPE GENERAL  HENRY,  THE  HERO  OF   THE 

WAR ROBERT    ANDERSON     MUSTERS     OUT    TROOPS CAPTURE     OF     BLACK     HAWK 

AND    THE   PROPHET TREATIES    GROWING    OUT    OF    THE    WAR — BLACK    HAWK   AND 

OTHER  SAUK  LEADERS  TURNED  OVER  TO  KEOKUK BLACK  HAWK  AND  THE  PROPH- 
ET TOUR  THE  EAST — THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  SAUK  WARRIOR  ON  HIS  IOWA 
RESERVATION. 

Up  to  this  time,  the  pursuing  Americans  had  been  following  only  the  shadow 
of  Black  Hawk.  But  the  location  of  the  leader  of  the  fleeing  Sauk  came  more 
and  more  definitely  into  view,  and  it  became  evident  that  the  light-moving 
rangers  and  other  volunteers  were  destined  to  clash  with  more  than  Indian 
shadows. 

REYNOLDS    SENDS    RANGERS   AFTER   BLACK    HAWK 

Governor  Reynolds  was  still  the  constitutional  commander  of  the  Illinois 
Militia  which  had  not  been  sworn  into  the  service  of  the  United  States.  As  that 
branch  of  the  military  service  included  the  rangers,  who  had  been  designated 

110 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  111 

to  guard  the  frontiers,  the  Stillman  and  Bailey  battalions  were  under  his  juris- 
diction. "It  was  rumored, "  he  says,  "that  a  small  band  of  the  Black  Hawk 
party  was  camped  at  the  head  of  Old  Man's  Creek,  about  twelve  miles  above 
Dixon.  I  considered  that  these  troops  would  be  better  moving  than  camped, 
and  that  it  was  my  duty  to  place  them  on  the  frontier.  They  might  discover 
the  enemy." 

STILLMAN  STARTS  FOR  OLD  MAN  's  CREEK 

The  Governor,  therefore,  signed  an  order  issued  by  General  "Whiteside,  in 
command  of  the  brigade  of  mounted  volunteers,  directing  these  battalions  under 
Major  Stillman  (who  then  held  the  position  of  general  of  the  state  militia  north 
of  the  Illinois  River)  to  proceed  with  four  days'  rations  to  the  head  of  Old 
Man's  Creek  for  the  purpose  of  taking  "all  cautious  measures"  to  coerce  the 
enemy  Indians  into  submission.  It  is  said  that  the  bitter  rivalry  of  the  two 
majors,  each  supported  by  bitter  partisans,  materially  interfered  with  the  har- 
mony and  effectiveness  of  the  expedition.  The  force  of  mounted  rangers 
which  thus  went  forth  against  Black  Hawk  numbered  over  200.  A  baggage 
train  of  six  wagons,  drawn  by  oxen  and  guarded  by  fifty  men,  followed  in  the 
rear  bearing  the  four  days'  rations.  The  line  moved  on  the  morning  (Sunday) 
of  May  13th.  A  pelting  rain  compelled  a  halt  for  the  night  and  continued 
until  late  in  the  morning  of  the  14th.  About  dark  of  that  day  Old  Man's  Creek 
was  reached,  so  swollen  by  recent  rains  that  a  forbidding  swamp  had  been 
formed  at  its  southern  approach.  The  troops  there  crossed  to  the  northern  side 
of  the  stream,  where  they  found  more  solid  ground  and  a  protecting  growth 
of  scrub  oak,  with  a  fringe  of  taller  willows.  To  these  willows  the  horses  were 
unsaddled  and  tied,  tent  poles  were  fixed  and  covered,  fires  were  made  and  a 
general  preparation  for  supper  was  progressing  when  three  Indians  appeared  in 
camp  bearing  a  white  flag.  Reynolds  says  that  Major  Stillman  neglected  to 
have  either  spies  or  sentinels  out  at  this  important  crisis;  while  the  Major  him- 
self, in  an  account  which  he  soon  afterword  wrote,  insists  that  he  had  kept  out 
his  most  experienced  spies  and  a  very  strong  guard,  front,  rear  and  flank,  dur- 
ing the  entire  day;  his  spies  had  killed  two  Indians  the  day  before. 

Whatever  may  have  been  his  precautions  to  guard  against  surprise,  Major 
Stillman  had  not  ascertained  the  strength  of  the  enemy  against  whom  he  was 
marching.  If  Black  Hawk's  story  is  to  be  credited,  the  Indian  spies  whom  he 
had  sent  out  had  obtained  more  definite  information  about  the  Stillman  force 
and  its  location.  The  Sauk  warrior,  who  was  then  encamped  with  about  forty 
of  his  braves,  at  the  mouth  of  Sycamore  Creek,  or  the  south  branch  of  the  Kish- 
waukee  River,  had  been  unable  to  obtain  corn  from  the  Pottawatomi — who  also 
disclaimed  any  knowledge  of  British  assistance  by  way  of  Milwaukee.  He  had 
finally  discovered  that  the  Winnebago — and  Pottawatomi — were  not  favorably 
disposed  toward  his  enterprise,  but  he  was  still  enjoying  a  dog  feast  with  some 
invited  Pottawatomie  chiefs  when  word  was  brought  to  him  of  Stillman 's  horse- 
men about  eight,  miles  away.  Be  had  decided  to  tell  his  people  that  if  the 
White  Beaver  (General  Atkinson)  came  after  him  he  would  go  back,  "as  it  was 
useless  to  think  of  stopping  or  going  on  without  provisions." 


112  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

COMMAND    ROUTED    BY    BLACK    HAWK 

When  Black  Hawk  received  the  news  of  the  advance  of  Stillman's  force — 
three  or  four  hundred  men,  it  was  reported  to  him — he  sent  the  three  young 
Indians  with  the  flag  of  truce  who  were  retained  as  hostages.  In  justification 
of  what  would  be  considered  an  irregular  military  proceeding  had  the  oppos- 
ing forces  been  whites,  it  has  been  stated  that  Stillman  had  brought  with  him 
no  interpreter  capable  of  ascertaining  the  errand  of  the  Black  Hawk  messengers. 
Their  chief  explains  it  and  describes  the  steps  which  led  to  the  encounter  of  his 
small  band  of  warriors  with  the  American  rangers  in  the  following  words :  "I 
immediately  started  three  young  men  with  a  white  flag  to  meet  them  and 
conduct  them  to  our  camp  that  we  might  hold  a  council  with  them  and  descend 
Rock  River  again;  and  directed  them  in  case  the  whites  encamped  to  return 
and  go  and  see  them.  After  this  party  had  started,  I  sent  five  young  men  to 
see  what  might  take  place.  The  first  party  went  to  the  encampment  of  the  whites 
and  were  taken  prisoners.  The  last  party  had  not  proceeded  far  before  they 
saw  about  twenty  young  men  coming  toward  them  in  full  gallop  !  They  stopped, 
and  finding  that  the  whites  were  coming  so  fast  in  a  warlike  attitude  they 
turned  and  retreated,  but  were  pursued  and  two  of  them  overtaken  and  killed. 
"When  they  came  in  with  the  news,  I  was  preparing  my  flags  to  meet  the  war 
chief. 

"The  alarm  was  given.  Nearly  all  my  young  men  were  absent  about  ten 
miles  off.  I  started  with  what  I  had  left  (about  forty)  and  proceeded  but  a 
short  distance  before  we  saw  a  part  of  the  army  approaching.  I  raised  a  yell 
and  said  to  my  braves :  '  Some  of  our  people  have  been  killed !  Wantonly  and 
cruelly  murdered!     We  must  avenge  their  death.' 

"In  a  little  while  we  discovered  the  whole  army  coming  towards  us  in  full 
gallop.  We  were  now  confident  that  our  first  party  had  been  killed.  I  imme- 
diately placed  my  men  in  front  of  some  bushes  that  we  might  have  the  first 
fire  when  they  approached  close  enough.  They  made  a  halt  some  distance  from 
us.  I  gave  another  yell  and  ordered  my  brave  warriors  to  charge  upon  them, 
expecting  that  we  would  all  be  killed !  They  did  charge !  Every  man  rushed 
and  fired  and  the  enemy  retreated  in  the  utmost  confusion  and  consternation 
before  my  little  but  brave  band  of  warriors."  Two  of  the  three  young  men 
whom  Black  Hawk  had  sent  to  Stillman's  camp  with  the  flag  of  truce  returned 
to  the  camp  of  the  Sauk  warrior  and  told  the  story  of  their  experience.  They 
represented  that  an  American  soldier  who  spoke  the  Sauk  language  told  them 
his  chief  (Stillman)  wanted  to  know  where  Black  Hawk's  camp  was  and 
the  object  of  their  coming.  Their  reply  was  that  as  Black  Hawk  had  given 
up  all  intention  of  going  to  war  he  wished  to  hold  a  council  with  the  chief  of 
the  American  soldiers.  At  the  conclusion  of  that  talk  the  Sauk  delegation  said 
that  they  were  fired  upon  by  a  party  of  white  horsemen  and  one  of  the  three 
killed.  The  other  two  hid  themselves  until  they  could  join  in  the  pursuit  of 
Stillman's  routed  men,  and  each  took  the  scalp  of  a  white  soldier.  The  sur- 
vivors of  the  Sauk  peace  delegation  who  told  Black  Hawk  the  story  of  the  run- 
ning fight  with  the  Stillman  force  said  that  the  warriors  found  ten  more  dead 
whites  on  their  way  back  to  camp.     Sifting  the  various  accounts  of  the  engage- 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  113 

incut  which  have  come  down  from  white  sources  it  seems  likely  that  the  Indians 
lost  about  the  same  number. 

The  pursuit  of  the  five  Indians  whom  Black  Hawk  had  placed  as  an  observa- 
tion party  on  a  hill  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  Stillman's  camp  con- 
tinued over  an  open  prairie  for  four  or  five  miles,  nearly  to  the  temporary 
resting  place  of  the  Sauk  warrior  and  his  small  band  of  braves.  The  Indians 
attacked  with  such  fury  as  to  drive  the  scattered  soldiers  back  to  camp  in  a 
panic  obsessed  with  the  dread  belief  that  the  bulk  of  Black  Hawk's  warriors 
was  bearing  down  upon  them.  As  it  was  now  quite  dark,  the  panic  was  intensi- 
fied among  those  who  remained  in  camp  by  the  yelling  of  both  Indians  and 
whites,  the  thunder  of  horses'  hoofs  and  the  continuous  shooting  of  pursuers 
and  pursued. 

Amid  this  appalling  confusion,  every  object  made  uncertain  and  weird  by  the 
shimmering  moonlight,  Stillman's  volunteers  dashed  their  horses  into  the  muddy 
waters  of  Old  Man's  Creek  and  headed  for  the  swamp  on  the  other  side.  Many 
of  the  horses  were  mired  and  as  wild  with  panic  as  the  men.  The  Indians  wTere 
close  upon  them  and  several  of  the  rangers  were  killed  or  wounded  in  the 
crossing.  As  the  troops  came  headlong  on,  in  their  retreat  to  Dixon's  Ferry, 
Captain  John  G.  Adams  of  Major  Bailey's  battalion,  attempted  to  make  a  stand 
with  eight  companions  upon  the  brow  of  the  hill  which  lies  about  half  a  mile 
to  the  south  of  the  creek,  to  cover  the  retreat  of  the  fugitives.  It  was  at  this 
point  that  most  of  the  fatalities  suffered  by  Stillman's  men  occurred.  The 
remnant  of  Black  Hawk's  triumphant  warriors  who  continued  the  pursuit  met 
with  such  heroic  resistance  and  self-sacrifice  by  Captain  Adams  and  his  noble 
fighters  that  a  wholesale  slaughter  of  the  fleeing  soldiers  was  undoubtedly 
averted.  The  conflict  must  have  been  furious — war,  literally,  "to  the  knife." 
Not  one  man  survived  of  the  white  heroes.  The  morning  after  Stillman's  defeat 
— the  distressing  news  having  been  brought  to  Dixon's  Ferry — an  American 
detachment  was  upon  the  battlefield  collecting  the  dead  and  the  wounded.  As 
told  by  one  of  that  party:  "We  picked  up  nine  dead  men  as  we  came  up  from 
Dixon's  Ferry  on  a  forced  march  the  next  morning  after  Stillman's  defeat. 
The  last  two  that  we  found  were  Major  Perkins  and  Captain  Adams,  with  both 
their  heads  cut  off  and  their  heads  skinned  all  over.  We  found  them  on  that 
descent  as  you  go  down  to  the  creek  from  the  high  land,  about  half  way  down, 
and  we  buried  nine  men  in  one  grave  about  two  hundred  yards  southwest  of 
those  willows,  just  below  the  ford  and  on  sideling  ground,  not  as  far  south  as 
the  top  of  the  hill ;  on  the  west  side  of  the  road  leading  to  Dixon's  Ferry."  Evi- 
dently the  terrible  fate  of  Captain  Adams  thus  described  by  Oliver  W.  Hall,  of 
Carlinville,  who  was  a  member  of  the  burial  party  sent  out  from  Dixon's  Ferry 
was  not  known  to  Governor  Reynolds  when  he  wrote  his  history;  for  he  says: 
"The  Indians  did  not  scalp  Captain  Adams,  giving  him  the  honor  of  a  great 
brave. ' ' 

The  matter-of-fact  account  given  by  Black  Hawk's  scouts  was  to  this  effect: 
"After  riding  about  six  miles  we  met  our  party  returning.  We  asked  them 
how  many  of  our  men  had  been  killed.  They  said  none,  after  the  Americans 
retreated.  We  inquired  then  how  many  whites  had  been  killed.  They  replied 
that  they  did  not  know;  but  said  'we  will  soon  ascertain,  as  we  must  scalp  them 


114  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

as  we  go  back.'  On  our  return  we  found  ten  men,  besides  the  two  we  had 
killed,  before  we  joined  our  friends." 

"The  next  morning,"  continues  Black  Hawk,  "I  told  the  crier  of  my  vil- 
lage to  give  notice  that  we  must  go  and  bury  our  dead.  In  a  little  while  all 
were  ready.  A  small  deputation  was  sent  for  our  absent  warriors  and  the 
remainder  started.  We  first  disposed  of  our  dead,  and  then  commenced  an 
examination,  in  the  enemy's  deserted  encampment,  for  plunder.  We  found 
arms,  ammunition  and  provisions,  all  of  which  we  were  in  want  of — particularly 
the  latter,  as  we  were  entirely  without.  We  found,  also,  a  variety  of  saddle  bags 
(which  I  distributed  among  my  braves)  and  a  small  quantity  of  whisky;  and 
some  little  barrels  which  had  contained  this  bad  medicine ;  but  they  were  empty ! 
I  was  surprised  to  find  that  the  whites  carried  whisky  with  them,  as  I  had 
understood  that  all  the  pale  faces  belonged  to  the  temperance  societies!" 

Again  and  again,  did  Black  Hawk  repeat  his  surprise  at  the  retreat  of  Still- 
man's  men  "without  showing  fight."  He  insists  that  the  attack  on  his  flag- 
bearers  and  scouts  forced  him  into  the  war,  "with  about  500  warriors  to  con- 
tend against  3,000  or  4,000.  This  conflict,  which  undoubtedly  heartened  Black 
Hawk  and  brought  many  Winnebago  to  his  support,  became  known  as  the  battle 
of  Stillman's  Run,  or  Stillman's  Defeat,  and  occurred  a  few  miles  southwest 
of  the  mouth  of  Sycamore  Creek,  in  the  present  county  of  Ogle.  Seventy  years 
afterward  the  State  of  Illinois  dedicated  a  monument  on  the  hill  where  Captain 
Adams  made  his  stand  and  introduced  into  the  affair  the  sole  redeeming  fea- 
ture of  American  self-sacrifice  and  heroism.  Major  Stillman  has  given  an 
account  of  the  engagement  and  glossed  it  over  so  as  to  make  it  appear  a  retreat, 
"commenced  and  kept  up  with  few  exceptions  in  good  order." 

SOBERING  EFFECT  ON  VOLUNTEERS 

A  busy  day  for  Governor  Reynolds  followed  the  Stillman  disaster.  As 
remarked  by  the  energetic  state  executive,  "that  battle  decided  the  affair  to 
be  war."  Although  the  American  losses  were  exaggerated,  the  volunteers  now 
realized  that  the  campaign  might  be  a  long  and  arduous  one  and  keep  them 
from  their  homes  for  some  time.  There  was  disaffection  both  among  the  officers 
and  the  privates,  and  Governor  Reynolds  decided  that  it  was  not  likely  that 
Black  Hawk  and  his  allies  could  be  reached  with  the  brigade  then  organized. 
Without  a  requisition  from  the  General  Government,  on  his  own  responsibility, 
he  issued  a  call  for  2,000  more  mounted  volunteers  to  meet  at  Hennepin,  on  the 
Illinois  River,  in  companies  of  fifty  men  each  on  the  10th  of  the  following  June. 
The  order  recited  the  killing  of  a  considerable  number  of  Major  Stillman's  sol- 
diers as  an  act  of  hostility  which  could  not  be  misconstrued.  The  Governor 
was  of  the  opinion  that  the  Pottawatomi  and  Winnebago  had  joined  the  Sauk 
and  that  all  might  be  considered  as  waging  war  against  the  United  States.  This 
order  was  written  out  by  candle-light  and  all  ready  by  daylight  for  the  ex- 
presses to  start  with  it  and  other  instructions  for  the  various  counties.  Reynolds 
appointed  John  Ewing  of  Franklin  County  and  John  A.  Wakefield  and  Robert 
Blackwell  of  Fayette  County  to  distribute  the  orders.  He  also  empowered 
Colonel  James  M.  Strode,  commander  of  the  Jo  Daviess  County  militia,  and 
who  was  then  at  Dixon's  Ferry,  to  organize  his  county  for  immediate  military 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  115 

action.  General  Dodge,  who  was  encamped  on  the  north  side  of  Rock  River, 
was  acquainted  with  the  fact  of  the  Stillraan  defeat  and  returned  immediately 
to  defend  the  Michigan  (Wisconsin)  frontiers.  Major  Reddick  Horn  of  Rey- 
nolds' staff  was  delegated  to  carry  a  dispatch  to  St.  Louis  requesting  Colonel 
March,  the  quartermaster  there,  to  forward  the  supplies  for  the  new  levy  of 
troops  to  Hennepin.  General  Atkinson,  coming  up  the  river  in  barges  to  Dixon, 
was  notified  of  Stillman's  defeat  and  the  pressing  need  of  the  army  in  the 
field  for  provisions.  Finally  Major  Parker  Adams  was  directed  to  procure  corn 
for  the  horses  at  Quincy.  All  these  orders  were  issued  by  Governor  Reynolds 
and  recorded  by  his  staff  officers  on  the  15th  of  May  and  all  the  messengers 
were  off  by  daylight. 

The  abandonment  of  the  baggage  and  supplies  down  the  river  and  the 
capture  of  many  provisions  by  Black  Hawk's  band  at  Stillman's  Run,  had 
brought  low  the  stock  of  food  available  for  the  volunteer  army  concentrated  at 
Dixon's  Ferry.  While  awaiting  the  provisions  convoyed  by  General  Atkinson 
the  immediate  necessities  of  the  volunteers  were  relieved  by  Father  John  Dixon, 
who  slaughtered  his  oxen,  milch  cows  and  young  stock,  which  the  troops 
devoured  without  bread  or  salt.  After  making  a  hasty  breakfast  on  this  very 
fresh  meat,  the  men  were  sent  to  the  battlefield  to  locate  the  enemy,  if  possible, 
and  to  bury  the  dead  Americans.  "When  they  reached  the  scene  in  the  eve- 
ning," says  the  Governor,  "it  looked  melancholy  and  appalling  to  troops  who 
had,  for  the  first  time,  witnessed  such  a  sight.  The  bodies  of  the  volunteers 
who  had  been  killed  were  mostly  cut  and  mangled  in  a  horrid  manner.  Many 
horses  also  lay  dead  on  the  scene  of  action.  All  the  bodies  and  parts  of  bodies 
that  could  be  found  were  buried  and  the  army  remained  on  the  ground  all 
night.  When  it  was  discovered  that  only  eleven  white  men  were  killed,  there 
was  a  general  rejoicing  that  the  disaster  was  no  worse. ' ' 

A  reconnoitre  by  Major  Henry's  spy  battalion  brought  the  information 
that  the  Indians  had  left  in  great  haste,  and  on  the  following  day  the  volun- 
teers marched  back  to  Dixon's  Ferry  to  await  the  expected  provisions.  On  the 
17th  of  May  the  two  battalions  of  Stillman  and  Bailey  were  consolidated  as 
the  Fifth  Regiment,  and  James  Johnson  of  Macon  County,  formerly  a  captain 
in  Major  Bailey's  battalion,  was  elected  its  colonel.  On  the  same  day,  General 
Atkinson  arrived  with  the  welcome  provisions.  The  commanding  general  or- 
dered a  fort  of  turf  to  be  erected  on  the  north  side  of  Rock  River  in  which 
to  store  the  provisions  and  protect  them.  With  these  reenforcements  came 
Captain  W.  S.  Harney  and  Lieutenant  Jefferson  Davis,  each  of  whom  had  been 
absent  on  furlough,  but  who,  on  the  crossing  of  Black  Hawk  into  Illinois  returned 
to  their  regiment  (the  First)  at  Fort  Armstrong,  and  marched  up  the  river 
with  General  Atkinson. 

REUNITED  ARMY  UNDER  GENERAL  ATKINSON  IN  PURSUIT 

On  the  19th  of  May,  1832,  the  whole  army  of  volunteers  and  regulars  under 
General  Atkinson  left  Dixon's  Ferry  and  commenced  the  march  up  Rock  River 
in  pursuit  of  Black  Hawk  and  his  band.  Governor  Reynolds  and  his  staff  also 
accompanied  the  expedition  "to  conciliate  good  feelings  in  the  army  and  to 
assist  generally  in  the  campaign."     In  the  meantime  trouble  had  arisen  in  the 

Vol.  1—8 


116  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

lead  district  over  rival  candidates  for  military  office.  Captain  J.  W.  Stephen- 
son, who  brought  the  news  of  Stillman  's  defeat  to  the  settlers  and  miners  of  that 
region,  had  no  difficulty  in  organizing  his  company  of  mounted  rangers,  but 
Colonel  James  M.  Strode  was  less  fortunate.  The  latter  was  a  candidate  for 
State  Senator,  and  his  opponents  in  the  civil  campaign  endeavored  to  block  the 
enlistment  of  troops  and  particularly  his  election  to  military  command.  The 
opposition  became  so  pronounced  and  disorderly  that  Colonel  Strode  sent  a 
party  of  six  to  General  Atkinson  to  ask  his  advice.  One  of  the  messengers  was 
killed  by  the  Indians  and  the  party  turned  back  to  Galena.  But  the  Gen- 
eral had  anticipated  trouble  in  the  district,  after  having  received  news  of  the 
situation  there,  and  had  dispatched  Lieutenant  Jefferson  Davis  and  a  small 
detachment  of  the  regulars  to  restore  order,  if  not  harmony.  The  organization 
of  the  Twenty-seventh  Regiment  followed  and  was  placed  in  command  of 
Colonel  Strode  to  range  and  protect  the  northwestern  frontier  of  the  state. 
Captain  Stephenson's  company  was  afterward  attached  to  General  Dodge's 
squadron  of  Michigan  troops,  its  commander  being  advanced  to  the  rank  of  major. 
On  the  19th  of  May,  1832,  the  combined  army  of  regulars  and  volunteers 
moved  up  Rock  River  Valley  from  Dixon's  Ferry  about  twelve  miles  and  there 
camped  for  the  night.  The  march  was  resumed  and  by  dark  Stillman 's  battle- 
field was  reached,  where  an  express  conveyed  to  General  Atkinson  the  distress- 
ing and  alarming  news  that  a  number  of  families  had  been  murdered  during 
the  day  at  Indian  Creek,  fifteen  miles  above  Ottawa  and  ten  miles  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Fox  River.  As  it  became  evident  that  all  the  hostile  Indians  were 
not  in  the  upper  Rock  River  Valley,  General  Atkinson  ordered  the  volunteers 
under  General  Whiteside  and  Colonel  Taylor  to  continue  the  pursuit  toward  the 
north,  while  be  returned  with  the  regulars  to  Dixon's  Ferry. 

shabbona's  service 

After  Stillman 's  defeat,  Shabbona,  with  his  son  and  nephew,  made  a  furious 
ride  down  the  Fox  River  Valley  to  warn  the  settlers  of  their  danger  and  urge 
them  to  seek  the  protection  of  the  fort  at  Ottawa.  His  nephew  carried  these 
messages  of  warning  as  far  as  Rochelle's  village,  below  the  Illinois  River. 
Returning  home  to  Shabbona's  Grove,  by  way  of  the  Indian  Creek  or  Davis 
settlement,  he  discovered  at  nightfall  of  the  19th  a  large  band  of  Indians  enter- 
ing the  timber.  He  reported  this  to  Shabbona  as  soon  as  he  reached  his  uncle's 
village  about  midnight.  Once  more  the  grand  old  chief  mounted  his  pony  and 
rode  out  into  the  night  to  spread  a  warning,  especially  to  the  settlers  of  Bureau 
and  Indian  Creek.  Some  left  their  homes  and  again  fled  to  Ottawa.  Several 
families,  on  the  other  hand,  who  had  gone  to  Ottawa  for  safety  at  the  first 
alarm  had  returned  and  housed  themselves  in  the  cabin  of  William  Davis,  a 
powerful  blacksmith  and  miller  who  had  built  a  dam  on  the  creek  and  other- 
wise incurred  the  hostility  of  the  Pottawatomie  chief  six  miles  above.  Around 
the  blacksmith  shop,  mill  and  cabin  of  Mr.  Davis  quite  a  settlement  had  grown. 
Most  of  the  families  comprising  it  had  collected  at  the  Davis  home  and  nearly 
all  were  butchered  by  a  band  of  Pottawatomi  and  several  Sauk  allies.  During 
the  heat  of  the  fight  which  was  desperately  contested  by  the  white  heads  of  the 
families,  two  of  the  boys  escaped  to  Ottawa  and  two  of  the  girls  (Hall)  were 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  117 

taken  captive  by  Pottawatomie  braves.  The  latter  were  afterward  turned  over 
for  ransom  to  a  band  of  Winnebago.  The  captives  were  then  taken  to  Blue 
.Mound  Fort,  Western  Dane  County,  under  the  guidance  of  White  Cloud,  and 
protected  by  Indian  squaws,  where,  on  the  3d  of  June,  they  were  delivered 
to  Colonel  Henry  Gratiot,  the  Indian  agent.  Arrangements  were  promptly 
made  for  the  payment  of  the  *2,000  ransom  promised  by  General  Atkinson, 
which  the  Indians  agreed  to  accept  in  money,  ponies  and  other  valuable  articles. 

CAPTURE    AND    JOUBNBY    OF    THE    HALL    SISTERS 

This  migration  of  the  Hall  sisters,  as  Indian  captives,  from  the  scene 
of  the  massacre,  about  the  center  of  La  Salle  County,  in  the  Illinois  Valley,  across 
country  to  the  upper  Rock  River  Valley  and  thence  to  the  Four  Lakes  region, 
was  one  of  the  noteworthy  events  of  the  war.  They  were  thirteen  days  on 
the  way.  and  have  given  various  and  conflicting  accounts  of  their  itinerary.  The 
girls  were  first  turned  over  to  a  Sauk  band,  and  later  to  the  Winnebago 
under  White  Crow,  and  many  attempts  have  been  made  by  writers  on  the 
Black  Hawk  war  to  trace  their  route.  Perhaps  the  most  systematic  and  suc- 
cessful study  has  been  made  by  Cornelius  Buckley,  of  Beloit,  who  has  attempted 
to  follow  their  route  up  the  valley,  pursued  substantially  at  the  same  time 
that  the  troops  of  Atkinson  and  Taylor  were  following  Black  Hawk  and  his 
people  toward  the  upper  waters  of  the  Rock  River. 

The  earlier  account  of  the  journey  was  written  by  Rachel  Hall  (Munson) 
in  1844.  "She  speaks  of  arriving  at  the  Sauk  camp"  (where  the  girls  were 
turned  over  to  the  squaws  for  safe  keeping),  says  Mr.  Buckley,  "at  a  point 
about  ninety  miles  north  of  the  site  of  the  massacre,  at  about  the  hour  of 
nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  the  clay  following  that  event,  having,  she  thinks, 
ridden  ninety  miles  in  twenty-eight  hours."  The  weight  of  evidence  from 
various  other  accounts  of  the  massacre  and  the  flight,  places  this  Sauk  camp 
at  Black  Hawk  Grove,  a  bluff  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  present  City  of 
Janesville. 

At  the  same  time,  Mr.  Buckley  throws  some  doubt  on  the  identity  of  this 
Sauk  Camp.  "As  a  matter  of  fact,"  he  says,  "no  narrator  of  the  movement 
of  the  troops  under  Atkinson  and  Taylor,  who  surely  passed  through  what  is 
now  the  City  of  Janesville,  en  route  to  Koshkonong,  has  made  any  mention 
of  this  Camp  at  Janesville.  Daily  entries  were  made  in  journals  by  at  least 
two  persons  connected  with  the  service,  one  of  whom  wrote  a  history  of  the 
war.  Mr.  Wakefield's  (Major  John  A.  Wakefield)  book — long  out  of  print — 
has  been  cited  with  approval  by  numerous  writers  who  have  succeeded  him. 
Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  a  lieutenant  in  the  regular  service,  who  thirty  years 
later  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  where  he  commanded  the  confederate 
forces,  kept  a  daily  journal  of  occurrences  on  the  march,  together  with  a  pretty 
full  topographical  account  of  the  country  over  the  entire  route  from  Dixon, 
Illinois,  to  the  Wisconsin  and  Mississippi  rivers.  This  journal,  which  I  be- 
lieve has  never  been  published,  is  still  in  existence  in  the  family  of  the  great 
soldier,  and  has  frequently  been  consulted  by  recent  writers. 

"Wakefield  informs  us  that  the  army  passed  through  Turtle  Village  (Beloit) 
about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  June  30,  1832,  and  encamped  on  the 


118  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

prairie  a  mile  from  Rock  River.  Johnston  speaks  of  having  encamped  with 
the  regulars  near  the  forks  of  Turtle  Creek  and  Rock  River.  It  may  have 
been  the  case  that  the  volunteers  (with  whom  was  Wakefield)  and  the  regulars, 
had  different  camp  sites,  but  near  each  other.  The  volunteers  encamped  north- 
east of  the  Fairbanks-Morse  plant  (Beloit).  Union  Street  very  likely  crosses 
the  army  camp  site. 

' '  The  Turtle  Village,  we  now  know,  stood  on  the  bluff  at  the  present  site  of 
Beloit  Junction.  Mrs.  Kinzie  in  'Waubun'  mentions  this  village  as  the  most 
important  Winnebago  village  south  of  the  Wisconsin  River.  Upward  of  twenty- 
eight  years  since,  I  met  at  Portage,  Wisconsin,  an  aged  Winnebago  Indian 
who  informed  me  that  he  was  raised  at  this  village,  and  continued  to  live  in 
the  vicinity  more  or  less  after  its  abandonment  during  the  Black  Hawk  war. 
He  knew  and  inquired  after  the  Blodgetts,  Moodys  and  other  early  settlers. 

"Now,  the  Turtle  Village  was  in  a  pretty  direct  line  north  of  the  Indian 
Creek  settlement,  and  at  a  distance  of  about  sixty-six  miles.  Shabbona's  vil- 
lage of  Pottawatomi  was  twelve  miles  north  of  the  settlement.  We  well  know 
the  raiders  made  no  stop  at  the  friendly  wigwam  of  Shabbona.  Big  Thunder's 
Pottawatomie  village  was  located  on  the  present  site  of  Belvidere,  about  fifty- 
two  miles  directly  north  of  the  settlement  of  Big  Indian  Creek.  Here  (at 
Belvidere)  was  a  creek,  though  not  a  very  small  one,  the  north  branch  of  the 
Kishwaukee.  The  site,  in  1832,  judging  from  present  appearances,  presented 
topographical  features  very  similar  to  Black  Hawk  Grove  at  Janesville — a  bluff 
and  low  swampy  land.  There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  captives 
passed  through  this  village,  their  captors  being  principally  members  of  the 
Pottawatomie  tribes. 

"A  direct  trail  led  from  this  village  to  the  Turtle  village,  and,  while  we 
are  without  specific  information  concerning  their  passage  over  the  Wisconsin 
line,  why  should  we  doubt  that  the  raiders  would  follow  the  usual  route  to 
the  Koshkonong  region,  where  eventually  the  tribe  rendezvoused  before  their 
departure  for  the  Wisconsin  bluffs  and  the  Mississippi. 

"The  Pottawatomie  village  of  Capas  stood  near  Coltonville,  in  DeKalb 
County  on  the  south  branch  of  the  Kishwaukee,  and  had  forty  lodges  im- 
mediately before  the  war.  This  village  was  visited  and  sacked  by  the  volun- 
teers under  General  Whiteside  subsequent  to  the  capture  of  the  Hall  girls. 
Scalps  and  personal  belongings  of  the  massacred  families  on  Indian  Creek  were 
found  cached  in  the  earth  at  the  village,  and  as  this  village  was  in  a  pretty 
direct  line  north  of  Indian  Creek  settlement,  it  may  well  be  believed  that  the 
captors  with  their  victims  passed  through,  or  rested  at  this  village.  Its  site 
is  two  and  a  half  miles  southwest  of  Sycamore,  111." 

Mr.  Buckley  also  mentions  the  Pottawatomie  village  known  as  Black  Hawk 
Springs,  eight  miles  southeast  of  Rockford,  and  which  was  mentioned  by  Major 
S.  H.  Long  as  having  been  visited  by  him  in  1823.  These  different  villages 
were  all  along  Black  Hawk's  route  northward  and  were  probably  visited  by 
the  Indian  captors  and  their  victims.  The  place  where  the  girls  were  turned 
over  to  White  Crow  and  his  Winnebago  band  is  in  dispute.  Some  writers, 
as  stated,  fix  the  locality  as  Black  Hawk  Grove,  Janesville;  others  locate  the 
place  where  the  Sauk  transferred  their  captives  to  the  Winnebago  as  far  north 
as  Hustisford,  Dodge  County.     It  is  known  that   Dodge  with  his  volunteers 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  119 

marched  to  Bustisford  in  search  of  Sauks,  and  found  there  a  few  starving 
Winnebago.  Two  days  later  he  discovered  the  Sauk  trail  at  Jefferson  Junction 
Leading  toward  the  Four  Lakes. 

There  are  various  confused  accounts  of  the  captive  girls  having  reached 
the  Wisconsin  River,  at  or  near  the  Winnebago  village  of  Chief  Dekora,  four 
miles  below  Fort  Winnebago,  now  Portage.  They  reached  there  by  horseback, 
then  were  loaded  into  canoes  and  taken  down  the  Wisconsin  River  to  the  mouth 
of  Black  Earth  Creek,  and  thence  southerly,  by  horseback  again,  to  Blue  Mound 
Port.  Then  again,  this  route  to  Western  Dane  County  via  Fort  Winnebago  is 
open  to  objection,  as  the  Indians  could  have  delivered  the  girls  at  Fort  Winne- 
bago and  claimed  their  reward  as  well  as  to  swing  them  around  the  circle  to  Blue 
Mound  Fort, 

On  the  29th  of  May,  a  message  had  arrived  at  Blue  Mound  Fort  from 
General  Atkinson  at  Dixon  offering  the  reward  for  the  delivery  of  the  girls 
unharmed  to  the  whites.  Eduard  Bouchard,  an  officer  at  the  fort,  at  once 
visited  a  camp  of  Winnebago  at  the  east  of  Blue  Mound,  stated  to  them  the 
contents  of  the  letter,  and  prevailed  on  White  Cloud,  Whirling  Thunder  and 
Spotted  Arm  to  seek  the  girls  at  the  Sauk  camp,  demand  their  release  and 
to  enforce  their  demand  by  violence,  if  necessary.  On  the  afternoon  of  the 
third  day  following  the  departure  of  the  chiefs,  the  girls  were  delivered  to 
Bouchard  and  others  a  few  miles  east  of  Blue  Mound  Fort.  Exactly  where 
they  were  delivered  to  the  Winnebago  is  not  known. 

"As  a  sequel  to  this  tale,"  concludes  Mr.  Buckley,  "I  may  add  that  our 
subjects  married  within  a  year  following  their  delivery  to  their  friends;  that 
they  lived  long,  very  long,  and  died  happy,  leaving  numerous  descendants. 
A  granddaughter  married  James  H.  Eckels,  former  controller  of  the  currency; 
and  another  married  that  erratic  Chicago  jurist,  of  whom  we  hear  so  much 
these  days,  and  who  seems  to  be  pretty  generally  admired  by  the  public — 
excepting  the  lawyers  and  the  thieves — Kenesaw  Mountain  Landis." 

MURDER  OF  ST.  VRAIN 

It  was  not  long  before  the  entire  country  along  the  Illinois,  Fox,  Dupage 
and  Desplaines  rivers  was  overrun  by  murderous  bands  of  Indians,  having 
usually  Sauk  leaders,  the  scene  of  these  scattered  atrocities  having  shifted  south 
and  north  of  the  Rock  River  Valley.  Among  the  most  fiendish  of  these  was 
the  killing  of  Felix  St.  Vrain,  the  Indian  agent  of  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  at 
Fort  Armstrong,  who  started  on  May  23d,  to  guide  a  party  of  cattle  buyers 
from  Dixon's  Ferry  to  Galena  and  from  that  point  to  carry  dispatches  for 
General  Atkinson  down  the  river  to  the  fort  and  the  agency.  St.  Vrain  had 
found  such  favor  with  the  nation  that  one  of  its  chiefs,  the  Little  Bear,  had 
adopted  him  as  a  brother.  The  party  therefore  considered  it  propitious  that 
it  should  meet  on  the  way  a  band  of  Sauk  under  the  Little  Bear ;  but  St.  Vrain 
and  three  of  his  companions  were  shot  down  by  the  Indians  in  cold  blood  and 
all  of  them  scalped.  Little  Bear  and  his  band  singled  out  their  agent  for 
special  mutilations.  His  head,  hands  and  feet  were  cut  off  and  his  heart  taken 
from  his  breast  and  eaten  by  the  Sauk  braves,  that  they  might  boast  of  having 
devoured  the  heart  of  one  of  the  bravest  of  Americans. 


120  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

These  murders  and  massacres  were  committed  at  such  scattered  localities 
and  by  such  comparatively  small  bands  of  Indians  that  the  military  leaders 
were  still  of  the  opinion  that  the  most  effective  course  to  quell  the  uprising 
was  to  follow  Black  Hawk  and  crush  him.  The  army  therefore  continued  its 
advance  up  Rock  River  Valley  and  after  several  days'  march  from  Dixon's 
Ferry  reached  a  large  Pottawatomie  village  on  Sycamore  Creek.  It  was  de- 
serted, but  the  soldiers  found  not  only  some  of  the  articles  which  Black  Hawk's 
warriors  had  taken  at  Stillman  's  Run,  but  some  of  the  scalps  lifted  at  the  Indian 
Creek  massacre.  Black  Hawk  and  his  braves  were  still  dancing,  elusive  shadows, 
and  after  a  conference  at  the  Pottawatomie  village  between  Governor  Reynolds, 
Colonel  Taylor  and  Major  Harney  of  the  regular  army,  and  many  of  the  volun- 
teer officers,  it  was  decided  to  disband  the  home  army  at  Ottawa. 

On  the  return  march  along  Sycamore  Creek,  says  Stevens,  "an  old  Pot- 
tawatomie Indian  came  into  camp,  tired  and  hungry.  His  age  should  have 
commanded  respect  and  probably  would  under  circumstances  at  all  different, 
but  in  that  instance  the  first  chance  to  kill  a  supposed  enemy  was  presented 
and  his  death  was  demanded.  The  poor  old  Indian  produced  from  his  gar- 
ments a  safe  conduct  signed  by  General  Lewis  Cass,  pleading  protection  under 
it.  'Make  an  example  of  him,'  cried  one.  'The  letter  is  a  forgery,'  cried  others, 
and  still  others  called  him  a  spy.  The  poor  old  fellow  was  in  danger  of  death, 
when  Captain  Lincoln,  his  face  swarthy  with  resolution  and  rage,  stepped 
forward  between  the  cowering  Indian  and  the  guns  pointed  at  him,  and  shouted, 
'  This  must  not  be ;  he  must  not  be  shot  and  killed  by  us ' ;  and  the  men  re- 
coiled. 'This  is  cowardly  on  your  part,  Lincoln,'  one  man  said.  To  which 
Captain  Lincoln  instantly  replied,  'If  any  man  thinks  that  I  am  a  coward,  let 
him  test  it.'  Still  defiant,  another  cried,  'Lincoln,  you  are  larger  and  heavier 
than  we  are';  but  that  miserable  objection  was  quickly  disposed  of  by  the  re- 
joinder of  the  Captain,  'This  you  can  guard  against;  choose  your  weapons.' 
It  is  needless  to  add  that  no  one  chose  a  weapon  and  that  the  Indian  departed 
in  safety." 

MUSTER-OUT    OF    VOLUNTEERS 

The  entire  army  was  discharged  at  Ottawa  on  May  27th  and  28th,  Captain 
Lincoln  being  mustered  out  on  the  former  day.  Lieutenant  Robert  Anderson 
performed  that  task.  The  dispersal  of  the  volunteers  left  the  frontiers  and 
the  settlements  of  Illinois  virtually  unprotected  and  on  the  28th  General  Atkin- 
son, accompanied  only  by  his  staff,  crossed  the  country  from  Dixon  to  Ottawa 
to  confer  with  Governor  Reynolds  over  the  untoward  situation.  Not  only 
had  the  Indians  received  no  check,  but  had  on  the  face  of  the  matter  outwitted 
and  outfought  the  whites  with  all  their  superiority  of  numbers. 

Under  these  alarming  circumstances,  General  Atkinson  and  Governor  Rey- 
nolds appealed  to  the  patriotism  of  the  disbanded  troops  to  organize  one  regi- 
ment for  twenty  days  to  protect  the  frontiers  and  await  the  assembling  of 
the  new  army  of  volunteers  on  the  15th  of  June.  This  was  readily  accom- 
plished and  300  men  of  the  disbanded  rangers  were  organized  into  a  regiment 
of  six  companies  in  command  of  Colonel  Jacob  Fry,  with  James  D.  Henry 
as  Lieutenant  Colonel  and  John  Thomas  as  Major.     Among  those  who  enlisted 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  121 

as  privates  in  this  regiment  were  Brigadier  General  Whiteside  and  Captain 
Abraham  Lincoln. 

AMBUSH    AT    KELLOGG'S    GBOVB 

A  part  of  the  company  of  Captain  Adam  W.  Snyder  was  ordered  to  make 
a  stand  at  Kellogg 's  Grove  and  scour  the  country  for  Indians.  This  locality 
is  in  what  is  now  Kent  Township,  Stephenson  County,  seven  or  eight  miles 
from  Lena.  It  is  about  thirty-five  miles  southeast  of  Galena  and  thirty-seven 
miles  nori Invest  of  Dixon  and  Captain  Snyder's  company  was  designed  to  be 
placed  where  it  could  maintain  communication  between  these  two  important 
points  concerned  with  the  security  of  northern  Illinois.  In  Captain  Snyder's 
company  as  privates  were  Joseph  Gillespie,  Pierre  Menard,  Richard  Roman, 
•lames  Semple,  General  Samuel  Whiteside  and  John  Thomas.  Although  the 
last  named  had  just  been  elected  major  of  the  regiment,  he  preferred  action 
in  the  held  to  official  position  and  therefore  marched  in  the  ranks  toward 
Kellogg 's  Grove.  On  the  morning  of  the  16th  of  June,  a  detachment  of  Cap- 
tain Snyder's  company  came  in  touch  with  a  band  of  Indians  and  in  the  en- 
gagement which  followed  one  of  his  men  was  mortally  wounded.  While  General 
Whiteside  and  others  were  endeavoring  to  bring  water  to  the  dying  man  they 
were  ambushed  by  a  large  party  of  Indians,  which  brought  ou  an  engage- 
ment with  the  other  troops.  As  the  detachment  was  far  outnumbered  by  the 
Indians,  it  retreated  to  the  main  body.  The  dead  bodies  of  the  three  men 
slain  in  the  ambuscade  were  buried  at  Kellogg 's  Grove,  and  when  the  main 
army  of  the  new  volunteers  arrived  on  the  frontiers,  Colonel  Taylor  mustered 
out  the  entire  regiment  of  twenty  days'  men  at  Dixon's  Ferry  (on  June  21st). 

NEW    VOLUNTEER    ARMY    OF    THREE    THOUSAND 

As  arranged,  the  volunteers  of  the  new  army  rendezvoused  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Illinois  River  at  Fort  Wilbourn,  about  a  mile  above  Peru  and  at 
the  foot  of  the  Illinois  rapids.  It  was  the  head  of  steamboat  navigation  and 
there  the  supplies  for  the  new  adventure  against  Black  Hawk  had  been  de- 
posited; in  fact,  it  was  then  called  Fort  Deposit.  There,  according  to  guberna- 
torial orders  the  volunteers  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  State  to  the  number 
of  more  than  three  thousand.  Numerous  citizens  also  appeared,  many  of  them 
anxious  to  participate  in  the  campaign  which  meant  civil  and  political  ad- 
vancement for  those  who  acquitted  themselves  well  as  soldiers.  On  this  15th 
of  June,  as  this  picturesque  assemblage  gathered  to  be  organized  for  military 
service  both  sides  of  the  river  were  covered  with  men  and  horses.  Fort  John- 
ston, believed  to  have  been  named  after  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  was  Atkin- 
son's headquarters.  It  was  located  opposite  the  mouth  of  Fox  River,  twenty 
miles  from  Fort  Wilbourn,  or  Fort  Deposit.  While  the  volunteer  army  at 
Fort  Wilbonrn  was  in  process  of  organization,  Shabbona,  Billy  Caldwell  and 
Waubansee,  all  influential  and  friendly  Pottawatomi,  came  to  the  camp  of  the 
regulars  at  Fort  Johnston  and  offered  Atkinson  one  hundred  of  their  men. 
They  were  to  be  commanded  by  Shabbona,  who  then  communicated  to  the 
commander-in-chief  the  location  of  Black  Hawk  at  the  head  of  Rock  River. 


122  THE  EOCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

As  truly  remarked  by  Governor  Reynolds :  "It  was  extremely  difficult 
and  required  both  patience  and  judgment  to  organize  this  great  mass  of  peo- 
ple into  an  army  without  causing  some  dissatisfaction,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  make  it  efficient.  The  war  had  attracted  attention  and  many  of  the  most 
prominent  men  in  the  State  appeared  on  the  frontier  and  wanted  office." 

After  organizing  the  army  into  three  brigades,  on  consultation  with  the 
captains  of  the  companies,  the  commanding  generals  were  elected  by  the  troops. 
During  the  three  days  following,  Alexander  Posey  was  elected  to  command 
the  First  Brigade  of  1,001  men;  Milton  K.  Alexander,  the  Second,  with  959, 
and  James  D.  Henry,  the  Third,  numbering  1,232.  Thus  organized  the  brigades 
(each  of  which  had  a  spy  battalion)  were  received  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States  in  command  of  General  Atkinson  who  was  present  at  the  time. 
Thomas  C.  Brown,  one  of  the  Gallatin  County  volunteers,  was  appointed  one 
of  General  Atkinson's  aides.  He  was  then  one  of  the  judges  of  the  State 
Supreme  Court  and  the  selection  was  made,  at  the  request  of  Governor  Rey- 
nolds, "to  establish  a  friendly  feeling  between  the  regular  officers  and  those 
of  the  volunteers."  T.  W.  Smith,  another  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  was 
appointed  Adjutant  General  by  the   Governor. 

While  General  Atkinson  was  organizing  another  expedition  to  sweep  up 
the  Rock  River  Valley  to  its  head  in  search  of  Black  Hawk,  General  Dodge 
and  his  forces  were  skilfully  guarding  the  northwestern  frontier  and  the  lead 
district  of  both  Illinois  and  Michigan.  Organizing  and  dispatching  various 
bands  of  rangers  to  threatened  points  in  his  state,  Governor  Reynolds  sought 
to  erect  fortifications  and  protect  the  frontiers  along  the  Illinois  River  from 
the  Mississippi  to  Chicago. 

DISTURBANCES   IN   LEAD   DISTRICT 

For  some  time  before  the  gathering  of  the  Illinois  clans  at  Fort  Deposit, 
the  lead  district  was  the  center  of  the  most  active  and  serious  disturbances 
brought  on  by  Black  Hawk  and  his  bands.  After  visiting  Atkinson  at  Fort 
Johnston,  Dodge  returned  to  his  headquarters  at  Fort  Union,  near  the  present 
city  of  Dodgeville,  Wisconsin,  and  prepared  to  carry  out  his  part  of  the  cam- 
paign. No  sooner  had  he  and  his  men  reached  Fort  Defiance  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Mineral  Point  of  today  and  a  few  miles  southwest  of  Dodgeville,  than 
a  messenger  brought  tidings  of  the  murder  of  five  settlers  at  a  farm  on  the 
Pecatonica,  six  miles  southeast  of  Fort  Hamilton.  On  June  16th,  Dodge  was 
on  the  ground  and  sent  a  detachment  of  men  after  the  Indian  murderers. 
He  crossed  the  Pecatonica  River  and  attacked  the  Indians  behind  a  natural 
breastwork  formed  by  the  bank  of  a  small  lake.  Their  entire  party  of  seven- 
teen was  wiped  out  of  existence.  This  engagement  was  known  as  the  Battle 
of  the  Pecatonica  and  was  fought  on  June  16th  in  territory  which  was  over 
the  present  state  line  in  Wisconsin. 

BLACK    HAWK    REPULSED    FROM    APPLE    RIVER    FORT 

Black  Hawk's  warriors,  in  scattered  bands,  from  the  first  until  after  the 
middle  of  June  ranged  the  country,  stealing  horses  and  other  livestock  and 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  123 

murdering  settlers,  from  the  head  of  the  Four  Lakes  to  Galena.  The  Apple 
River  valley  became  an  especially  favorite  district  for  their  depredations.  On 
the  morning  of  the  18th,  Captain  J.  W.  Stephenson,  who  was  under  the  direct 
command  of  Colonel  James  M.  Strode  operating  with  General  Dodge,  started 
on  the  trail  of  a  band  of  Sauk  horse  thieves  and  overtook  them  about  twelve 
miles  east  of  Kellogg 's  Grove,  in  the  county  which  has  been  given  his  name. 
In  dislodging  them  from  a  dense  thicket  three  of  his  men  were  killed  and  he 
himself  so  badly  wounded  that  he  was  not  able  to  lead  his  men. 

Six  days  after  this  affair,  Colonel  Strode  sent  an  express  of  three  men  to 
General  Atkinson,  then  at  Dixon's  Ferry.  At  about  noon  (June  24th)  the 
messengers  arrived  at  Apple  River  Fort  some  fourteen  miles  southeast  of  Galena. 
Captain  Clack  Stone,  the  commandant,  had  a  garrison  of  only  fifteen  or  twenty 
men,  the  remainder  of  his  force  being  absent  on  detached  duty.  When  the 
express  arrived,  the  women  of  the  post  were  either  starting  out  to  pick  berries 
or  scattered  along  the  river  banks  thus  busily  engaged.  The  express  was  soon 
again  in  motion,  but  had  gone  east  only  about  300  yards  when  the  men  were 
attacked  by  a  large  party  of  Indians  concealed  in  the  tall  grass  beside  the 
trail  which  they  were  taking.  One  of  the  men  was  shot  through  the  thigh 
and  fell  from  his  horse,  but  was  dragged  to  the  fort  and  safely  placed  behind 
its  heavy  doors,  while  his  rescuer  was  shut  out  and  barely  escaped  the  Indians 
by  slinking  to  Galena  behind  the  high  banks  of  Apple  River.  The  noise  of 
the  shooting  also  warned  the  berry  pickers  who  reached  the  shelter  of  the  fort. 

The  band  of  200  Indians  under  Black  Hawk's  leadership  then  commenced 
the  fiercest  assault  of  the  war  upon  Apple  River  Fort,  surrounding  it  and 
directing  against  it  a  terrible  fire.  Providentially,  a  wagonload  of  meat  and 
lead  from  Galena  had  been  unloaded  that  very  forenoon,  which  put  the  gar- 
rison in  a  fair  condition  to  sustain  a  siege.  Stevens,  in  his  account  of  the 
attack  and  sequel,  says:  "For  two  hours  a  heavy  fire  was  maintained  by 
both  sides.  Under  its  first  fire,  the  garrison  showed  fear  of  the  result  against 
such  tremendous  odds,  but  instantly  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Armstrong,  in  a  com- 
manding address,  inspired  man  and  woman  alike  with  such  resolution  that 
nothing  could  have  driven  them  from  their  posts.  She  divided  the  women 
into  two  squads,  one  to  mold  the  bullets,  the  other  to  reload  the  muskets  as 
they  were  discharged.  Unfortunately,  no  one  had  been  allowed  to  bring  in  a 
supply  of  water  with  which  to  quench  thirst  during  the  weary  hours  of  that 
engagement.  The  day  was  hot.  Confinement  in  close  quarters  of  the  fort, 
amidst  the  fumes  of  gunpowder  and  the  heat  of  firing,  brought  on  a  state  of 
suffering  bordering  upon  exhaustion,  but  the  almost  fainting  women,  by  their 
heroic  disregard  for  danger  and  suffering  and  by  their  words  of  cheer  propped 
the  failing  energies  of  the  fighting  men.  Every  advance  by  the  enemy  was 
met  with  a  galling  fire  from  within  and  the  assailants  were  repulsed,  only  to 
resume  the  assault  more  fiercely  than  before  and  again  retire  with  heavy  loss. 
"Finding  it  useless  to  attempt  a  capitulation  by  assault,  the  Indians  retired 
to  the  surrounding  log  houses,  where,  knocking  the  chinks  from  between  the 
logs  they  opened  a  deadly  fire  which  could  not  be  returned  with  loss  to  them- 
selves; but  this  failed  to  dislodge  the  whites  and,  enraged  at  their  failure, 
the  Indians  sought  partial  revenge  by  plundering  the  houses.  They  destroyed 
the  furniture  and  crockery,  emptied  flour  barrels  and  feather  beds,  stole  the 


124  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

bed  clothing  and  wardrobe  and  then  killed  the  cattle  and  hogs,  finishing  their 
clay  of  destruction  by  stealing  all  the  horses  in  sight." 

A  boy,  who  was  of  the  party  which  Colonel  Strode  had  sent  out  with  dis- 
patches for  General  Atkinson,  insisted  on  stealing  from  the  fort  at  night,  with 
Indians  lurking  everywhere,  that  he  might  acquaint  the  commander  at  Galena 
with  the  plight  of  the  defenders  of  Apple  River  Port.  He  reached  the  regi- 
mental headquarters  as  Colonel  Strode  was  starting  from  Galena  to  the  relief 
of  the  fort,  after  having  been  notified  of  its  danger  by  the  messenger  who 
had  escaped  at  the  commencement  of  the  assault.  When  the  reenforcements 
arrived,  Black  Hawk  and  his  warriors  had  retreated. 

In  the  meantime  the  spy  battalion  of  General  Posey's  brigade  had  been 
ordered  by  Colonel  Zachary  Taylor  to  Kellogg 's  Grove.  It  was  in  command 
of  Major  John  Dement  and  on  his  staff  was  Zadoc  Casey,  Lieutenant  Governor. 
On  the  second  night  after  the  arrival  of  the  battalion,  word  was  brought  from 
the  lead  mines  that  a  trail  of  two  or  three  hundred  Indians  had  been  seen 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Grove  passing  to  the  southwest.  As  that  was  the 
day  of  the  assault  upon  the  Apple  River  Fort,  it  is  the  general  belief  that 
the  war  party  which  was  to  make  trouble  for  Major  Dement  and  his  men  was 
the  one  led  by  Black  Hawk,  which  subsequently  withdrew  to  the  marshes  of 
the  Koshkonong  and  the  other  headwaters  of  the  Rock  River. 

DEMENT 'S    SPY    BATTALION    SURPRISED    BY    THE    SAUK 

Major  Dement  had  about  150  men  under  him,  most  of  whom  were  Ten- 
nesseeans  and  fighters  by  tradition  and  nature.  On  the  night  of  the  24th  of 
June  it  was  decided  by  a  council  of  officers  that  the  Major  and  fifty  picked 
men  of  his  battalion  should  start  out  on  the  following  morning  to  reconnoiter 
the  trail  and  the  country.  The  remainder  should  keep  to  the  fort — an  oblong 
three-room  log  house,  strongly  built  and  with  a  good  well  of  water  in  the  in- 
closed yard.  Several  stables  and  other  buildings  stood  near  the  main  house. 
According  to  the  plan  devised  the  night  before,  on  the  morning  of  the  25th 
an  advance  party  of  half  a  dozen  rangers  pushed  ahead  of  the  detachment  and 
soon  reported  to  Major  Dement  and  "Governor"  Casey  that  Indians  had  been 
seen  on  the  prairie.  The  officers  of  the  battalion  tried  to  hold  the  men  back 
from  the  pursuit,  but  the  retreating  Indians  skilfully  drew  most  of  the  soldiers 
into  a  ravine  filled  with  brush  and  bushes.  Black  Hawk  and  his  warriors  to 
the  number  of  two  or  three  hundred  suddenly  emerged  from  their  ambush, 
naked  and  raising  their  fearful  war  whoops.  The  surprise  was  complete  and 
Major  Dement  and  his  men  retreated  to  the  fort.  A  small  detachment  was  cut 
off  by  the  overwhelming  reds  and  wiped  out,  and  when  the  remainder  of  the 
scouting  party  dismounted  and  entered  the  fort  nearly  fifty  horses  were  shot 
dead  in  the  yard.  The  horse  of  Governor  Casey  was  wounded  in  the  head 
before  the  rider  dismounted  at  the  fort.  The  Indians  were  so  furious  in  the 
attack  and  rushed  so  near  the  fort  that  not  a  few  of  them  were  killed.  The 
savages,  who  far  outnumbered  the  defenders,  shot  into  the  house  through  the 
crevices  and  wounded  several  men,  but  killed  none.  In  this  series  of  furious 
attacks  seven  of  the  savages  were  killed.  Three  different  bullets  touched  the 
person  of  Major  Dement,  but  none  injured  him.     One  ball  passed  through  his 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  125 

hat  and  cut  the  hair  on  the  top  of  his  head.  When  the  fire  from  the  savages 
had  subsided,  the  commander  of  the  besieged  whites  sent  for  relief  to  Dixon, 
more  than  fifty  miles  away.  Wet  blankets  had  been  placed  on  top  of  the  little 
fort  to  guard  against  fire,  but  the  night  passed  without  a  renewal  of  the  at- 
tack, and  at  eight  o'clock  the  next  morning  the  express  was  dispatched  for 
relief  to  Dixon.  Toward  sundown  of  the  same  day  General  Alexander  Posey's 
brigade  reached  the  fort  and  the  Indians  departed  after  singing  war  songs 
over  the  dead  bodies  of  the  five  men  they  had  killed  and  mangling  them  in 
the  customary  style.  The  soldiers  of  the  American  relief  command  found  a 
horrid  state  of  affairs.  The  fifty  horses  which  had  been  shot  by  the  Indians 
with  poisoned  arrows  were  lying  in  the  outer  yard  swollen  beyond  belief.  Near 
the  distorted  animals  were  a  number  of  dead  Indians,  and  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  from  the  fort  were  the  mangled  bodies  of  the  five  men  who  had  been 
cut  off  from  escape.  Early  in  the  morning  after  the  arrival  of  Posey's  brigade, 
a  large  grave  was  dug  with  tomahawks  and  knives  and  the  remains  of  the 
victims  there  interred. 

After  burying  the  dead  in  this  hasty  manner,  General  Posey  started  in 
pursuit  of  the  Indians,  but  soon  found  that  they  had  divided  into  many  bands 
and  could  not  be  followed  as  a  body.  That,  in  fact,  seemed  to  be  the  policy 
of  Black  Hawk,  and  it  became  the  aim  of  the  American  forces  to  meet  the 
elusive  enemy  in  some  considerable  body  or  bodies. 

General  Atkinson  had  ordered  General  Alexander  with  his  brigade  to  march 
to  the  region  between  Dixon,  Galena  and  the  Mississippi  to  guard  the  frontiers 
and  prevent  the  straggling  Indians  of  the  west  from  joining  Black  Hawk. 
The  headquarters  of  General  Posey's  brigade  was  Fort  Hamilton.  General 
Atkinson  commanded  in  person  the  brigade  under  General  Henry  and  the 
regulars.  The  last-named  force  was  at  Dixon,  waiting  for  military  stores,  when 
the  messengers  from  Major  Dement  at  Kellogg 's  Grove  reached  the  commander- 
in-chief. 

ARMY    RESUMES    ADVANCE    UP    ROCK    RIVER    VALLEY 

The  little  army  in  command  of  Generals  Atkinson  and  Henry,  with  Gov- 
ernor Reynolds  and  staff,  moved  up  Rock  River  from  Dixon  and  on  the  4th 
of  July  had  reached  Lake  Koshkonong,  an  enlargement  of  Rock  River  and 
one  of  its  reservoirs.  For  a  week,  attempts  were  made  to  locate  the  hostile 
Indians,  whose  whereabouts  were  protected  by  their  allies,  the  Winnebago, 
and  then  the  army  was  obliged  to  scatter,  in  order  to  collect  lost  horses  and 
obtain  provisions  for  a  short  campaign.  It  was  at  this  point  that  Governor 
Reynolds,  with  his  staff,  left  the  army  for  his  home,  by  way  of  Galena.  In 
the  meantime,  the  other  two  brigades  had  joined  the  army  of  pursuit.  After 
supplies  had  been  collected  at  Fort  Winnebago,  General  Posey's  brigade  was 
headed  for  Dixon  and  the  lead  region.  At  Fort  Winnebago  evidence  Avas  ob- 
tained of  the  actual  location  of  Black  Hawk's  camp  through  Pierre  Poquette, 
a  half  breed  scout  and  trader  in  the  employ  of  the  American  Fur  Company. 
From  this  point,  Alexander's  command  returned  to  General  Atkinson's  head- 
quarters at  the  temporary  fort  on  Bark  River  above  Lake  Koshkonong,  the 
headwaters  of  the  Rock  River.     Under  the  guidance  of  Poquette  and  twelve 


126  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

friendly  Winnebago,  led  by  the  White  Pawnee,  General  Henry's  command  which 
had  been  reduced  to  600  men  and  Colonel  Dodge's,  to  120,  on  July  15th  took 
up  their  march  toward  the  sources  of  the  Rock  River.  Theirs  was  an  inde- 
pendent expedition,  as  the  decision  of  an  officers'  council  was  that  if  the  move- 
ment should  await  formal  orders  from  General  Atkinson,  Black  Hawk  would 
escape.  There  was  some  opposition  to  this  "violation  of  orders,"  but  the  strong 
will  of  Henry  prevailed,  although  Atkinson,  as  his  commander-in-chief,  was 
kept  advised  of  all  the  movements  of  the  pursuing  column. 

BLACK    HAWK    PURSUED   BY    HENRY    AND    DODGE 

For  six  days  and  nights  the  men  led  by  Henry  and  Dodge  followed  the 
trail  of  Black  Hawk  and  his  warriors,  women  and  children,  as  it  left  the  Rock 
River,  wound  toward  the  Four  Lakes  and  then  headed  for  the  Wisconsin  and 
the  Mississippi.  Enemy  Indians  gave  them  the  wrong  directions,  but  like 
bloodhounds  they  returned  to  the  scent  of  Black  Hawk  and  his  fleeing  nation. 
On  the  19th  of  July,  early  in  the  morning,  the  trail  became  so  fresh  that 
the  Americans  left  behind  all  heavy  camp  equipage  in  order  to  make  speedy 
and  forced  marches.  The  army  of  whites  marched  nearly  fifty  miles  that  day, 
fording  streams  and  crossing  swamps.  Toward  evening  a  terrific  thunderstorm 
arose  and,  with  torrents  of  rain,  continued  all  night,  and  as  the  soldiers  were 
without  tents  or  blankets — well,  their  sufferings  were  a  part  of  army  life  and 
especially  of  Indian  campaigning.  Toward  sunset  of  the  20th,  the  army  reached 
the  first  of  the  four  lakes,  overlooking  what  is  now  the  beautiful  capital  of 
Wisconsin.  General  Dodge  was  in  the  advance,  and  was  assigned  the  honor 
of  bringing  on  the  expected  battle  with  Black  Hawk's  braves.  Taking  the 
advice  of  their  Indian  guides  that  it  would  be  foolhardy  to  attempt  to  follow 
Black  Hawk's  difficult  trail  at  night,  the  whites  rested  on  their  arms  until  the 
morning  of  the  21st.  The  route  by  which  they  approached  the  fleeing  Indians 
is  thus  described  in  Smith's  History  of  Wisconsin:  "The  detachment  crossed 
the  Crawfish  River  near  Artalan  and  followed  the  trail,  which  bore  to  the 
west  of  Keyes  Lake  (Rock  Lake).  It  was  still  followed  westward  until  the 
ground  between  the  Third  and  Fourth  lakes  was  reached,  now  the  site  of  Madi- 
son; thence  it  was  followed  around  the  southern  end  of  the  Fourth  Lake, 
where  it  appeared  that  an  admirable  position  for  a  battleground,  with  natural 
defenses  and  places  of  ambush,  had  been  chosen  by  the  enemy,  and  here  they 
apparently  had  lain  the  previous  night." 

THE    BATTLE   OP   WISCONSIN   HEIGHTS 

By  daylight  of  the  21st  of  July  the  entire  army  was  hot  on  the  Indian  trail, 
trinkets  and  other  more  substantial  property  of  the  red  men  and  women  being 
strewn  along  the  way.  Sometimes  a  horse  of  the  enemy  fell  dead  with  exhaus- 
tion, or  had  been  killed  and  partly  devoured  by  the  famished  Indians.  On 
this  forced  march  of  the  21st  about  forty  horses  of  the  Americans  gave  out 
and  were  left  behind.  About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  spies  reported 
that  the  Indians  were  reaching  the  bluffs  of  the  Wisconsin  River  and  might 
make  a  safe  retreat  over  it.     The  locality  was  about  twenty-five  miles  north- 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  127 

west  of  Madison,  and  the  "Battle  of  the  Wisconsin  Heights"  which  followed 
the  contact  of  the  advance  of  Henry's  command  with  the  rear  guard  of  Black 
Hawk's  men  broke  the  confidence  and  power  of  the  Sauk  leader.  It  has  been 
told  many  times,  the  best  contemporaneous  accounts  being  from  the  pens  of 
Reynolds  and  Ford.  The  former  was  closely  identified  with  the  Black  Hawk 
war  ii])  to  the  time  that  General  Henry  took  the  campaign  into  his  own  hands 
and  with  the  able  assistance  of  Colonel  Dodge  defeated  the  chief  Sauk  war- 
rior at  the  "Battle  of  the  Wisconsin  Heights."  A  good  condensation  of  the 
various  accounts  of  the  engagement  is  that  published  by  Frank  E.  Stevens 
in  his  history  of  the  war.  It  reads:  "About  3  o'clock  (July  21)  the  com- 
pany of  Captain  Joseph  Dickson's  spies  reported  the  enemy  reaching  the  bluffs 
of  the  Wisconsin  River,  which  reanimated  the  troops  with,  unusual  vigor  to 
increase  their  speed  and,  if  passible,  overtake  the  enemy  before  he  crossed 
the  river.  Twice  Henry  pressed  them  and  twice  the  Indians  gave  way,  but 
the  third  time  Dickson's  scouts  or  spies  drove  them  to  the  main  body,  which 
had  reached  a  body  of  timber  sufficiently  dense  to  offer  protection  and  here 
the  whole  force  of  Indians  made  a  stand.  Dismounting,  every  tenth  man  was 
detailed  to  hold  horses,  excepting  the  regiment  of  Colonel  Fry,  which  was  made 
the  reserve  and  held  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  turning  the  flanks  of  the  whites. 

"The  Indians  opened  fire  as  the  advance  guard  of  the  whites  was  passing 
a  stretch  of  uneven  ground  through  the  high  grass  and  low  brush.  Major 
E wing's  battalion  was  at  once  formed  in  front,  where  the  Indians  poured 
their  fire  into  it  from  behind  trees.  In  a  few  moments  Henry  arrived  with 
the  main  army  and  formed  the  order  of  battle,  Colonel  Jones  being  placed  to 
the  right,  Colonel  Collins  to  the  left,  Fry  in  reserve  and  Ewing  in  front,  with 
Dodge  on  the  extreme  right.  In  this  order  Henry  ordered  the  forces  to  move. 
The  order  to  charge  the  enemy  was  splendidly  executed  by  Ewing,  Jones  and 
Collins,  routing  the  Indians,  who  retreated  to  the  right  and  concentrated  be- 
fore Dodge's  Battalion  with  the  obvious  intention  of  turning  his  flank.  Henry 
sent  Major  McConnel  to  Dodge  ordering  him  to  charge  the  enemy,  but  this 
Dodge  preferred  to  delay  until  he  received  a  reenforcement ;  whereupon  Henry 
sent  Colonel  Fry  to  his  aid,  and  together  they  charged  into  the  brush  and 
high  grass,  receiving  the  fire  of  the  whole  body  of  the  enemy. 

"Advancing  and  returning  this  fire,  Dodge  and  Fry  pursued  the  Indians 
with  bayonets,  driving  them  out  with  loss.  Retreating  rapidly,  the  enemy  fell 
back  to  the  west  and  took  up  a  new  and  stronger  position  in  the  thick  timber 
and  tall  grass  at  the  head  of  a  hollow  leading  to  the  Wisconsin  River  bottom. 
A  determined  stand  was  made,  but  Ewing,  Jones  and  Collins  dashed  upon 
them  and  drove  them  in  scattered  squads  down  into  the  Wisconsin  bottoms 
covered  with  a  swale  so  high  that  pursuit  in  the  gathering  darkness  was  im- 
possible, and  Henry,  withdrawing  his  forces,  lay  all  night  on  the  field. 

"During  the  night  a  sonorous  voice  was  heard  from  a  neighboring  hill, 
supposedly  giving  orders  to  the  enemy,  but  as  nothing  came  of  it  no  commo- 
tion or  preparation  to  renew  the  fight  followed.  It  proved  to  have  been  Neapope 
suing  for  peace  in  the  tongue  of  the  Winnebagoes,  supposing  that  the  guides 
and  interpreter  present  from  that  nation  would  understand  and  secure  a  parley, 
but  as  the  Winnebagoes  had  fled  in  the  beginning  of  the  action  his  words 
were  wasted.     Had  he  been  understood,  no  doubt  can  exist  but  Henry  would 


128  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

have  closed  the  war  then  and  there,  for  Black  Hawk  now  realized  that  he  was 
no  longer  fighting  Stillman's  command."  The  following  morning,  when  Henry 
advanced  to  the  Wisconsin,  he  found  that  Black  Hawk  and  his  following  had 
retreated  across  the  river  to  the  hills  beyond.  At  the  battle  of  Wisconsin 
Heights,  the  Sauk  leader  first  met  signal  defeat.  His  power  and  his  spirit 
were  there  broken  and  stern  fate  in  the  person  of  Henry  was  close  on  his  tracks. 
The  loss  of  the  Indians  was  sixty-eight  killed  and  many  more  wounded  while 
the  fatalities  to  Henry's  force  was  but  one  man,  with  eight  wounded. 

The  circumstances  leading  up  to  the  battle,  and  the  engagement  itself,  are 
told  in  the  "Life  of  Black  Hawk,"  ostensibly  by  the  warrior  himself,  as  fol- 
lows: "During  our  encampment  at  the  Four  Lakes  we  were  hard  put  to 
obtain  enough  to  eat  to  support  nature.  Situated  in  a  swampy,  marshy  coun- 
try (which  had  been  selected  in  consequence  of  the  great  difficulty  required 
to  gain  access  thereto),  there  was  but  little  game  of  any  sort  to  be  found — 
and  fish  were  equally  scarce.  The  great  distance  to  any  settlement  and  the 
impossibility  of  bringing  supplies  therefrom,  if  any  could  have  been  obtained, 
deterred  our  young  men  from  making  further  attempts.  We  were  forced  to 
dig  roots  and  bark  trees  to  obtain  something  to  satisfy  hunger  and  keep  us 
alive.  And,  finding  that  the  army  had  commenced  moving  and  fearing  that 
they  might  come  upon  and  surround  our  encampment,  I  concluded  to  remove 
my  women  and  children  across  the  Mississippi  that  they  might  return  to  the 
Sac  nation.  Accordingly  we  commenced  moving,  with  five  Winnebagoes  act- 
ing as  our  guides,  intending  to  descend  the  Ouisconsin. 

"Neapope,  with  a  party  of  twenty,  remained  in  our  rear  to  watch  for  the 
enemy,  whilst  we  were  proceeding  to  the  Ouisconsin  with  our  women  and  chil- 
dren. We  arrived  and  had  commenced  crossing  them  to  an  island,  when  we 
discovered  a  large  body  of  the  enemy  coming  towards  us.  We  were  now  com- 
pelled to  fight  or  sacrifice  our  wives  and  children  to  the  fury  of  the  whites. 
I  met  them  with  fifty  warriors  (having  left  the  balance  to  assist  our  women 
and  children  in  crossing)  about  a  mile  from  the  river  when  an  attack  im- 
mediately commenced.  I  was  mounted  on  a  fine  horse  and  was  pleased  to  see 
my  warriors  so  brave.  I  addressed  them  in  a  loud  voice,  telling  them  to  stand 
their  ground  and  never  yield  it  to  the  enemy.  At  this  time  I  was  on  the  rise 
of  a  hill,  where  I  wished  to  form  my  warriors  that  we  might  have  some  ad- 
vantage over  the  whites.  But  the  enemy  succeeded  in  gaining  this  point,  which 
compelled  us  to  fall  back  into  a  deep  ravine,  from  which  we  continued  to  fire 
at  them  and  they  at  us  until  it  grew  dark.  My  horse  having  been  wounded 
twice  during  this  engagement,  I  feared  from  his  loss  of  blood  that  he  would 
soon  give  out.  Finding  that  the  enemy  would  not  come  near  enough  to  re- 
ceive our  fire  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening,  and  knowing  that  our  women  and 
children  had  had  sufficient  time  to  reach  the  island  in  the  Ouisconsin,  I  ordered 
my  warriors  to  return  in  different  routes  and  meet  me  at  the  Ouisconsin. 

"In  this  skirmish,  with  fifty  braves,  I  defended  and  accomplished  my  pas- 
sage over  the  Ouisconsin  with  a  loss  of  only  six  men,  though  opposed  by  a 
host  of  mounted  militia.  I  would  not  have  fought  there,  but  to  gain  time  for 
my  women  and  children  to  cross  to  the  island.  A  warrior  will  duly  appreciate 
the  embarrassment  I  labored  under,  and  whatever  may  be  the  sentiments  of 


THE  ROCK  RIVEK  VALLEY  129 

the  white  people  in  relation  to  this  battle  my  nation,  though  fallen,  will  award 
to  me  the  reputation  of  a  great  brave  in  conducting  it." 

After  a  conference  with  his  warriors,  Black  Hawk  and  his  braves  rejoined 
their  women  and  children  on  the  island.  "Here,"  he  continues,  "some  of 
my  people  left  me  and  descended  the  Ouisconsin,  hoping  to  escape  to  the  west 
side  of  the  Mississippi  that  they  might  return  home.  I  had  no  objection  to 
their  leaving  me,  as  my  people  were  all  in  a  desperate  condition,  being  worn 
out  with  traveling  and  starving  with  hunger.  Our  only  hope  to  save  our- 
selves was  to  get  across  the  Mississippi.  But  few  of  this  party  escaped.  Un- 
fortunately for  them  a  party  of  soldiers  from  Prairie  du  Chien  was  stationed 
on  the  Ouisconsin  a  short  distance  from  its  mouth,  who  fired  upon  our  distressed 
people.  Some  were  killed,  others  drowned,  and  several  were  taken  prisoners; 
the  balance  escaped  to  the  woods  and  perished  with  hunger.  Among  this  party 
were  a  great  many  women  and  children." 

General  Henrj^'s  force  having  discovered  that  Black  Hawk  and  the  bulk 
of  his  warriors  were  headed  for  the  Mississippi,  two  days  after  the  battle 
started  to  meet  General  Atkinson,  with  the  regulars  and  the  brigades  of  Posey 
and  Alexander.  A  complete  juncture  of  the  regulars  and  the  volunteers  was 
effected  at  Helena,  a  deserted  village  on  the  Wisconsin.  By  using  the  logs 
of  the  deserted  cabins  for  rafts,  the  reunited  army  crossed  the  river  on  the 
27th  and  28th  of  July  and  the  pursuit  of  Black  Hawk's  fugitive  band  was 
renewed.  Evidences  of  their  famished  condition  were  found  in  the  trees  stripped 
of  bark  for  food,  the  carcasses  of  dead  ponies  and,  here  and  there  along  the 
trail,  the  gaunt  dead  body  of  an  Indian. 

But  the  first  contact  between  the  fleeing  Sauk  after  the  Battle  of  Wis- 
consin Heights  with  the  pursuing  army  again  under  General  Atkinson  was  not 
to  be  by  land  and  in  line  with  any  settled  plan  of  the  campaign.  The  attitude 
of  the  commander-in-chief  toward  General  Henry,  whose  insubordination  had 
resulted  in  Black  Hawk's  only  decisive  defeat,  was  evinced  in  the  disposition 
of  Henry's  men  who  were  at  first  assigned  to  the  rear  of  the  marching  column 
to  guard  the  baggage. 

SAUK   WARRIORS,  WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN   CROSS  THE  WISCONSIN 

On  the  1st  of  August,  when  it  became  evident  from  signs  along  the  trail 
that  the  Sauk  could  not  be  far  distant,  Black  Hawk  led  his  depleted  and 
famished  band  toward  the  mouth  of  the  Bad  Axe  River,  a  small  stream  which 
flows  into  the  Mississippi  nearly  opposite  the  northern  boundary  of  Iowa. 
About  two  miles  below  the  mouth,  the  Indian  leader  and  his  men,  women  and 
children,  were  preparing  to  cross  the  Mississippi  in  two  or  three  canoes  when 
the  steamer  "Warrior"  came  down  the  river.  It  had  aboard  about  a  score 
of  regulars  and  was  returning  from  Wabasha's  village  (Winona),  120  miles 
above,  to  inform  the  Sioux  chief  that  their  enemies,  the  Sauk,  were  approach- 
ing the  Mississippi  River. 

MASSACRE  NEAR  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  BAD  AXE 

On  the  way  down  Captain  Throckmorton  had  been  informed  by  a  Sioux 
that  Black  Hawk  and  his  band  were  on  the  Bad  Axe  River,  and  about  four 


130  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  August  1st  the  Indians  were  seen  making  prepara- 
tions to  cross  the  Mississippi.  As  the  "Warrior"  neared  them,  Black  Hawk, 
who  was  an  acquaintance  of  the  captain,  waved  a  small  piece  of  white  cotton 
on  a  pole  as  a  token  of  peace  and  surrender.  One  of  his  warriors  leaped  into 
the  river  and  also  started  to  bear  a  white  flag  toward  the  steamboat.  As  the 
''Warrior"  drew  nearer,  Black  Hawk  attempted  to  communicate  with  a  Win- 
nebago who  was  aboard  to  the  effect  that  the  Sauk  wished  to  give  themselves 
up.  Black  Hawk  insists  that  all  these  peaceful  overtures  were  made  in  good 
faith,  but  Captain  Throckmorton  in  his  account  of  the  incident  states  that  the 
Indians  thereby  "endeavored  to  decoy  us;  but  we  were  a  little  too  old  for 
them;  for,  instead  of  landing,  we  ordered  them  to  send  a  boat  aboard,  which 
they  declined.  After  about  fifteen  minutes  delay,  giving  them  time  to  remove 
a  few  of  their  women  and  children,  we  let  slip  a  six  pounder  loaded  with 
cannister,  followed  by  a  severe  fire  of  musketry;  and  if  ever  you  saw  straight 
blankets  you  would  have  seen  them  there.  I  fought  them  at  anchor  most  of 
the  time  and  we  were  all  very  much  exposed.  I  have  a  ball  which  came  in 
close  by  where  I  was  standing  and  passed  through  the  bulkhead  of  the  wheel- 
room.  We  fought  them  for  about  an  hour  or  more,  until  our  wood  began  to 
fail  and,  night  coming  on,  we  left  and  went  on  to  the  Prairie"  (Prairie  du 
Chien). 

During  the  night  of  August  1st,  a  few  of  the  Indians  crossed  the  Missis- 
sippi, but  Black  Hawk,  the  Prophet,  ten  warriors  and  thirty-five  squaws  and 
children  fled  toward  the  Dells  of  the  Wisconsin.  The  bulk  of  the  Sauk  forces 
was  left  behind  to  cross  the  Mississippi  as  best  they  could.  On  the  morning 
of  the  2nd,  General  Atkinson  reached  a  position  within  five  miles  of  the  Sauk 
retreat.  His  army  comprised  400  regulars  under  Colonel  Taylor  and  por- 
tions of  the  brigades  of  Henry,  Posey  and  Alexander,  numbering  some  900 
men.  The  commander  stationed  the  regulars  and  Colonel  Dodge's  rangers  in 
the  center,  the  brigades  of  Alexander  and  Posey  on  the  right  and  Henry's 
command  on  the  left.  It  seems  that  Atkinson,  Taylor's  regulars  and  all  but 
Henry's  men,  were  drawn  up  the  river  by  Indian  decoys  and  bands,  so  as  to 
detract  attention  from  the  crossing  place  of  the  main  body  of  the  Sauk.  Gen- 
eral Henry,  who  had  been  ordered  to  protect  the  rear  of  the  army  which  was 
unintentionally  pursuing  the  comparatively  small  band  led  by  Black  Hawk, 
ascertained  that  the  main  trail  of  the  Indians  was  across  the  bottom  lands  a 
short  distance  below  the  mouth  of  the  Bad  Axe  River.  The  star  general  of 
the  Black  Hawk  war  soon  found  himself  confronted  with  a  fighting  band  of 
300  savages,  a  force  nearly  equal  to  his  own.  Then  and  there  was  fought  the 
only  engagement  worthy  to  be  called  a.  battle;  and  Henry's  men  again  won  it. 
Atkinson  and  the  remainder  of  his  army  returned  to  the  battleground,  the 
Steamer  "Warrior"  arrived  from  Prairie  du  Chien  and  the  Indian  warriors, 
with  their  women  and  children,  were  driven  across  a  slough  of  the  river  to 
an  island.  Some  were  killed  by  fire,  others  were  drowned,  and  many  who  sur- 
vived the  massacre  died  soon  after  of  hunger,  exhaustion  and  wounds.  A 
few  women  and  children  were  taken  prisoners.  During  the  three  hours  of 
this  awful  carnage,  not  exceeded  in  cruel  relentlessness  by  any  savage  butchery 
of  this  or  any  other  war,  it  is  estimated  that  150  Indians  were  killed  by  fire 
from  the  troops,  and  an  equal  number  of  both  sexes  and  all  ages  drowned 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  131 

while  attempting  to  cross  the  river  or  being  driven  into  it.  About  300  Indians, 
mostly  non-combatants,  succeeded  in  crossing  the  river  in  a  pitiable  condition, 
and  nearly  one-half  exterminated  by  Wabasha,  the  Sioux  chief.  Still  others 
perished  while  endeavoring  to  reach  Keokuk's  reservation  on  the  Iowa  side 
of  the  river.  It  is  said  that  of  the  one  thousand  who  crossed  to  the  east  side 
of  the  .Mississippi  in  April,  1832,  not  more  than  150  survived  the  tragic  events 
of  the  succeeding  four  months.  At  the  battle  of  the  Bad  Axe  seventeen  Amer- 
icans were  killed  and  twelve  wounded. 

GENERAL   HENRY,   THE   HERO   OF   THE  WAR 

General  Henry,  whose  independent  movements  during  the  final  phases  of 
the  Black  Hawk  war,  incurred  the  displeasure  of  General  Atkinson  and  the 
"regulars,"  was  the  popular  hero  of  the  campaign  which  crushed  Black  Hawk 
and  his  Indian  nation,  or  rather  the  fragment  of  it  which  the  Sauk  warrior 
so  recklessly  led  into  forbidden  territory.  It  is  thought  that  the  exposures 
of  the  campaign  brought  on  disease  of  the  lungs,  from  which  he  died  at  New 
Orleans,  March  4,  1834. 

BLACK    HAWK'S    CRUSHING    DEFEAT 

Black  Hawk  himself  did  not  long  survive  his  crushing  defeat  and  the  virtual 
obliteration  of  the  Sauk  war  party  which  he  led.  Soon  after  fleeing  to  the 
Dells  of  the  Wisconsin,  both  he  and  the  Prophet  surrendered  themselves  to 
the  Winnebago,  by  whom  they  were  delivered  to  Colonel  Zachary  Taylor,  who 
was  then  in  command  at  Fort  Crawford.  The  formal  steps  which  terminated 
the  military  operations  of  the  Black  Hawk  war  and  placed  its  instigators  in 
the  keeping  of  the  United  States  authorities  are  thus  told  nearly  forty  years 
afterward  by  Robert  Anderson,  then  of  Civil  War  fame :  ' '  The  Battle  of 
Bad  Axe  having  virtually  ended  the  war,  the  troops  were  moved  back  to  Dixon's 
Ferry  and  Rock  Island,  at  which  place  I  mustered  them  out  of  the  service. 
General  Scott  was  sent  out  to  supersede  General  Atkinson  and  take  command 
of  the  expedition,  but  he  did  not  reach  the  theater  of  operations  before  the 
close  of  the  war.  He  got  down  as  far  as  Galena  and  from  there  he  went  to 
Fort  Armstrong,  where  he  established  his  headquarters.  From  Dixon's  Ferry 
I  was  sent  by  General  Atkinson  with  dispatches  for  General  Scott  at  Rock 
Island  and  to  report  to  him  for  duty.  He  at  once  assigned  me  to  duty,  plac- 
ing me  in  charge  of  the  Indian  prisoners.  *  *  *  General  Scott  having 
received  information  from  Colonel  Taylor  of  the  capture  of  Black  Hawk  and 
a  few  of  his  chiefs  detailed  me  with  a  guard  to  go  to  Fort  Crawford  for  them 
and  to  bring  them  to  Fort  Armstrong.  We  took  for  that  purpose  the  steam- 
boat "Warrior,"  and  Captain  Throckmorton.  We  left  Rock  Island  early  in  the 
day  and  before  night  there  were  indications  of  cholera  among  the  soldiers 
on  board  the  boat.  There  was  no  surgeon  aboard  and  I  did  the  best  I  could 
for  them.  When  we  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  Fever  River  I  had  the  boat  tied 
up  and  took  a  skiff  and  Avent  up  to  Galena  in  search  of  a  doctor.  I  there 
found  Dr.  Addison  Phileo,  who  had  been  with  us  in  the  campaign,  and  he 
cheerfully  returned  with  me  to  the  boat  and  took  charge  of  my  sick.    We  then 

Vol.  1—9 


132  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

continued  our  trip  to  Fort  Crawford,  where  I  delivered  my  orders  to  Colonel 
Taylor.  By  this  time  I  had  the  cholera  myself  and  was  scarcely  fit  for  duty. 
Colonel  Taylor  therefore  assigned  to  me  for  my  assistance  in  returning  with 
the  Indians  to  Fort  Armstrong,  Lieutenant  Jefferson  Davis.  We  took  with 
us  Black  Hawk,  his  two  sons,  the  Prophet  and  some  other  chiefs.  On  reach- 
ing Fort  Armstrong  the  cholera  was  raging  so  violently  in  camp  that  General 
Scott  ordered  the  steamer  to  go  immediately  to  Jefferson  Barracks.  I  then 
turned  my  prisoners  over  to  General  Atkinson,  who  had  resumed  command  of 
the  post." 

TREATIES  GROWING  OUT   OF   THE  WAR 

The  war  ended,  Governor  Reynolds  and  General  Scott  made  arrangements 
to  hold  treaties  at  Rock  Island  and  secure  pledges  of  friendship  and  land 
cessions  from  the  Winnebago  and  the  Sauk  and  Foxes.  While  these  matters 
were  in  process  of  adjustment  the  cholera  appeared  in  virulent  form  in  the 
Rock  Island  region.  While  the  disease  raged  at  Fort  Armstrong  and  among 
the  Indians  of  the  locality,  the  General  and  the  Governor  were  obliged  to  dis- 
perse the  Indians,  while  General  Scott  camped  his  army  of  some  1,500  men 
around  and  on  Rock  Island  some  distance  from  the  fort.  After  waiting  more 
than  a  month  for  the  cholera  to  subside,  two  treaties  were  concluded. 

That  of  September  15,  1832,  disposed  of  all  the  lands  claimed  by  the  Winne- 
bago in  Illinois  and  the  area  south  of  the  Wisconsin  River  and  west  of  Green 
Bay.  The  consideration  comprised  a  large  reservation  in  the  West,  an  annuity 
of  $10,000  for  seven  years  and  a  free  school  for  all  their  children  for  twenty 
years,  as  well  as  blacksmith  shops,  agricultural  implements  with  half  a  dozen 
agriculturists  to  instruct  them  in  their  use,  and  medical  care  and  tobacco  rations 
on  their  journey  to  the  western  reservation. 

While  this  treaty  was  pending,  the  remnants  of  the  band  of  Black  Hawk 
arrived  at  Rock  Island,  destitute,  hungry  and  abjectly  miserable.  Governor 
Reynolds  expresses  himself  as  much  gratified  with  the  sympathy  displayed  by 
General  Scott  for  such  suffering,  and  both  exerted  themselves  to  relieve  their 
wants. 

On  the  21st  of  September  a  treaty  was  made  with  the  Sauk  and  Fox  Indians 
by  which  they  ceded  to  the  United  States  the  country  which  a  few  years  after- 
ward became  the  State  of  Iowa.  In  consideration  of  this  cession  the  Govern- 
ment, through  its  commissioners,  General  Scott  and  Governor  Reynolds,  agreed 
upon  an  annuity  of  $20,000  for  thirty  years,  with  additional  shops  and  tools; 
also  forty  kegs  of  tobacco  and  forty  barrels  of  salt  for  the  same  period.  The 
United  States  was  to  pay  Farnham  and  Davenport,  the  Indian  traders  at  Rock 
Island,  $40,000,  without  interest,  for  goods  furnished  said  tribes  up  to  July 
10,  1831,  and  to  grant  two  sections  of  land — one  opposite  Rock  Island  and  the 
other  at  the  head  of  the  first  rapids  above — to  Antoine  LeClaire,  interpreter 
and  "part  Indian."  Black  Hawk  and  his  two  sons;  the  Prophet,  his  brother 
and  two  sons,  and  four  chiefs,  were  to  be  held  as  hostages  for  the  future  good 
conduct  of  the  late  hostile  bands.  It  was  stipulated  that  there  never  should 
be  allowed  "in  the  confederate  Sac  and  Fox  nation  any  separate  band  or 
village  under  any   chief  or  warrior   of  the   late  hostile  bands;  but   that  the 


THE  HOCK  RIVEB  VAliLEY  133 

remnant  of  the  said  hostile  bands  shall  be  divided  among  the  neutral  bands 
of  the  said  tribes — the  Sacs  among  the  Sacs  and  the  Foxes  among  the  Foxes." 
Principally  for  the  use  of  the  "women  and  children,  whose  husbands,  fathers 
and  brothers  were  killed  in  the  war,  the  Government  agreed  to  donate  35  beef 
cattle,  \'2  bushels  of  salt,  30  barrels  of  pork  and  ."0  barrels  of  flour,  as  well 
as  6,000  bushels  of  corn — all  to  be  delivered  in  the  following  month  of  April 
at  the  mouth  of  the  lower  Iowa.  Another  article  reads:  "At  the  request 
of  the  said  confederated  tribes,  it  is  agreed  that  a  suitable  present  shall  be 
made  to  them  on  their  pointing  out  to  any  United  States  agent  authorized 
for  the  purpose  the  position  or  positions  of  one  or  more  mines  supposed  by  the 
said  tribes  to  be  of  a  metal  more  valuable  than  lead  or  iron." 

Keokuk  headed  the  delegation  of  thirty-three  chiefs  of  the  Sauk  and  Foxes, 
who  made  their  marks  to  validate  the  treaty  which  finally  quieted  the  bitter 
rivalry  of  He  Who  Has  Been  Everywhere  (Keokuk)  and  the  Black  Hawk, 
the  crushed  Sauk  warrior.  The  acknowledged  chief  of  the  reunited  nation 
refused  the  proffer  of  schools  and  teachers  for  the  children  of  his  race;  as  his 
people  "were  made  for  Indians  and  he  had  always  seen  that  it  made  Indians 
worse  to  educate  them." 

BLACK    HAWK   IN   KEEPING    OF    KEOKUK 

Although  Black  Hawk  and  his  fellow  prisoners  were  in  the  special  keeping 
of  Keokuk,  the  wise  and  diplomatic  chief  of  the  Indian  nation  treated  the 
fallen  warrior  with  the  greatest  consideration.  Early  in  the  spring  of  1833, 
Keokuk  brought  to  Black  Hawk  his  wife  and  daughter,  Colonel  Davenport, 
Antoine  LeClaire  and  many  prominent  Sauk  and  Foxes  to  make  him  a  friendly 
visit  and  lighten  his  depressed  spirits.  The  chief  also  endeavored  to  obtain  the 
old  warrior's  release,  but  the  War  Department  thought  best  to  first  present 
Black  Hawk  and  the  Prophet  to  President  Jackson  at  Washington,  under  the 
conduct  of  an  army  officer,  and  impress  the  ringleaders  of  the  war  with  the 
power  and  the  resources  of  the  nation  which  they  had  defied.  All  his  speeches 
show  that  he  was  duly  impressed.  Black  Hawk,  the  Prophet  and  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Indian  delegation,  were  confined  in  Fortress  Monroe  for  several 
days,  by  order  of  the  President,  visited  the  Norfolk  Navy  Yard,  and  on  June 
6th  reached  Baltimore.  There  Black  Hawk  again  met  President  Jackson,  who 
told  him  plainly  why  he  and  his  Indians  were  making  the  tour.  "Major 
(John)  Garland,  who  is  with  yon,"  said  the  President,  "will  conduct  you 
through  some  of  our  towns.  You  will  see  the  strength  of  the  white  people. 
You  will  see  that  our  young  men  are  as  numerous  as  the  leaves  in  the  woods. 
What  can  you  do  against  us?  You  may  kill  a  few  women  and  children,  but 
such  a  force  would  soon  be  sent  against  you  as  would  destroy  your  whole 
tribe.  Let  the  red  men  hunt  and  take  care  of  their  families;  but  I  hope  they 
will  not  again  raise  their  hands  against  their  white  brethren.  We  do  not  wish 
to  injure  you.  We  desire  your  prosperity  and  improvement;  but  if  you  again 
plunge  your  knives  into  the  breasts  of  our  people,  I  shall  send  a  force  which 
will  severely  punish  you  for  all  yonr  cruelties.  When  you  go  back,  listen  to 
the  counsels  of  Keokuk  and  other  friendly  chiefs.     Bury  the  tomahawk  and 


134  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

live  in  peace  with  the  frontiers.  And  I  pray  the  Great  Spirit  to  give  you 
a  smooth  path  and  a  fair  sky  to  return." 

An  impressive  military  parade  at  Philadelphia,  a  balloon  ascension  at  New 
York  City  and  an  address  of  counsel  and  welcome  by  an  aged  Seneca  chief 
at  Buffalo,  with  dense  and  bewildering  crowds  surging  around  him,  filled  Black 
Hawk  with  wonder  and  awe.  The  remainder  of  the  route  was  by  way  of 
Detroit  and  Green  Bay,  up  the  Fox  River  and  down  the  Wisconsin  to  Fort 
Armstrong,  which  was  reached  on  the  1st  of  August.  There  Black  Hawk 
and  the  returned  captives  were  welcomed  by  the  assembled  Sauk  and  Foxes, 
who  had  come  over  from  the  west  side  of  the  river  in  canoes  floating  the  Amer- 
ican flag  and  headed  by  Keokuk.  After  smoking  the  pipe  of  peace,  they  re- 
turned to  the  west  bank  to  await  the  grand  council  set  for  the  following  day, 
when  Black  Hawk  was  to  be  taken  to  his  new  home. 

About  10  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  August  2,  1833,  Keokuk,  with  100  of 
his  followers  crossed  the  river  to  Fort  Armstrong,  where  a  room  had  been 
prepared  for  the  council,  and  Black  Hawk  was  escorted  to  a  seat  opposite  the 
acknowledged  chief  of  his  nation.  Major  Garland  opened  the  council  with 
a  friendly  speech,  and  read  the  address  of  President  Jackson  to  Black  Hawk 
which  was  delivered  in  Baltimore.  Keokuk,  therein  designated  as  the  future 
custodian  of  Black  Hawk,  followed  in  the  same  propitiatory  spirit,  but  Major 
Garland  emphasized  the  fact  that  President  Jackson  would  hereafter  acknowl- 
edge Keokuk  as  the  principal  chief  of  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  and  that  he  wished 
Black  Hawk  to  listen  and  conform  to  the  counsels  of  the  former.  The  warrior 
spirit  then  burst  the  bounds  of  discretion  in  the  mind  of  the  fallen  Sauk  leader 
and  he  cried  that  he  would  not  conform  to  the  counsels  of  anyone ;  that  no 
one  should  govern  him,  and  concluded  with:  "What  I  said  to  our  Great 
Father  at  Washington,  I  say  again.  I  will  always  listen  to  him."  And  Pres- 
sident  Jackson  had  specially  commanded  him  to  "listen  to  the  counsels  of 
Keokuk."  But  Black  Hawk's  fit  of  anger  passed  and,  after  being  kindly 
advised  and  excused  by  Keokuk,  he  accepted  the  inevitable.  There  was  a 
more  informal  council  in  the  evening  at  which  the  pipe  of  peace  was  again 
smoked  and  amity  also  pledged  in  a  round  of  champagne. 

"Early  next  morning,"  says  Stevens,  "Black  Hawk  went  to  his  family 
and  the  Sacs  hailed  his  return  with  joy.  Though  shorn  of  power,  no  allusions 
were  made  to  his  new  conditions;  everywhere  his  old  friends,  who  never  be- 
fore sympathized  with  him,  now  exercised  every  effort  to  make  his  declining 
years  pleasant.  He  settled  quietly  down  and  for  some  time  made  his  home 
near  Keokuk's  village  on  Iowa  River." 

THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  SAUK  WARRIOR 

In  the  autumn  of  1837  Black  Hawk  made  another  tour  of  eastern  cities, 
in  company  with  a  delegation  of  Sauk  and  Foxes  headed  by  Keokuk.  It  is 
intimated  that  he  was  taken  by  the  chief  as  a  guarantee  that  peace  would  be 
maintained  in  the  Indian  nation  west  of  the  Mississippi.  After  his  return, 
he  and  his  family  spent  the  winter  on  a  small  stream  known  as  Devil's  Creek, 
in  Lee  County,  Iowa.  In  the  spring  of  1838,  the  Black  Hawk  family,  which 
comprised  the  parents,  two  sons  and  daughter,  moved  to  a  locality  near  the 


BLACK  HAWK  IN  CIVILIAN  ATTIEE 


136 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


north  bank  of  the  Des  Moines  River  and  the  site  of  the  famous  battle  at 
which  the  Sauk  had  crushed  the  lowas  many  years  before.  His  cabin  stood 
about  one  hundred  feet  from  the  river,  a  few  rods  from  that  of  the  Indian 
agent.  Close  by  flowed  the  clear  waters  of  what  was  known  as  Black  Hawk's 
Spring,  and  there  was  the  favorite  dreaming  place  of  the  old  warrior  during 
his  last  days  in  the  autumn  of  1838.  He  died  in  October  of  that  year  on  Ration 
day,  when  nearly  every  chief  of  the  nation  was  absent  at  Fort  Armstrong, 
but  was  attended  by  his  faithful  wife,  Singing  Bird.  He  was  buried  about 
half  a  mile  from  his  cabin  home  and  his  body  was  inclosed  in  a  sodded  sepulchre 
built  of  puncheons  and  boards.  His  body  was  placed  in  a  sitting  posture, 
supported  by  a  wooden  slab,  and  was  garbed  in  a  suit  of  military  clothes  given 
to  him  by  President  Jackson  while  he  was  in  Washington.  On  his  head  was 
a  military  cap  elaborately  ornamented  with  feathers.  At  his  left  side  was 
placed  a  cane  given  him  by  Henry  Clay,  with  his  right  hand  resting  on  it. 
There  were  also  placed  in  the  grave  two  swords,  a  quantity  of  wampum,  an 
extra  pair  of  moccasins  and  other  articles  of  Indian  costume,  with  a  supply 
of  provisions  sufficient  to  last  him  three  days  on  his  journey  to  the  spirit  land. 
Inclosing  the  sodded  tomb  was  a  picket  fence  about  a  dozen  feet  high.  During 
the  year  after  Black  Hawk's  death  and  entombment,  the  body  was  stolen  by 
a  physician  and  sent  to  St.  Louis  and  the  bones  articulated.  The  skeleton 
was  traced  by  the  sons  of  Black  Hawk,  deposited  in  the  museum  of  the  Bur- 
lington Geological  and  Historical  Society  and  finally  consumed  by  fire.  Fate 
even  denied  the  bones  of  Black  Hawk  a  resting  place,  and  their  return  to  the 
fiery  element  seemed  in  keeping  with  his  fierce  and  restless  life. 


BLACK  HAWK'S  BATTLE  FIELD  ON  CAMPBELL'S  ISLAND   (1814) 


CHAPTER  VI 
FORERIXXERS  OF  STABILITY 

PIONEERS      OF      PERMANENT      OCCUPANCY PIERRE      LAPORTE LASALLIER — STEPHEN 

MACK — THIEBAULT,  OR  TII1EBEAU — BLACK    HAWK'S   VILLAGE  AND  WATCH  TOWER 

GEORGE    DAVENPORT — THE    CLARKS,    THE    FIRST    WHITES    ON   THE    MAINLAND — 

DAVENPORT   VS.    CLARK A   TRAGICALLY   LONELY    WOMAN — JUDGE   J.    W.    SPENCER 

— DAVENPORT   AND   HIS   TRADE TRAILS   FOR   THE   LEAD   REGIONS — RIVAL    PIONEER 

IX  X  KEEPERS — FERRIES  AT  THE  ROCK  RIVER  CROSSINGS — ISAAC  CHAMBERS  AND 
JOHN  ANKNEY — ENTER  THE  SUBSTANTIAL  JOHN  DIXON — THE  FAMOUS  DIXON 
HOME} — SCOTT  VISITS  FATHER  DIXON. 

Notwithstanding  the  menace  of  Black  Hawk  and  his  band  to  the  settle- 
ment of  whites  in  the  Rock  River  Valley,  Indian  traders  ventured  into  this 
frontier  region  of  the  West.  The  names  of  a  few  of  them  have  sifted  down 
to  the  present.  Some  left  their  cabins  which  they  occupied  in  various  degrees 
of  permanency,  and  came  in  contact  with  travelers  and  expeditions.  Others 
left  descendants,  who  were  community  builders.  The  pioneers  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  valley,  who  blazed  the  way  for  permanent  occupancy,  were  friends 
of  the  Indians  whom  they  found  as  claimants  of  the  soil  and  sometimes  as- 
Mimed  more  intimate  relations  with  them,  as  a  matter  both  of  business  policy 
and  personal  safety;  ofttimes  such  marital  relations  were  accompanied  by  ab- 
solute faithfulness  and  deep  affection.  In  the  lower  valley,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Fort  Armstrong,  such  settled  life,  as  was  illustrated  by  the  Daven- 
ports, was  essentially  Anglo-Saxon  in  its  nature. 

PIERRE   LAPORTE 

Pierre  LaPorte,  LaSallier  and  Stephen  Mack  were  the  fur  traders  whose 
personalities  and  travels  are  recorded,  with  more  or  less  distinctness,  in  the 
records  of  the  upper  Rock  River  Valley  which  fall  within  the  period  con- 
cluded by  the  Black  Hawk  war.  As  LaPorte  was  the  great-grandfather  of 
Frank  E.  Stevens,  the  newspaper  man  and  one  of  the  editors  of  this  work,  it 
is  interesting  to  know  what  the  modern  writer  has  to  say  of  his  widely  traveled 
forebear  in  those  primitive  times  of  the  Rock  River  Valley.  "Pierre  LaPorte, 
a  Frenchman  born  at  what  was  old  Fort  Frontenac,  in  Canada,  worked  for 
the  old  American  Fur  Company  for  a  great  many  years.  Beginning  with 
the  nineteenth  century  and  for  a  period  before  that  time,  he  had  as  his  ter- 
ritory Rock  River  running  from  a  point  just  above  where  Janesville  is  now 
located.  The  great  double  bend  about  half  way  up  the  Ouisconsin  line  was 
one  of  the  camping  spots  or  trading  stations.  The  mouth  of  the  Rock  River 
was    his    down-stream    terminal.     *     *     *     My    mother    distinctly    remembers 

137 


138  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

(written  in  1909)  the  home-coming  trips  of  the  old  gentleman,  and  also  the 
amount  of  baggage  he  was  compelled  to  carry — 87  pounds.  When  he  had  a 
season's  purchase,  he  pushed  through  to  what  is  now  Chicago,  skirted  the  Lakes 
and  delivered  the  load  at  some  point  on  the  Saint  Lawrence,  I  believe,  though 
upon  that  point  I  am  not  certain." 

"With  the  exception  of  a  few  trips  made  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,"  con- 
tinues Mr.  Stevens,  "Pierre  LaPorte  covered  this  Rock  River  territory  from 
the  year  1780  to  the  year  1810.  Usually,  he  sold  his  furs  each  spring  time 
at  the  point  now  called  St.  Joseph,  Michigan,  and  the  point  called  Chicago, 
Illinois.  On  a  few  occasions  he  trapped  up-stream  along  Rock  River,  and  at 
the  end  of  such  expeditions  he  sold  his  cargo  of  skins  at  Green  Bay.  This 
old  Frenchman  died  at  his  home  in  Fort  Frontenac,  now  Kingston,  Ontario, 
about  the  year  1830.  Of  his  descendants  living  in  and  about  Dixon  (in  1914) 
may  be  included  Frank  E.  Stevens,  Mrs.  William  II.  Edwards,  State's  Attorney 
Harry  Edwards,  and  the  LaPortes,  the  Herricks  and  the  Nisbets,  of  Paw  Paw, 
Lee  County. 

"LaPorte  was  but  one  of  the  myriad  Frenchmen  who  blazed  the  way  for 
the  civilization  which  followed  so  rapidly.  Like  most  of  the  Frenchmen,  this 
one  found  no  trouble  at  all  in  dealing  amicably  with  the  Indians.  They  were 
hospitable  and  honorable  in  their  dealings  and  they  were  remarkably  true  in 
all  their  friendships.  The  Indians  who  occupied  the  Rock  River  country,  prin- 
cipally Winnebagoes,  were  like  Indians  elsewhere ;  treated  fairly,  they  ever 
were  found  to  be  firm  in  their  attachments,  civil  in  their  conduct  and  honor- 
able in  their  business  transactions." 

LASALLIER 

LaSallier,  another  Frenchman,  seems  to  have  been  more  marked  as  a  guide 
than  a  trapper  and  his  cabin  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ogee's,  or  Dixon's 
Ferry.  He  is  said  to  have  married  a  Pottawatomie  Indian  and  the  weight  of 
evidence  is  that  their  daughter  was  the  wife  of  Joseph  Ogee,  the  drunken 
ferryman,  half  French  and  half  Indian,  who  preceded  John  Dixon,  the  very 
temperate  and  moral  citizen  from  New  York,  in  his  transportation  duties.  Little 
definite  is  known  of  LaSallier  and  there  is  some  doubt  whether  Mrs.  Joseph 
Ogee  was  his  daughter ;  and  if  the  old  French  guide  were  living  it  is  doubtful 
whether  he  would  ever  take  the  pains  to  establish  the  fact. 

STEPHEN    MACK 

Stephen  Mack,  the  founder  of  Macktown,  the  Rockton  (Winnebago  County) 
of  today,  has  been  called  the  first  permanent  citizen  of  the  Rock  River  Valley. 
The  family  was  of  good  Vermont  stock.  The  father  and  son  (both  Stephen) 
served  in  the  Continental  army  before  moving  West.  Stephen  Mack,  Sr.,  who 
had  been  commissioned  a  colonel  in  the  Vermont  militia  served  in  the  War  of 
1812,  witnessed  Hull's  humiliating  surrender  at  Detroit,  where  he  had  settled, 
was  a  prominent  citizen  of  that  place  and  afterward  became  the  founder  of  the 
City  of  Pontiac,  Michigan.    There  he  died  in  1826. 

Stephen  Mack,  Jr.,  came  to  Rock  River  about  1822.  He  had  joined  a  gov- 
ernment expedition  bound  for  Green  Bay,  which  was  then  the  great  fur  market 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  139 

of  the  West.  As  his  father  was  one  of  the  leading  merchants  and  fur  dealers 
of  Detroit  and  the  West,  the  younger  man,  after  his  visit  to  Green  Bay  resolved 
to  found  a  trading  post  of  his  own.  To  this  end  he  was  directed  to  the  Rock 
River  country  and,  mounting  a  pony,  started  across  Southeastern  Wisconsin 
for  the  head  of  the  noble  valley,  in  the  pioneer  history  of  which  he  was  to  be 
a  central  figure.  In  due  time,  he  reached  the  present  site  of  Janesville  and 
soon  afterward  the  Turtle  village  of  the  Winnebago.  As  a  favorable  site  for 
his  proposed  trading  post,  the  Indians  directed  him  to  Bird's  Grove,  about  two 
miles  east  of  the  Rockton  of  today.  In  seeking  that  locality,  however,  he  took 
the  wrong  trail,  passed  the  Grove  and  continued  his  journey  until  he  reached 
a  Pottawatomie  village  in  what  is  now  Lee  County,  at  or  near  Grand  Detour. 
Here  Mack  rested  and  set  up  his  trading  post.  Licenses  from  the  Government 
authorizing  him  to  conduct  this  business  of  barter  and  trade  were  issued  to  him 
in  1823,  1824  and  1826.  During  the  two  or  three  years  of  his  stay  in  the  Grand 
Detour  region  his  usual  procedure  was  to  load  his  furs  on  the  backs  of  Indian 
ponies  and  start  for  Chicago.  There,  the  trader  sold  them  to  John  Kinzie  of 
Chicago,  Solomon  Juneau  of  Milwaukee  and  others,  stocked  up  with  merchandise 
and  then  trudged  back  to  the  Pottawatomie  village  and  his  post. 

Several  causes  worked  harm  to  the  success  of  Mack  as  a  trader.  He  refused 
to  sell  either  firearms  or  liquor  to  the  Indians  among  whom  he  resided.  The 
Pottawatomi  were  notorious  for  their  love  of  fire  water  and  this  deprivation 
of  itself  was  enough  to  arouse  their  ill-will.  Unlike  most  of  the  other  inde- 
pendent traders,  at  first  he  had  shown  no  inclination  to  intermarry  with  their 
women,  and  it  was  even  charged  that  he  used  his  influence  to  benefit  other 
traders  rather  than  for  the  good  of  the  Indians.  Altogether,  the  opposition 
raised  against  him  had  become  so  bitter  that  it  was  said  his  death  had  been 
decreed.  The  story  runs  that  a  daughter  of  the  chief,  Hononegah  by  name,  had 
fallen  in  love  with  the  white  trader  and  warned  him  of  the  plot  against  his 
life.  Mack  fled  to  Chicago,  pursued  by  some  of  his  enemies,  and  the  pending 
differences  were  so  adjusted  as  to  enable  him  to  return  to  his  home  post.  Al- 
though assurances  were  given  for  his  personal  safety,  it  is  said  that  a  subsequent 
attempt  made  upon  his  life  was  frustrated  by  his  Indian  sweetheart  who  hid 
him  in  an  empty  barrel,  while  his  lodge  was  surrounded  by  his  would-be  mur- 
derers. Moved  by  such  devotion,  and  perhaps  also  to  quiet  the  suspicions  of 
his  enemies  and  ensure  his  personal  safety,  Mack  married  his  brave  and  devoted 
Pottawatomie  woman  and  was  adopted  into  the  tribe.  But  even  these  arrange- 
ments did  not  cement  lasting  friendship  between  the  Indians  and  the  New 
England  man. 

Mack's  last  trip  to  Chicago  was  made  with  three  ponies.  The  season  had 
been  unusually  successful  and  he  started  on  his  return  trip  with  more  goods 
than  he  had  ever  before  carried.  The  Indians  considered  this  a  propitious  occa- 
sion to  ambush  him,  kill  him  and  seize  the  plunder.  But  the  alert  Hononegah 
again  thwarted  the  plot  by  stealing  from  the  Pottawatomie  camp,  and  meeting 
her  husband  on  the  road  to  the  village.  Together  they  turned  from  the  Grand 
Detour  trail  and  made  their  way  to  the  Winnebago  village  in  Bird's  Grove, 
Mack's  original  destination.  He  there  opened  another  trading  post.  In  June, 
1832,  when  Black  Hawk's  fortunes  were  at  their  best  and  the  new  American 
army  was  just  about  to  push  up  the  valley  in  earnest,  the  Sauk  warrior  and 


140  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

one  of  his  bands  paid  Bird's  Grove  a  visit.  In  alarm,  Mack  abandoned  his 
post  and  hid  on  the  island  in  the  river,  while  a  delegation  of  Winnebago  enter- 
tained Black  Hawk  and  his  men. 

Stephen  Mack  continued  in  the  fur  trade  at  Bird's  Grove  until  the  autumn 
of  1835,  when  he  settled  on  the  bluff  at  the  mouth  of  the  Pecatonica  River,  where 
in  1839  he  erected  a  large  frame  residence  and  within  the  next  decade  was  the 
central  figure  in  the  founding  of  Macktown.  ■  He  built  a  spacious  general  store 
and,  with  his  cousin,  Merrill  E.  Mack,  conducted  a  general  mercantile  busi- 
ness. The  founder  of  Macktown  also  built  a  schoolhouse,  and  in  1843  threw 
the  first  draw  bridge  across  Rock  River  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  In  Mack's  day 
there  was  some  steamboat  traffic  on  that  stream.  He  also  served  his  people  in 
civil  matters.  For  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  and 
was  one  of  the  county  judges  at  the  time  of  his  death  on  April  10,  1850. 

The  late  Charles  A.  Church  in  his  "History  of  Winnebago  County"  had 
this  to  say  of  the  domestic  affairs  of  Stephen  Mack:  "Mack  had  taken  Ho- 
nonegah  to  be  his  wife  under  the  Indian  form  of  marriage.  In  order  to  fully 
protect  the  title  of  his  children  to  his  estate,  he  and  his  wife  were  remarried 
September  14,  1840,  by  William  Hulin,  a  justice  of  the  peace.  This  action, 
however,  was  probably  unnecessary.  It  is  a  principle  in  international  law  that 
a  marriage  is  recognized  as  legal  whenever  it  is  held  to  be  such  in  the  country 
in  which  it  was  solemnized.  This  principle  would  be  applied  to  the  marriage 
rite  among  Indians  and  similar  races.  On  the  4th  of  April,  1840,  Mack  exe- 
cuted his  will.  By  this  will  he  divided  his  property  equally  among  his  wife 
and  eight  children.  Hononegah  died  in  1847.  She  was  the  mother  of  eleven 
children,  two  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  Louisa  and  Mary  were  students  at  Rock- 
ford  Seminary  for  a  time,  but  their  free  Indian  nature  could  not  long  endure 
such  restraint.  Louisa  and  her  husband,  according  to  latest  information,  were 
residing  in  Chippewa  County,  Wisconsin.  Caroline,  the  youngest,  was  a  babe 
when  her  mother  died. 

"In  1848  Mack  married  Mrs.  Daniels  of  Harrison.  The  ceremony  was  per- 
formed at  Beloit.  His  subsequent  domestic  life  was  not  as  happy  as  it  had  been 
with  Hononegah.  On  February  14,  1849,  Mack  executed  a  codicil  to  his  will. 
Since  the  date  of  the  former  instrument  changes  had  occurred  in  his  family. 
Three  children  had  been  born,  one  child  and  Hononegah  had  died,  and  he  had 
remarried.    The  codicil  equally  divided  the  estate  among  his  wife  and  children. 

"Stephen  Mack  died  very  suddenly  April  10,  1850.  At  the  time  of  his  death 
he  owned  land  in  several  adjoining  sections  which  aggregated  about  1,000  acres. 
He  was  buried  on  his  farm  beside  his  Indian  wife.  Thirty  years  later,  May 
19,  1880,  their  remains  were  removed  and  buried  in  the  Phillips  cemetery  near 
Harrison. 

"Many  reasons  have  been  given  why  this  educated  gentleman  of  New  Eng- 
land should  have  sought  a  life  on  the  frontier  and  married  a  woman  of  a 
savage  race.  It  is  said  death  claimed  the  idol  of  his  first  love.  Others  believe 
an  insidious  appetite  drove  him  to  this  western  wilderness.  It  may  have  been 
a  keen  foresight  by  which  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  marvelous  development  of 
the  West.     Whatever  the  motive,  he  kept  his  secret  until   he  passed  beyond 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  HI 

the  judgment  of  men.  His  career  was:  strange  and  romantic.  lie  is  remembered 
;is  dignified  in  bearing,  genial  and  courteous,  a  kind  husband  and  father,  a  true 
friend  and  an  honest  man." 

.Mack  was  a  cousin  of  Joseph  Smith,  the  Mormon  prophet,  and  both  his  sis- 
ter and  mother  spent  their  last  years  as  members  of  that  faith  in  Utah.  His 
last  child  by  his  faithful  and  congenial  Indian  wife,  Caroline,  was  well  educated 
by  her  uncle  and  moved  in  the  cultured  circles  of  Pontiae,  Michigan — the  city 
founded  by  her  grandfather.  She  became  Mrs.  Carrie  Mack  Newberry  and 
largely  through  her  many  of  the  facts  presented  in  this  sketch  ai*e  collated. 

THIEBAULT,    OR   THIEBEAU 

The  French  trader,  Thiebault,  or  Thiebeau,  who  established  his  post  at  the 
Winnebago  Indian  village  known  as  The  Turtle,  a  few  miles  up  the  Rock  River 
Valley  from  Bird's  Grove,  was  a  far  different  type  of  a  man  than  Stephen 
Mack.  About  the  time  that  Mack  located  in  the  Grand  Detour  region,  Thiebault, 
a  Green  Bay  trader,  had  worked  his  way  up  the  Fox  River  Valley  of  Wiscon- 
sin and  down  the  Rock  River,  past  several  Winnebago  villages,  until  he  reached 
tlic  large  settlement  planted  on  the  present  site  of  Beloit.  When  first  met  by 
travelers  at  that  locality  in  1836,  he  stated  that  he  had  been  trading  at  the 
Turtle  village  for  about  a  dozen  years.  Thiebault  was  remarkably  intelligent, 
spoke  with  fluency  English,  French  and  three  Indian  languages,  and  his  services 
as  an  interpreter  were  therefore  in  large  demand.  At  The  Turtle,  he  was  living 
with  two  squaw  wives,  one  an  Indian  of  middle  age  and  the  other  a  comely 
half-breed  of  eighteen,  a  fair  blonde  and  the  mother  of  a  young  babe.  In  his 
family  was  also  a  youth  of  fourteen  by  a  deceased  wife.  Through  his  mar- 
riages with  native  women  and  his  skill  as  a  linguist,  Thiebault  was  high  in  the 
favor  of  the  Winnebago  and  they  allowed  him  to  claim  land  for  "three  looks" 
in  every  direction  from  his  cabin.  A  "look,"  this  remarkable  and  elastic  unit 
of  land  measure,  was  defined  as  all  the  land  which  could  be  seen  between  a  given 
standpoint  and  the  farthest  individual  range  of  vision.  As  that  range  was  as 
varied  as  the  eyesight  of  the  individual  land-viewers,  a  "look"  did  not  mean 
much  to  the  vocabulary  of  the  white  surveyor.  As  Thiebault  was  a  woodsman, 
probably  of  keen  and  long  vision,  he  could  claim  a  splendid  estate  looking  in  all 
directions  from  the  heights  of  the  community  we  now  call  Beloit. 

The  next  report  concerning  the  French  trader,  so  land-poor,  is  to  the  effect 
that  his  reputation  as  an  interpreter  drew  him  from  his  post  at  the  Turtle 
village  and  caused  him  to  settle  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Koshkonong,  at  a  place 
afterward  called  Thiebault 's  Point.  In  the  winter  of  1837-38  he  disappeared 
from  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  it  is  surmised  that  he  was  murdered  by  his 
son  and  one  of  his  wives.  There  are  several  stories  current  to  account  for  his 
taking-off,  and  the  probable  disappearance  of  his  body  through  a  hole  in  the 
ice.  It  is  said  that  he  was  very  brutal  when  in  his  cups,  which  was  his  frequent 
state.  Another  tale  was  that  he  had  decided  upon  adopting  the  settled  and 
peaceful  life  of  a  farmer,  but  that  his  Indian  relatives  were  equally  deter- 
mined to  migrate  to  their  western  reservation  beyond  the  Mississippi.  At  all 
events,  soon  after  his  disappearance  his  son  and  one  of  his  squaws  left  the  region 


142  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

of  Lake  Koshkonong  for  the  West;  and  that  act  concludes  the  record  of  Thie- 
bault,  the  French  trader,  in  the  upper  valley  of  the  Rock  River. 

BLACK    HAWK'S    VILLAGE    AND    WATCH    TOWER 

The  lower  portion  of  the  valley  where  it  opens  out  into  the  Mississippi, 
with  its  islands  and  high  bluffs,  is  still  a  country  of  magnificent  distances.  It 
is  no  wonder  that  the  red  man  clung  to  it  so  tenaciously  and  left  it  with  regret 
and  rebellion.  The  United  States  acquired  title  to  the  largest  of  these  tracts 
of  land  near  the  mouth  of  Rock  River,  known  as  Rocky  Island,  through  the 
treaty  of  1804.  But  the  island  was  not  occupied  by  white  men  and  the  Indians 
frequented  it  as  one  of  their  favorite  hunting  and  fishing  grounds  until  the 
outbreak  of  the  War  of  1812.  As  a  result  of  that  war,  Fort  Armstrong  was 
built  at  the  western  extremity  of  Rocky,  or  Rock  Island,  in  the  Mississippi  River 
and  opposite  the  Fox  village  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  peninsula  formed 
by  the  juncture  of  the  Rock  River  with  the  parent  stream.  On  the  southern 
shores  of  the  peninsula  and  the  northern  banks  of  the  Rock  River  was  the 
great  Sauk  village  and  upon  the  noble  heights  overlooking  Saukenuk  was  Black 
Hawk's  Watch  Tower.  Fort  Armstrong  was  the  military  observatory  estab- 
lished by  the  United  States  to  guard  its  frontiers  along  the  Mississippi  Valley 
and  the  interior  of  the  country  of  Northern  Illinois.  Overlooking  Saukenuk, 
which  had  been  burned  by  the  American  expedition  under  Colonel  John  Mont- 
gomery during  the  Revolutionary  war,  was  the  watch-out.  From  that  point 
the  approach  of  an  enemy  could  be  discerned  for  many  miles  and  when  Black 
Hawk  dominated  so  large  a  portion  of  the  Indian  nation  the  name  of  the  war- 
like leader  was  attached  to  it  as  Black  Hawk's  Watch  Tower.  At  the  time 
of  the  advent  of  the  first  whites  into  this  region,  Black  Hawk  himself  thus 
describes  the  country  of  his  people:  "Our  village  was  situated  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Rock  River,  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids  on  the  point  of  land  between 
Rock  River  and  the  Mississippi.  In  front,  a  prairie  extended  to  the  Mississippi 
and  in  the  rear  a  continued  bluff  gently  ascended  from  the  prairie. 

"On  its  highest  peak  our  Watch  Tower  was  situated,  from  which  we  had 
a  fine  view  for  many  miles  up  and  down  Rock  River  in  every  direction.  On 
the  side  of  this  bluff  we  had  our  corn  fields,  extending  about  two  miles  up  and 
parallel  with  the  large  river,  where  they  adjoined  those  of  the  Foxes,  whose 
village  was  on  the  same  stream,  opposite  the  lower  end  of  Rock  Island  and 
three  miles  distant  from  ours.  We  had  800  acres  in  cultivation,  including 
what  we  had  on  the  islands  in  Rock  River.  The  land  around  our  village  which 
remained  unbroken  was  covered  with  blue  grass,  which  furnished  excellent 
pasture  for  our  horses.  Several  fine  springs  poured  out  of  the  bluff  near  by, 
from  which  we  were  well  supplied  with  good  water.  The  rapids  of  Rock  River 
furnished  us  with  an  abundance  of  excellent  fish  and  the  land,  being  very 
fertile,  never  failed  to  produce  good  crops  of  corn,  beans,  pumpkins  and 
squashes.  We  always  had  plenty;  our  children  never  cried  from  hunger,  nei- 
ther were  our  people  in  want.  Here  our  village  had  stood  for  more  than  a 
hundred  years,  during  all  of  which  time  we  were  the  undisputed  possessors  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley  from  the  Wisconsin  to  the  Portage  des  Sioux,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Missouri,  being  about  seven  hundred  miles  in  length." 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  143 

GEORGE    DAVENPORT 

George  Davenport,  the  young  Englishman,  with  a  good  record  for  military 
>rr vice  in  the  Indian  campaigns  of  the  West  and  the  War  of  1812,  had  selected 
the  site  of  Fort  Armstrong  and  assisted  in  its  construction.  Soon  afterward  he 
built  a  log  house  a  few  hundred  yards  from  the  fort  on  the  northern  shore  of 
Rocky  Island  and  there  opened  a  trading  post.  Across  the  Mississippi  River, 
nearly  opposite  Davenport's  trading  post,  was  a  Fox  Indian  village,  and  in  its 
midst  was  the  cabin  of  Antoine  LeClaire,  a  French  halfbreed  with  an  Indian 
wife.  He  was  the  interpreter  for  the  commandant  at  the  fort  and  was  acting 
as  such  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Black  Hawk  war  and  the  final  treaty  with  its 
instigator.  LeClaire  afterward  erected  the  first  house  on  the  site  of  the  Daven- 
port of  the  present,  although  the  town  was  named  in  honor  of  Mr.  Davenport, 
who  was  largely  interested  in  the  company  which  platted  it  and  then  an  in- 
fluential citizen  of  unmixed  blood. 

THE   CLARKS,   FIRST   WHITES    ON    THE    MAINLAND 

The  Clark  family  represented  the  first  whites  to  settle  on  the  mainland 
in  the  Rock  Island  district.  The  family  came  originally  from  Virginia,  settled 
first  in  Wabash  County,  Illinois;  later,  moved  to  Fort  Edwards,  near  Warsaw, 
and  resided  there  for  only  a  short  time;  then  steamed  up  the  Mississippi  and 
finally  landed  on  the  mainland  opposite  Fort  Armstrong  in  August,  1828. 
Captain  W.  L.  Clark,  who  died  in  Buffalo,  Iowa,  at  the  age  of  ninety-three, 
in  1911.  was  then  five  years  of  age.  Not  long  before  his  death  he  wrote  several 
letters  to  a  close  friend  in  Rock  Island  describing  some  of  the  experiences  of 
his  parents  and  giving  many  graphic  pictures  of  this  period  antedating  the 
Black  Hawk  war.  Some  of  them  would  seem  to  indicate  that  Mr.  Davenport 
resented  the  coming  of  the  elder  Clark  as  an  invader  of  trading  territory 
which  had  not  previously  been  divided  with  anyone. 

DAVENPORT   VS.    CLARK 

Mrs.  K.  T.  Anderson,  of  Rock  Island,  by  whom  this  correspondence  was 
used,  says:  "Captain  Clark  was  a  lad  of  five  and  said  he  well  remembered 
when  his  father  carried  him  down  the  gang-plank  of  the  little  steamer  and 
stood  him  on  the  shore  amidst  hundreds  of  Indians  gathered  to  see  the  boat 
come  in.  I  have  often  wondered  what  the  mother's  emotions  were  as  she 
watched  the  boat  steam  on  up  the  river  leaving  her  there,  the  only  white 
woman  on  the  mainland,  hers  the  only  white  family,  and  the  nearest  neighbors 
except  for  the  Davenports  on  the  island)  a  hundred  miles  away.  After  the 
family  was  settled  in  a  cabin  which  they  put  up  close  to  the  river,  Davenport, 
having  heard  of  the  family's  advent,  sent  for  the  elder  Clark  and  engaged 
him  to  cut  wild  hay  for  the  stock  at  Fort  Armstrong.  When  this  contract 
was  completed,  Mr.  Clark  proceeded  to  cut  hay  for  his  own  use,  for  he  had 
determined  to  go  back  to  Fort  Edwards  and  drive  up  some  cattle  which  he 
owned  there.  Davenport  ordered  him  to  stop  cutting  hay,  since  the  fort  was 
supplied,  but  when  no  attention  was  paid  to  his  orders  he  became  very  angry, 


144  THE  EOCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

for  he  did  not  want  any  white  people  to  settle  here  since  it  would  interfere 
with  and  finally  stop  his  enormously  profitable  trade  with  the  Indians." 

It  is  charged  in  the  narrative,  based  on  Captain  Clark's  letters,  that  Daven- 
port tried  to  drive  the  Clarks  away  by  refusing  to  sell  them  clothing  or  pro- 
visions. It  is  claimed  they  were  thus  saved  from  suffering  during  their  first 
winter:  "On  his  last  trip  down  the  river,  the  captain  of  the  steamer  which 
had  moved  them  to  Rock  Island  left  in  charge  of  the  family,  till  his  return 
in  the  spring,  a  barrel  of  whiskey.  The  soldiers  in  the  fort  learned  of  this 
and,  while  a  strict  guard  was  maintained  to  prevent  any  intercourse  with 
the  lone  family  on  shore,  the  soldiers  discovered  a  way  to  get  at  the  liquor 
through  a  cave  under  the  fort  of  which  the  officers  had  no  knowledge.  They 
would  steal  out  in  pairs  at  night,  go  to  the  Clark  cabin  and  exchange  coffee, 
sugar,  salt,  beans,  rice,  flour  and  shoes  for  whiskey  from  the  barrel." 

It  is  also  charged  that  Davenport  bribed  the  Indians  with  trinkets  to 
annoy  and  frighten  the  Clarks.  One  afternoon  while  Father  Clark  was  away 
from  the  house  four  half-drunk  Indians,  two  on  a  pony,  came  riding  up  to 
the  cabin,  dismounted,  went  in  and  sitting  down  on  the  floor  ordered  Mother 
Clark  to  give  them  food.  Being  timid  and  entirely  alone,  she  obeyed;  but 
in  the  midst  of  the  feast  Father  Clark  unexpectedly  returned  and  learning 
what  the  trouble  was,  commanded  the  Indians  to  "  puk-a-chee, "  go  away.  This 
incensed  the  Indians  and  they  jumped  up  to  fight.  Mr.  Clark  stepped  outside 
the  door,  which  was  one  log  above  the  ground,  and  as  the  Indians  came  out, 
each  half  drunk,  they  stumbled  over  the  sill.  Mr.  Clark  had  in  his  hand  a 
hoop-pole  with  which  he  had  been  driving  cattle,  and  he  now  used  it  with 
telling  effect,  knocking  down  first  one  and  then  the  other  of  the  drunken  brutes 
till  they  all  begged  for  mercy.  He  then  marched  them  to  the  river  where 
they  washed  their  wounds  and  then  mounting  their  ponies  they  were  about 
to  ride  away  when  one  of  them  raised  a  war  club  to  throw  at  Mr.  Clark. 
Before  he  could  do  so,  however,  Father  Clark  raised  a  fish-gig  which  he  had 
picked  up  to  strike  at  the  Indian.  This  frightened  the  buck  and  dropping 
his  weapon  they  all  rode  away  at  full  speed  to  their  Rock  River  village. 

The  next  day  what  was  the  family's  surprise  to  receive  a  visit  from  Black 
Hawk  and  these  same  four  Indians.  The  chief  interviewed  Mr.  Clark  and, 
after  ascertaining  all  the  facts,  he  filled  his  pipe  with  Kinnikinnic,  lit  it  and, 
after  taking  a  few  whiffs,  handed  it  to  Father  Clark  who,  in  turn,  handed 
it  to  the  other  Indians ;  and  so,  all  having  smoked  the  peace  pipe,  friendship 
was  once  more  restored. 

On  another  occasion  an  Indian  whose  wickiup  was  only  about  thirty  feet 
from  the  Clark  cabin  and  who  had  always  been  peaceable  and  friendly,  came 
in  a  half  drunken  condition,  forced  his  way  into  the  cabin  and  wanted  to 
fight.  Mr.  Clark  was  at  home  and  taking  a  good  sized  switch  he  thrashed 
the  visitor  till  he  ran  howling  from  the  house.  An  Indian  would  stand  up 
without  a  tremor  before  a  gun,  but  he  would  run  from  a  switching  which  he 
would  consider  the  most  humiliating  form  of  punishment ;  and  in  the  breast 
of  this  Indian  his  disgrace  rankled  till  he  determined  to  have  revenge. 

During  the  winter  all  the  Indians  were  off  on  their  winter  hunt  when 
Mr.  Clark  was  called  to  Fort  Edwards  on  business.  As  he  was  traveling 
home,  walking  close  to  the   shore  on  the  snow-covered  ice  near  the  bluff  at 


T 1 1 E  ROCK  R 1 VER  VALLEY  145 

Fort  Madison,  he  saw  an  Indian  running  toward  a  large  tree.  Suspecting 
treachery,  he  raised  his  gun  and  commanded  the  Indian  to  come  out  on  the 
ice.  Hf  obeyed  and  as  he  approached  Mr.  Clark  he  proved  to  be  the  Indian 
whom  he  had  switched  and  who  evidently  had  planned  to  wipe  out  his  dis- 
grace by  securing  his  enemy's  scalp.  Father  Clark  compelled  him  to  lay  all 
his  weapons  on  the  ice  and  then  march  many  miles  before  him  up  the  river, 
alter  which  he  allowed  him  to  return  for  his  weapons.  Black  Hawk,  whom 
.Mr.  Clark  knew  very  well,  claimed  that  both  of  these  quarrels  were  instigated 
by  Davenport  in  an  attempt  to  frighten  away  the  family.  Hut  the  Clarks 
remained  and  were  it  not  for  them  a  settlement  at  this  point  would  not  have 
been  made  until  several  years  later. 

A   TRAGICALLY    LONELY    WOMAN 

"But  what  a  tragically  lonely  life  it  must  have  been  for  Mother  Clark," 
exclaims  Mrs.  Anderson,  "cut  off  from  all  society  and  intercourse  with  other 
white  families,  feeling  that  they  were  looked  upon  as  interlopers  and  begrudged 
even  the  meager  living  they  secured,  in  constant  dread  of  the  Indians,  with 
no  doctor  near  and  no  one  to  turn  to  for  help  or  sympathy  in  time  of  sick- 
ness, and  with  but  scant  communication  with  the  outside  world;  for  when 
Judge  J.  W.  Spencer  came  to  Fort  Armstrong  in  the  latter  part  of  December, 
1829,  on  his  way  to  Galena,  the  commander  of  the  garrison  engaged  him  to 
carry  the  mail  from  the  fort  and  bring  one  back  with  him,  as  they  had  re- 
ceived no  mail  for  two  months  and  were  anxious  to  know  who  had  been  elected 
President  of  the  United  States." 

JUDGE   J.    W.    SPENCER 

Judge  Spencer  was  only  one  of  hundreds  bound  for  the  lead  regions,  which 
were  not  only  developing  around  Galena  but  were  being  prospected  and  opened 
to  the  north.  In  this  extension  of  operations,  the  Shullsburg  diggings  in  what 
is  now  Lafayette  County,  "Wisconsin,  were  drawing  miners  and  traders  from 
all  parts  of  the  State,  especially  from  Chicago,  the  Illinois  Valley  and  the 
districts  farther  south.  Many  of  these  adventurers  brought  provisions,  tools 
and  other  supplies  to  the  mines  in  the  spring,  worked  the  diggings  in  the 
summer  and  returned  home  in  the  fall  before  the  coming  on  of  cold  weather. 
On  account  of  such  migratory  habits  they  were  called  "suckers,"  a  democratic 
name  often  applied  to  residents  of  Illinois  as  a  people.  The  rush  to  the  lead 
mines  of  this  State  was  usually  through  either  the  valley  of  the  Illinois  or 
Rock  River  to  the  Mississippi,  and  thence,  by  river  or  land,  to  Galena,  via 
Rock  Island. 

DAVENPORT   AND    HIS   TRADE 

For  a  number  of  years  Davenport  received  the  benefit  of  this  large  travel. 
Be  not  only  sold  the  "suckers*'  his  goods,  but  ferried  them  wherever  they 
wished  to  go  as  a  starting  point  for  their  ascent  of  the  Mississippi.  In  1825 
lie  established   the   firsl    public    ferry   across  the   river   between   Famhamsburg 


146  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

(now  Rock  Island)  and  Davenport.  This  was  operated  in  two  sections.  The 
first  crossed  the  Illinois  channel  of  the  river  known  as  the  "slough"  to  Rocky 
Island  and  the  second  crossed  the  main  channel  to  the  Iowa  shore.  The  island 
landing  on  the  main  channel  was  in  front  of  the  Davenport  residence.  On 
the  Iowa  shore  were  two  landings,  one  for  arrival  and  the  other  for  departure. 
This  was  necessary  on  account  of  the  strong  current  which  carried  the  boats 
well  down-stream  on  the  passage  over.  '  Each  crew  to  operate  the  ferry  con- 
sisted of  two  oarsmen  and  a  man  at  the  helm. 

TRAILS    FOR    THE   LEAD    REGIONS 

This  circuitous  route  to  the  lead  mines  was  an  aggravation  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  typical  American  pioneer,  who,  even  at  that  early  day,  was  eager 
for  short  cuts  to  his  destination.  So  in  the  spring  of  1825,  there  came  into 
the  West  from  New  York  one  Oliver  W.  Kellogg  who,  in  due  time,  found 
himself  in  Peoria  with  his  wagon  about  to  start  for  the  lead  mines  in  the 
Galena  district.  Traveling  up  the  Illinois  Valley  to  Peru,  he  struck  across 
country  until  he  reached  the  Rock  River  about  three  miles  east  of  the  present 
city  of  Dixon.  At  that  point,  he  forded  the  stream,  as  no  ferry  had  yet  been 
established;  passed  over  the  prairie  between  what  are  now  known  as  Polo  and 
Mount  Morris,  and  thence  in  a  generally  northwesternly  direction  journeyed 
to  Galena. 

Still  the  route  from  Peoria  was  indirect,  as  it  curved  too  far  east.  So 
John  Boles  came  to  the  rescue  of  the  impatient  men  who  wished  to  reach  the 
lead  mines  with  the  least  possible  delay  of  those  times.  In  the  spring  of  1826, 
while  traveling  across  the  country  toward  Northwestern  Illinois,  he  left  the 
Kellogg  trail  some  distance  south  of  Rock  River,  crossed  the  stream  at  the 
present  site  of  Dixon,  continued  north  to  a  locality  about  a  mile  east  of  Polo, 
thence  north  to  White  Oak  Grove  half  a  mile  west  of  Forreston,  northwestern 
Ogle  County,  and  thence,  via  Crane's  Grove,  to  Galena.  For  several  years 
thereafter  the  Boles  route  was  the  popular  overland  trail  from  Peoria  to  Galena 
and  the  lead  region  above. 

Early  in  the  year  1827  travel  commenced  over  the  Boles  route.  Elisha 
Doty  was  in  the  procession  of  teams  starting  to  Galena  and  in  March  reached 
the  Rock  River.  He  attempted  to  cross  on  the  ice,  but  found  it  would  not 
hold  his  horses  and  wagon  and  was  obliged  to  return  to  the  south  bank  of 
the  river.  There  he  counted  two  hundred  teams  all  bound  for  Galena.  Mr. 
Doty  afterward  settled  at  Polo,  where  he  resided  for  many  years. 

RIVAL  PIONEER   INN   KEEPERS 

About  this  time,  also,  the  pioneer  overland  trail  breaker,  located  at  Burr 
Oak  Grove,  present  township  of  Erin,  Stephenson  County.  The  year  before 
he  arrived  a  wandering  fur  trader,  who  had  been  at  Galena,  built  himself 
a  cabin  and  set  himself  up  in  business.  In  1827  Mr.  Kellogg  assumed  his 
improvements,  erected  a  substantial  house  of  his  own  and  opened  it  to  the 
traveling  public.  His  stay  did  not  exceed  two  years  and  as  this  covered  the 
period  of  the  Winnebago  war,  when  overland  travel  between  Peoria  and  the 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  147 

lead  mint's  was  greatly  reduced,  it  is  probable  thai  the  inn  at  Kellogg 's  Grove 
did  not  prosper.  A  Frenchman  named  Lafayette  occupied  the  Kellogg  premises 
until  the  winter  preceding  the  Black  Hawk  war.  They  were  then  abandoned 
and  the  Kellogg  structure  afforded  shelter  to  some  of  Colonel  John  Clement's 
men  when  they  were  surprised  and  some  killed  by  Black  Hawk  and  his  band. 
After  the  Winnebago  in  the  lead  region  and  the  upper  valley  of  the  Rock 
River  had  been  quieted,  travel  from  Peoria  was  resumed  with  its  former  vigor. 
The  great  drawback  to  the  Boles  route  was  the  crossing  of  the  Rock  River. 
Except  at  rare  intervals  it  could  not  be  forded,  and  travelers  were  obliged 
to  depend  upon  the  assistance  of  incapable  or  uncertain  Winnebago  who  hap- 
pened to  be  on  hand  at  the  time  a  crossing  was  desired.  "The  method  of 
crossing  the  river  with  teams  before  the  establishment  of  a  ferry,"  says  a 
pioneer  of  those  days,  "was  primitive  and  simple.  On  arriving  at  the  place 
of  crossing,  the  wagons  were  unloaded  and  the  loads  carried  over  in  canoes 
by  the  Indians.  The  wagon  was  then  driven  with  the  side  to  the  stream  and 
two  wheels  lifted  into  a  canoe,  then  shoved  a  little  out  into  the  river;  another 
canoe  received  the  other  two  wheels,  when  the  double  boat  was  paddled  or 
poled  to  the  other  side.  The  horses  were  taken  by  the  bridle  and  made  to 
swim  by  the  side  of  the  canoe,  while  the  cattle  swam  loose.  Then  commenced 
the  lifting  out  of  the  wagon  and  reloading,  after  which  the  journey  wras  re- 
newed and  all  hands  happy  that  the  task  of  crossing  the  river  was  completed." 

FERRIES  AT  THE  ROCK  RIVER  CROSSINGS 

The  Indians  were  not  reliable  as  ferrymen  in  the  manner  described,  being 
frequently  absent,  or  ill  disposed  to  render  immediate  assistance.  A  fairly 
direct  trail  having  been  established  from  Peoria  to  the  lead  diggings,  the  de- 
lays suffered  in  crossing  the  Rock  River  became  so  exasperating  that  John  L. 
Bogardus,  a  "half-baked"  Peoria  lawyer  and  adventurer,  undertook  to  establish 
a  ferry  at  the  most  convenient  point  at  which  to  operate  it.  Its  projector 
first  sent  up  a  man  who  built  a  little  shanty  on  the  south  bank  of  the  stream 
and  occupied  it  until  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Doty,  a  carpenter  and  father  of  the 
Elisha  Doty  already  mentioned  as  one  of  the  first  settlers  at  Polo.  The  senior 
Doty  had  been  dispatched  to  build  the  ferry  boat,  but  when  it  was  half  com- 
pleted the  Indians  burned  it  and  advised  him  and  his  assistant  to  return  to 
Peoria.  The  advice  of  the  Indians  and  departure  of  the  whites  were  almost 
coincident. 

The  failure  of  the  Bogardus  enterprise  but  stirred  the  men  of  Illinois  to 
further  action.  As  a  mail  route  was  about  to  be  established  between  Peoria 
and  Galena  and  a  postoffice  at  the  crossing  of  the  Rock  River  now  within  the 
city  limits  of  Dixon,  it  was  imperative  that  a  white  man's  ferry  should  be 
established  there.  At  this  time,  there  was  a  French  half  breed  at  Peoria.  He 
had  been  in  the  employ  of  the  old  American  Fur  Company  and  had  long 
acted  as  an  interpreter  between  the  whites  and  Indians,  having  himself  mar- 
ried a  Pottawatomie  woman.  This  Joseph  Ogee,  although  addicted  to  drink, 
was  above  the  average  in  intelligence  of  those  in  his  class,  and  sent  his  children 
to  the  school  of  Mrs.  Maria  Harkness.  Among  other  families  which  patronized 
the  school  were  those  of  Judge  Latham,  the  Indian  agent,  and  John  Dixon — 

Vol.  I— 10 


148  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

the  able  and  energetic  business  man  from  New  York,  the  moralist,  Circuit 
Clerk  of  Peoria  County,  or  Northern  Illinois,  justice  of  the  peace,  mail  con- 
tractor, and  all-around  progressive  citizen. 

It  is  said  to  have  been  largely  through  the  influence  of  Mr.  Dixon  that 
Ogee  was  established  as  a  ferryman  at  the  landing  of  what  is  now  the  foot 
of  Peoria  Avenue,  City  of  Dixon.  He  built  a  log  house  about  300  feet  south 
of  the  river  bank  and  there  installed  his  Indian  wife  and  children.  Being 
for  all  practical  purposes  of  the  red  race,  Ogee  was  not  molested.  The  ferry 
boat  was  launched  in  the  spring  of  1828.  Not  only  the  ferryman,  but  his 
passengers,  poled  the  heavy  boat  across  stream,  their  labors  being  largely  de- 
termined by  the  stage  of  the  water,  high  or  low,  and  the  consequent  strength 
of  the  current. 

Ogee  continued  to  operate  the  ferry  alone  until  November  21,  1829,  when 
he  sold  a  half  interest  in  the  enterprise  to  George  Schellenger,  who  is  rather 
indefinitely  described  as  a  resident  of  Jo  Daviess  County.  The  consideration 
was  $700.  On  the  7th  of  the  following  month,  Ogee  took  out  a  license  from 
that  county,  but  on  January  29,  1830,  the  partnership  with  Schellenger  was 
dissolved.  It  would  seem  from  the  records  that  Schellenger  made  the  best 
of  the  business  arrangement,  as  about  two  months  after  he  formed  the  part- 
nership with  Ogee  he  turned  back  his  half  interest  for  $1,060,  payable  in  va- 
rious installments.  But  chattel  mortgages  against  the  ferry  property  had  been 
filed  by  Henry  Gratiot  &  Company  of  Galena  and  other  creditors,  so  that 
financial  matters  were  much  involved  when  the  next  transfer  of  the  estab- 
lishment occurred. 

ISAAC   CHAMBERS   AND   JOHN   ANKNEY 

Isaac  Chambers  and  John  Ankney  were  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  the 
Rock  River  Valley.  Like  many  others  of  the  pioneers  they  were  first  attracted 
to  the  lead  mines  of  the  Galena  country  and  soon  concluded  that  the  more 
healthful  and  substantial  life  of  the  countryman  was  preferable  to  the  un- 
certain and  feverish  existence  of  the  miner  or  the  merchant  in  a  mining  com- 
munity. Both  these  men  came  to  Galena  from  the  East  in  1827.  Two  years 
afterward  Chambers  took  up  a  claim  on  the  eastern  edge  of  Buffalo  Grove, 
in  what  is  now  Buffalo  Township,  Southwestern  Ogle  County.  He  had  passed 
through  the  region  on  his  way  to  the  mines,  and  the  location  appealed  both 
to  his  eye  and  his  judgment.  It  was  Mr.  Chambers'  intention  to  build  and 
keep  a  tavern  for  travelers  to  and  from  Galena,  as  his  proposed  claim  was 
just  off  the  main  thoroughfare  as  fixed  by  Boles.  The  cabin  which  he  built 
is  claimed  to  be  the  first  dwelling  erected  by  a  white  man  in  Buffalo  Grove. 

On  Christmas  day  of  1829,  a  few  days  after  Chambers  had  located,  John 
Ankney  appeared  and  charged  that  Chambers  had  jumped  the  claim  which 
he  had  already  made.  Some  controversy  ensued  which  resulted  in  Ankney 
Avithdrawing  his  claim  and  selecting  land  on  the  north  side  of  Buffalo  Creek, 
about  half  a  mile  northwest  of  Chambers'  place,  where  he  established  a  rival 
roadhouse.  Afterward,  their  differences  were  adjusted  and  they  became  close 
friends.  In  1849,  Ankney  located  at  Mt.  Morris,  of  which  he  became  post- 
master, holding  that  position  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1853.     Mr.  Chambers 


THE  HOCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  149 

had  died  several  years  previously,  having  sold  his  claim  on  Buffalo  Creek  and 
Located  farther  west  on  Elkhorn  Creek.  There  he  built  a  mill  and  was  re- 
Biding  near  it  ;it  the  time  of  his  death  in  1847. 

More  than  a  year  before  Chambers  and  Ankney  made  their  claims  on  Buf- 
falo Creek,  Ogle  County,  John  Dixon  and  his  family  left  Peoria  and  located 
at  what  was  then  Boyd's  Grove,  Bureau  County.  There  they  made  their  home 
mar  the  family  of  Charles  S.  Boyd,  Mr.  Dixon's  brother-in-law. 

ENTER    THE    SUBSTANTIAL   JOHN    DIXON 

In  March,  1830,  Mr.  Dixon  leased  the  ferry  from  Ogee,  and  on  the  fol- 
lowing 11th  of  April  reached  his  destination  known  by  its  postal  designation 
as  Ogee's  Ferry.  It  is  believed  that  Mr.  Dixon  was  guided  to  this  action  by 
mixed  motives.  Ogee's  habits  had  become  notoriously  bad;  Dixon's  were  above 
reproach,  his  temperance  principles  marking  him  as  a  sturdy  and  uncom- 
promising character  all  through  the  Rock  River  region.  Mr.  Dixon  had  the 
contract  for  carrying  the  mails  from  Springfield  to  Peoria,  and  thence  to 
Galena  via  Gratiot's  Grove,  on  the  Pecatonica  River,  a  few  miles  over  the  Wis- 
consin line.  He  was  naturally  anxious  that  there  should  not  be  avoidable 
delays  in  the  transmission  of  the  heavy  mail  to  and  from  Galena,  which  made 
this  route  the  most  important  in  the  state  at  that  time.  Ogee  became  so  un- 
reliable that  not  only  were  the  mails  delayed  and  disarranged  by  the  un- 
reliability of  the  ferry  but  he  and  his  place  became  notoriously  bad.  Dixon's 
good  business  sense  also  would  lead  him  to  perceive  that  the  postal  service 
would  be  improved,  the  cause  of  morality  served  and  practical  steps  taken 
to  make  the  ferry  a  profitable  enterprise  if  it  was  managed  as  it  should  be. 
During  the  period  covered  by  his  mail  contracts,  Mr.  Dixon  sometimes  car- 
ried the  mails  himself,  but  the  greater  part  of  the  driving  was  done  by  men 
he  employed,  particularly  by  his  son,  James  P.  Dixon. 

When  John  Dixon  took  over  the  ferry  from  Ogee,  with  the  log  cabin  and 
other  appurtenances  and  incumbrances,  he  changed  the  primitive  mode  of  pol- 
ing to  the  application  of  steam  as  a  motive  force.  He  also  added  to  the  house 
a  two-story  structure,  both  for  domestic  and  business  purposes.  "Between 
the  two  houses,"  says  Stevens,  "and  forming  a  part  of  the  one-story  building 
was  a  ten  or  twelve-foot  hallway  with  a  door  at  either  end  facing  the  north 
and  south.  Entering  the  hall  from  the  south,  on  the  west  was  the  family 
sitting  room  and  on  the  east  the  travelers'  and  hired-help  rooms,  each  about 
eighteen  feet  square.  The  furniture  of  the  west  room  consisted  of  two  beds, 
a  number  of  chairs  and  a  table  extending  nearly  across  the  room.  The  east 
room  contained  four  beds,  one  in  each  corner.  The  store  room  in  which  he 
traded  with  the  Indians  was  in  the  east  part  of  the  cabin  in  the  two-story 
portion,  and  there  he  sold  powder,  lead,  shot,  tobacco,  pipes,  cloth,  blankets, 
guns,  beads,  traps,  etc.,  or  exchanged  them  for  furs  and  deer  skins,  which  he 
would  ship  to  St.  Louis,  Peoria  or  Galena. 

"When  John  Dixon  reached  the  Rock  River  and  established  his  house  at 
Ogee's  Perry  lie  was  forty-six  years  of  age,  strong,  hearty,  vigorous  and  thor- 
oughly acquainted  with  the  frontier.  He  had  had  ten  years'  experience  in 
the  West.     He  had  traveled  the  then  new  State  of   Illinois   from  one  end  to 


150  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

the  other  on  horseback  and  on  foot.  He  had  met  and  lived  with  and  among 
the  Indians,  had  become  their  friend  and  was  recognized  by  them  as  such. 
Though  in  the  prime  of  life  and  in  the  best  of  health,  his  hair  was  white  and 
was  worn  long,  giving  him  the  appearance  of  age.  The  Winnebago  Indians, 
with  whom  he  was  always  on  terms  of  friendship,  called  him  Nadachurasah, 
or  Head-Hair- White,  which  term,  in  common  speech,  was  soon  contracted  to 
Nachusa. 

"The  early  white  settlers  not  long  after  Mr.  Dixon's  arrival  at  the  Rock 
River  began  to  call  him  Father  Dixon.  Thence  on,  he  was  so  termed,  and  in 
speaking  of  him  since  his  death  it  is  usual  to  so  characterize  him.  An  old 
friend  and  early  settler,  John  K.  Robison,  said:  'His  personal  appearance 
was  almost  unchanged  from  1827  to  1876,  his  hair  being  white  during  all  those 
years ;  age  dealt  kindly  with  him. '  ' ' 

Mr.  Dixon  was  appointed  postmaster  of  Ogee's  Ferry  on  September  29, 
1830.  The  name  was  not  changed  to  Dixon's  Ferry  until  1834  and  Father 
Dixon  continued  to  serve  as  its  postmaster  until  1837. 

Prior  to  the  outbreak  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  the  Dixon  home  and  trading 
post  had  become  known  as  the  center  of  fair  dealing  and  hospitality  all  up 
and  down  the  Rock  River  Valley  and  across  country  from  Peoria  to  Galena. 
He  and  his  tine  wife  had  especially  gained  the  good  will,  even  friendship,  of 
all  the  Indians  identified  with  the  uprising.  When  Black  Hawk  and  his  band 
went  up  the  river  immediately  after  the  battle  of  Stillman's  Run  they  stopped 
at  Ogee's  Ferry.  At  the  time  Father  Dixon  was  at  Galena  and  his  wife  was 
at  home  alone  with  the  children.  As  the  Sauk  warriors  unceremoniously  crowded 
into  the  house,  Mrs.  Dixon  sent  for  Old  Crane,  a  friendly  Winnebago  chief, 
and  asked  for  advice.  The  Winnebago  immediately  responded  to  her  call 
and,  with  the  aid  of  one  of  the  Sauk  chiefs,  induced  the  intruders  to  leave 
the  house.  Old  Crane  also  showed  his  diplomacy  by  inducing  Mrs.  Dixon  to 
prepare  a  meal  for  the  leading  men  of  the  migrating  Indians.  The  lady 
readily  acceded,  and  Black  Hawk,  the  Prophet  and  Neapope,  as  well  as  Old 
Crane  and  other  prominent  Winnebago,  were  fed  and  served  by  Father  Dixon's 
wife  with  so  much  grace  that  the  stern  Sauk  warrior  afterward  referred  to 
the  occasion  with  admiration  and  gratitude. 

Afterward  Mrs.  Dixon  and  her  children  went  to  Galena,  there  waiting  for 
the  cessation  of  hostilities.  John  Dixon  remained  at  the  ferry  for  a  time  and 
later  accompanied  the  army  into  Wisconsin,  as  scout,  commissary  and  in  other 
capacities.  During  the  concluding  campaign  against  Black  Hawk  he  was  in 
the  personal  service  of  Colonel  Taylor  and  messed  with  him  and  his  officers. 
During  the  entire  period  of  campaigning  and  warfare,  the  Dixon  home  at  the 
ferry  was  not  closed.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dixon  were  there  during  portions 
of  the  so-called  war,  as  well  as  their  sons,  James  and  Elijah,  and  the  house 
was  constantly  open  for  the  entertainment  and  shelter  of  all  who  came  within 
its  radius.  Among  those  of  note  who  found  rest  and  hospitality  at  this  frontier 
cabin,  at  this  period,  were  such  prominent  military  and  civil  leaders  of  the 
day  as  Governor  John  Reynolds,  General  Henry  Atkinson  and  General  Win- 
field  Scott,  with  such  minors,  who  afterward  became  famous,  as  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Zachary  Taylor,  Captain  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  Lieutenants  Robert 
Anderson,  Albert  Sidney  Johnston  and  Joseph  E.  Johnston. 


(Through   the   courtesy    of   the   Hinlz    Studio) 

JOHN  DIXON,  FOUNDER  OF  DIXON 

Copy  of  an  old  portrait 


152  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

THE  FAMOUS   DIXON   HOME 

During  the  months  of  May  and  June,  1832,  when  the  regulars  and  the  militia 
were  organizing  at  Ogee's  Ferry  to  follow  Black  Hawk  and  his  force  to  the 
swamps  above  Lake  Koshkonong  and  the  headwaters  of  the  Rock  River,  Mr. 
Dixon  first  came  in  contact  with  some  of  these  characters  of  future  fame. 
Colonel  Taylor,  pending  the  arrival  of  General  Atkinson,  was  in  command 
of  the  troops  at  Ogee's  Ferry.  He  was  constantly  on  the  alert,  intercepting 
marauding  bands  of  Indians,  assisting  the  volunteers  who  had  temporarily 
offered  their  services  while  the  new  levy  was  forming  at  Hennepin  and  Fort 
Wilbourn  and  in  generally  protecting  the  frontiers.  But  on  the  whole  it  was 
a  period  of  inaction  and  the  officers  were  often  at  the  Dixon  place,  buying 
merchandise  and  paying  for  it,  or  having  it  charged.  They  hunted  the  wild 
duck,  the  grouse,  the  squirrel,  the  deer  and  the  wild  bee  trees;  they  fished 
and  trapped  and  enjoyed  in  every  way  the  delightful  out-of-door  life  of  the 
locality  and  region.  They  romped  over  the  prairies,  gathered  at  the  Dixon 
table,  dined  and  conversed  and  gave  themselves  to  the  rare  freedom  of  the 
time  and  the  place.  Thus  were  the  images  of  these  army  officers  inpressed 
on  the  memory  of  Father  Dixon.  In  after  years  he  laughingly  spoke  of  the 
fact  that  Lieutenants  Davis  and  Anderson  were  always  cash  customers ;  and 
the  entries  in  his  old  cash  books,  still  in  the  possession  of  one  of  his  great- 
grandsons,  prove  his  statement. 

John  K.  Robison,  one  of  his  Peoria  friends  who  had  settled  with  him  at 
the  Ferry,  gives  further  instances  of  Dixon's  experiences  during  the  Black 
Hawk  war  and  the  general  fearlessness  and  generosity  of  his  nature,  along 
these  lines :  ' '  During  the  Black  Hawk  war,  Father  Dixon  had  the  contract 
for  supplying  the  army  with  beef  to  the  time  of  the  final  battle  of  the  Bad 
Axe  River.  His  place  on  the  march  was  in  the  rear  of  the  army,  and  from 
the  time  Wisconsin  River  was  crossed,  many  times  was  he  left  so  far  behind 
as  to  be  out  of  supporting  distance.  It  so  happened  on  the  march  that  at  one 
time  midnight  was  passed  before  he  came  to  camp.  He  was  hailed  by  the 
sentinel  with  the  snap  of  the  lock  of  the  gun  in  the  man's  hands  and  these 
words:  'Who  comes  there?'  Father  Dixon  replied:  'Major  of  the  Steer 
Battalion.'  The  soldier  gave  the  order:  'Major  of  the  Steer  Battalion,  march 
in.'  This  sally  of  wit  on  both  sides  was  the  foundation  of  Father  Dixon's 
military  title. 

"At  another  time  he  had  been  off  the  trail  hunting  one  of  his  beeves,  and 
on  again  returning  to  the  trail  he  suddenly  found  himself  face  to  face  with 
two  Indians,  who  were  as  much  astonished  at  the  meeting  as  he  was.  It  was 
no  time  for  ceremony.  All  were  armed.  Father  Dixon  lowered  his  gun  and, 
walking  about  five  rods,  gave  his  hand  to  the  nearest  savage,  saluting  him  in 
Winnebago.  The  Indian  replied  in  Winnebago.  Father  Dixon  and  both  the 
Indians  were  alike  overjoyed  at  this  unexpected  good  fortune — Father  Dixon 
that  he  was  permitted  to  save  his  scalp  for  another  day;  the  Indians  that 
they  had  found  some  one  understanding  their  own  language,  under  whose  in- 
fluence they  could  be  safely  introduced  to  General  Atkinson,  for  whom  they 
had  important  dispatches.     Their  lives  were  in  danger  if  seen  by   a  soldier: 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  153 

they  fell  their  peril  and  were  in  serious  embarrassment  about  how  to  approach 
the   army. 

"Father  Dixon's  age  and  experience  with  all  classes  of  men  should  have 
qualified  him  to  safely  criticize  and  distrust  humanity,  but  he  had  no  appre- 
hension of  imposition;  he  took  human  nature  as  it  fell  from  the  hands  of  the 
infinite  God.  His  estimate  never  tallied  with  the  evil;  never  tired  of  being 
wronged,  and  as  a  consequence  he  was  often  disappointed  in  men.  Obliging 
tn  all,  hospitable  and  kind  to  the  needy  and  helpless  in  every  condition,  he 
often  trusted  strangers  and  travelers  from  whom  he  never  received  anything 
in  return.  It  was  no  unusual  thing,  when  the  circumstances  of  travelers  were 
told  to  Father  Dixon,  for  him  to  allow  his  ferry  and  hotel  bills  to  remain 
Unpaid,  and  to  give  them  provisions  and  funds  necessary  to  complete  the  jour- 
ney. .Many  dollars  were  given  away  in  this  manner.  His  unselfishness  mani- 
fested itself  in  good  will  to  all  men;  the  Indian  or  the  child  looked  to  him 
for  favors  and  kindness  and  was  not  turned  away  empty." 

SCOTT    VISITS    FATHER    DIXON 

General  Scott's  visit  to  the  Dixon  home  and  inn  was  made  upon  the  oc- 
casion of  his  trip  West  to  assume  command  of  the  army.  He  arrived  too 
late  to  take  any  active  part  in  the  campaigns  against  Black  Hawk,  but  proved 
himself  a  tzreater  hero  than  if  he  had  waged  successful  warfare  against  the 
Indians,  for  while  the  four  steamboats  which  were  conveying  his  expedition 
to  Chicago  were  moored  at  Detroit  cholera  appeared  in  one  of  them.  It  was 
soon  raging  in  a  virulent  and  fatal  form,  the  steamer  Sheldon  Thompson 
having  the  most  victims  aboard.  The  boats  passed  up  the  St.  Clair  River 
and  at  Fort  Gratiot,  forty  miles  above  Detroit,  five  companies  of  280  men 
were  landed  for  treatment  and  observation.  Some  died  at  once;  others  fled 
to  the  woods  and  their  bodies  were  afterwards  discovered.  There  was  only 
one  surgeon  aboard  the  Sheldon  Thompson  and  he  was  taken  sick  early  in  the 
trip  largely  from  fright.  Chicago  was  reached  on  July  10th,  with  four  of 
the  nine  companies  with  which  Scott  had  started  from  Fortress  Monroe  eighteen 
days  before ;  and  of  the  850  men  who  had  left  Buffalo  not  more  than  200 
were  fit  for  service. 

At  Chicago,  for  want  of  harbor  facilities,  General  Scott  was  compelled  to 
unload  his  men  in  boats  half  a  mile  out  and  row  them  to  shore.  Stevens, 
in  his  history  of  the  Black  Hawk  war.  pays  this  deserved  tribute  to  the  com- 
ma nder  of  the  American  armies,  and  traces  his  route  to  Fort  Armstrong,  via 
Ogee's  or  Dixon's  Ferry:  "In  all  this  long  journey,  with  its  horrors,  and  in 
his  long  stay  at  Fort  Dearborn,  Scott  never  wearied  in  his  ministrations  to 
the  suffering  men,  whose  brows  he  smoothed  as  they  died  in  agony,  trying 
with  a  last  ga.sp  to  bless  him  for  his  patient  and  loving  care.  In  many  a 
campaign  did  this  fine  old  hero  distinguish  himself,  but  in  none  did  he  win 
more  fame  than  in  this,  against  an  enemy  with  whom  he  could  not  treat;  in 
which,  as  he  subsequently  stated  to  John  Wentworth:  'Sentinels  were  of  no 
use  in  warning  of  the  enemy's  approach.  lie  could  not  storm  his  works,  fortify 
against  him,  nor  cut  his  way  out.  nor  make  terms  of  capitulation.     There  was 


154 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


no  respect  for  a  flag  of  truce  and  his  men  were  falling  upon  all  sides  from 
an  enemy  in  his  very  midst.' 

"On  board  the  ship,  amidst  stifling  air,  the  dying  and  dead;  on  land,  in 
hospital — a  very  pest  house — everywhere,  was  Scott;  and  not  until  the  last 
case  had  disappeared  did  he  think  of  relinquishing  his  fatherly  care  of  the 
suffering  soldiers.  Then,  on  July  29th,  finding  the  spread  of  the  contagion 
once  more  checked,  he  set  out  with  three  staff  officers  for  Prairie  du  Chien 
following  the  route  subsequently  adopted  (in  1834)  as  the  mail  route  from 
Galena  to  Chicago." 

General  Scott  arrived  at  Dixon's  on  August  3rd,  with  his  staff  officers, 
and  on  the  5th  left  Galena  on  the  steamboat  Warrior  for  Fort  Crawford, 
Prairie  du  Chien.  Two  days  later,  August  7th,  he  reached  the  latter  point, 
where  he  assumed  command  of  the  entire  army.  His  first  official  act  was  to 
order  the  discharge  of  the  volunteer  forces,  which  immediately  marched  to 
the  Ferry,  Dodge's  battalion  of  Wisconsin  troops  excepted.  On  the  11th, 
General  Scott  arrived  at  Fort  Armstrong,  with  General  Atkinson  and  his  staff 
and  two  companies  of  United  States  Infantry,  transferring  the  scene  of  the 
war's  outcome  from  the  upper  to  the  lower  valley  of  the  Rock  River. 

The  crushing  of  Black  Hawk  as  the  most  powerful  leader  of  the  hostile 
Indians  in  Northern  Illinois,  with  the  outcoming  treaties,  changed  the  status 
of  the  settlers  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  from  that  of  sufferance  to  one  of 
absolute  security  in  the  problems  of  working  out  their  own  destinies.  The 
result  was  the  stable  increase  of  immigration  everywhere  and  the  founding 
of  such  communities  as  are  now  known  as  Dixon,  Sterling,  Rockford,  Beloit, 
Belvidere,  Janesville,  Oregon,  Grand  Detour,  Geneseo,  and  all  the  other  col- 
lections of  humans,  with  their  diverse  interests,  up  and  down  the  valley.  Within 
a  few  years  from  the  final  departure  of  the  reds  was  asserted  the  American 
instinct  for  political  organization  and  expansion,  so  that  all  the  counties  of 
the  Rock  River  Valley  had  been  created  and  were  in  operation  as  civil  bodies. 


STRUCTO  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY'S  PLANT,  FREEPORT 


CHAPTER  VII 
COUNTIES  ORGANIZED  AND  STABILIZED 

NORTHERN     ILLINOIS    BOUNDARY    GREAT    POLITICAL    DISTURBANCE — POLITICAL   EVOLU- 
TION   OF    TIIK    ILLINOIS    ROCK    RIVER    VALLEY — THE    BUFFALO    GROVE    PRECINCT — 

OGLE  COUNTY  FORMED RIVALRY  BETWEEN  DIXON  AND  OREGON THE  FIRST  ROCK 

ISLAM)  COUNTY — CREATION  OF  OLD  WINNEBAGO  COUNTY — THREE  CONGRESSIONAL 
DISTRICTS — LEGISLATIVE  REPRESENTATION WHITESIDE  COUNTY  IN  THE  FORM- 
ING  LIVELY     COUNTY     SEAT    CONTEST    IN     WHITESIDE — OLD    AND    NEW     HENRY 

COUNTY — COUNTY  SEAT  CONTESTANTS — CARVING  OF  BOONE  COUNTY  FROM  WIN- 
NEBAGO  THE  COUNTY   NEVER   HAD   A   COUNTY  SEAT  FIGHT BELVIDERE  AND  THE 

COUNTY   BUILDINGS LEE    COUNTY,    LAST    POLITICAL    DIVISION    OF    THE   VALLEY 

DIXON  LOCATED  AS  THE  COUNTY  SEAT — LAND  OFFICE  MOVED  FROM  GALENA  TO 
DIXON — COMMISSIONERS'  GOVERNMENT   ABANDONED   IN   ILLINOIS — ROCK    COUNTY, 

WISCONSIN,  FORMED JEFFERSON  COUNTY  FORMED  IN  1836 DODGE  COUNTY  ALSO 

TAKEN     FROM     .MILWAUKEE MADISON,     THE     TERRITORIAL     CAPITAL    FOUNDED 

THE  COUNTY   OF   DANE  CREATED. 

The  result  of  the  Black  Hawk  war  was  to  exclude  all  consideration  of  Indian 
affairs  from  the  development  of  the  civil  and  political  affairs  of  Illinois.  There- 
after it  was  a  white  man's  country,  and  for  more  than  a  decade  the  northern 
sections  of  the  State  were  rapidly  organized  into  counties  and  other  stable 
forms  of  American  government.  During  that  period  the  counties  included 
in  the  Rock  River  Valley  of  this  work  assumed  substantially  their  present 
forms. 

At  the  time  that  the  Indian  problem  became  past  history  in  the  State  of 
Illinois,  the  determination  of  its  northern  boundary  was  still  a  disturbing 
factor  in  the  process  of  civil  adjustment.  Although  the  great  ability  and 
strong  influence  of  Nathaniel  Pope  had  been  the  chief  means  of  introducing 
the  provision  into  the  enabling  act  by  which  the  northern  boundary  was  ad- 
vanced from  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake  Michigan  (41°  39')  to  42°  30', 
public  sentiment  was  divided  as  to  whether  or  not  the  former  boundary,  as 
fixed  by  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  should  not  prevail.  The  people  in  the  lead 
region  of  Northwestern  Illinois,  as  well  as  much  of  the  northern  country  to 
Lake  Michigan,  were  opposed  to  the  Pope  line  chiefly  on  the  ground  that  the 
extensive  system  of  internal  improvement  for  which  the  State  was  sponsor 
would  greatly  increase  taxation. 

NORTHERN    ILLINOIS  BOUNDARY  GREAT  POLITICAL  DISTURBANCE 

But  notwithstanding  this  opposition  in  the  north,  the  broader  position  was 
the  prevailing  attitude.    Tt  was  that  which  was  originally  taken  by  Judge  Pope, 

155 


156  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

and  was  vigorously  upheld  by  the  Cook  County  region  bordering  Lake  Mich- 
igan, as  well  as  by  most  of  the  populous  and  progressive  counties  of  the  central 
and  southern  portions  of  the  State.  The  far-seeing  claim  was  that  Illinois 
should  have  an  adequate  lake  frontage,  thus  identifying  it  forever  with  the 
Great  Lakes,  as  well  as  with  the  Great  River ;  bringing  Illinois  into  political 
and  commercial  relations  with  the  original  units  of  the  Northwest  Territory, 
and  making  it  a  check  to  the  wish  for  either  a  Western  or  Southern  con- 
federacy. There  was  also  this  other  appeal  to  State  pride — that,  with  a  harbor 
provided  near  the  foot  of  Lake  Michigan,  there  would  necessarily  grow  up  a 
great  emporium,  or  an  outlet  to  the  Mississippi  by  way  of  the  Illinois  River. 
This  prophecy  was  already  being  realized  in  the  growth  of  Chicago,  which 
had  received  a  large  accession  of  population  during  the  progress  of  the  Black 
Hawk  war.  About  a  week  after  the  battle  of  the  Bad  Axe  was  fought,  Chi- 
cago was  incorporated  as  a  town  and  five  years  afterward  was  a  sturdy  little 
municipality  of  more  than  four  thousand  people. 

The  efforts  of  the  people  north  of  the  Ordinance  line  and  west  of  Lake 
Michigan,  with  the  Fever  River  mines  as  the  center  of  their  activities,  to  create 
Huron  Territory,  fell  by  the  wayside  of  "lost  causes."  Then  in  1840  the 
counties  of  Illinois  between  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Mississippi  River,  north 
of  Cook  County,  sent  delegates  to  Rockford  who  expressed  a  desire  to  be  an- 
nexed to  Wisconsin  and  be  erected  into  some  political  division,  with  Galena 
as  its  capital.  In  1842,  Ogle,  Stephenson  and  Jo  Daviess  counties  declared 
for  union  with  Wisconsin  by  overwhelming  majorities ;  in  Stephenson  it  was 
said  to  be  five  hundred  to  one.  In  that  year  Governor  Doty,  of  Wisconsin, 
warned  Governor  Carlin,  of  Illinois,  against  making  any  selections  of  land 
on  what,  according  to  the  people  of  Wisconsin,  was  the  soil  of  their  territory, 
and  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Illinois  only  from  accidental  and  temporary 
conditions. 

But  the  difficulty  was  solved  conclusively  by  the  action  of  Wisconsin's 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1847-48,  which  in  framing  the  fundamental  in- 
strument of  the  new  state  recognized  the  northern  boundary  of  Illinois  as 
fixed  by  the  enabling  act  of  1818. 

The  territory  affected  by  this  settlement  of  the  northern  boundary  includes 
all  that  part  of  the  State  north  of  the  northern  line  of  La  Salle  County,  and 
embraces  the  greater  portion  of  the  counties  of  Cook,  Du  Page,  Kane,  Lake, 
McHenry,  Boone,  DeKalb,  Lee,  Ogle,  Winnebago,  Stephenson,  Jo  Daviess,  Car- 
roll and  Whiteside,  with  portions  of  Kendall,  Will  and  Rock  Island.  The 
only  Illinois  county  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  which  was  south  of  the  line  as 
finally  determined  by  fixing  the  bounds  of  the  new  State  of  Wisconsin  was 
Henry  County  of  the  present. 

POLITICAL  EVOLUTION  OP  THE  ILLINOIS  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

The  order  of  political  succession  which  brings  this  history  to  the  time  when 
the  settlers  of  Rock  River  Valley  commenced  to  participate  in  its  public  affah-s 
is  thus  laid  down : 

1.     The  creation  of  Illinois  County  by  the  Virginia  House   of  Delegates 
in  1778,  embracing  the  entire  region  west  of  the  Ohio  River. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  157 

2.  Erection  of  St.  Clair  County,  by  order  of  Arthur  St.  Clair,  governor 
of  the  Northwest  Territory,  in  17!)(),  and  embracing  the  Illinois  "country" 
in  which   white  settlements  had  been  planted. 

3.  Madison  County,  set  off  from  St.  Clair  in  1812,  and  embracing  sub- 
stantially what   is  now  Northern  Illinois. 

4.  Pike  County,  taken  from  Madison  County  in  1821  and  originally  in- 
cluding all  the  country  north  and  west  of  the  Illinois  River  to  the  Mississippi, 
including  the  present  county  of  Cook. 

5.  In  1823,  Fulton  County  was  taken  from  Pike  and  embraced  the  ter- 
ritory bordering  on  and  west  of  the  Illinois  River;  county  seat,  Lewistown. 

(i.  In  1825,  Putnam  County  was  formed  and  included  what  is  now  Ogle; 
also  Henry  County,  which  embraced  most  of  the  Henry  County  of  today,  parts 
of   Whiteside   and    Carroll  and   most  of  Jo   Daviess. 

7.     Peoria  was  formed  from  Fulton  in  1825. 

Soon  afterward  population  in  the  Fever  River  mines  commenced  to  increase 
BO  rapidly  that  the  voters  yearned  to  be  independent  of  Peoria  County  and 
manage  their  own  affairs.  In  1826,  they  were  allowed  to  have  a  voting  precinct 
near  Galena  called  the  Fever  River  Precinct.  In  the  same  year  204  persons 
were  listed  as  taxpayers  and  a  deputy  from  Peoria  sent  to  the  precinct  to 
collect  the  taxes.  But  the  miners  defied  the  Peoria  County  official  who  re- 
turned down-State  without  any  tax  receipts. 

Then  the  State  legislators  took  a  hand  in  placating  that  live  part  of  the 
commonwealth,  which  had  already  outstripped  the  Chicago  district,  and  in 
February,  1827,  Jo  Daviess  County  was  organized,  with  Galena  as  the  seat 
of  justice.  Ten  counties,  in  whole  or  in  part,  now  comprise  the  territory  thus 
included,  viz.,  Jo  Daviess,  Stephenson,  Ogle,  Carroll,  Lee,  Whiteside,  Bureau, 
Eenry,  Rock  Island  and  a  fraction  of  Winnebago.  Four  years  later,  on  June 
8,  1831,  the  County  Commissioners  of  Jo  Daviess  County  took  the  following 
action : 

THE    BUFFALO    GROVE    PRECINCT 

"It  is  considered  that  the  persons  residing  within  the  following  limits  shall 
constitute  voters  within  Buffalo  Grove  Precinct,  viz.,  east  of  Lewistown  road 
and  south  of  a  line  to  include  the  dwelling  of  Crane  and  Hilliard,  running 
to  the  southern  boundary  of  the  county  inclusive. 

"It  is  considered  that  John  Dixon,  Isaac  Chambers  and  John  Ankney  be 
and  they  are  hereby  appointed  judges  of  election  for  the  Buffalo  Grove  Precinct. 

"It  is  ordered  that  the  house  of  John  Ankney  be  the  place  of  voting  in 
and  for  the  Buffalo  Grove  Precinct." 

In  these  days,  when  a  voting  precinct  may  include  a  number  of  square 
blocks  and  several  thousand  people,  it  is  instructive  by  comparison  to  know 
that  the  Buffalo  Grove  limits  embraced  what  are  now  Ogle,  Lee  and  eastern 
Carroll  and  Whiteside  counties.  There  were,  perhaps,  thirty-five  voters  in 
this  extended  territory.  By  1836,  Oregon  (Florence),  Polo  (St.  Marian),  Byron 
Pairview)  and  Grand  Detour  had  all  been  founded  and  enough  settlers  located 
in  the  other  townships  of  this  mammoth  precinct  to  warrant  a  petition  for  the 
formation  of  a  new  county,  with   a  county  seat  nearer  than  Galena,  seventy 


158  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

miles  away.  It  is  said  that  the  immediate  occasion  for  the  call  for  a  separate 
county  was  the  desire  of  John  Phelps  to  found  a  town  which  should  rival 
Dixon's  Ferry  as  a  prospective  county  seat.  His  large  farm  and  homestead 
were  three  miles  west  of  Rock  River,  near  the  central  part  of  what  is  now 
Ogle  County.  He  also  made  a  claim  and  established  a  ferry  where  Oregon  now 
stands.  Several  houses  had  been  built  at  that  point  and  the  town  of  Florence 
platted.  Mr.  Phelps  aimed  to  make  Florence  the  crossing  of  a  State  road 
from  Chicago  to  Galena,  instead  of  a  Peoria-Galena  station,  and  eventually  make 
his  town  the  seat  of  a  new  county  instead  of  Dixon's  Ferry. 

OGLE  COUNTY  FORMED 

Accordingly,  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  approved  January  16,  1836,  the 
boundaries  for  a  new  county  were  defined  as  follows :  ' '  North  from  the  south- 
west corner  of  Town  19  north,  8  east  of  the  Fourth  Principal  Meridian,  to 
the  southwest  corner  of  Town  26  north,  8  east ;  thence  east  to  the  Third  Prin- 
cipal Meridian;  thence  south  to  the  southwest  corner  of  Town  43  north,  1  east 
of  the  Third  Principal  Meridian;  thence  east  to  the  southeast  corner  of  Town 
43  north,  2  east;  thence  south  to  the  southeast  corner  of  Town  37  north,  2 
east;  thence  west  to  the  Third  Principal  Meridian;  thence  south  to  the  south- 
east corner  of  Town  19  north,  11  east  of  the  Fourth  Principal  Meridian; 
thence  west  to  the  beginning,  shall  constitute  a  county  to  be  called  Ogle." 

Governor  Ford,  then  Judge  Ford,  who  presided  over  the  Northern  Judicial 
Circuit  of  the  State  and  resided  at  Oregon,  had  suggested  the  name  Ogle  in 
honor  of  Captain  Joseph  Ogle,  a  Revolutionary  soldier  whose  bravery  was 
particularly  shown  at  Fort  Henry,  now  Wheeling.  Captain  Ogle  afterward 
lived  in  Monroe  County,  111.,  where  Thomas  Ford's  mother,  with  her  family, 
also  settled.  Nearly  a  year  elapsed  before  the  proposed  county  was  organized, 
during  which  period  it  remained  a  part  of  Jo  Daviess  County. 

The  act  creating  Ogle  County  provided  for  the  location  of  a  seat  of  justice 
and  named  the  commissioners  who  were  to  make  the  selection ;  also  fixed  the 
first  Monday  in  April,  1836,  as  the  date  for  the  election  of  the  county  officers. 
But  one  delay  followed  another  and  it  was  not  until  the  20th  of  June  that 
two  of  the  three  commissioners  named  in  the  act  met  to  select  the  county  seat. 
They  met  at  the  house  of  Oliver  W.  Kellogg,  in  Buffalo  Grove,  and  promptly 
traveled  southeast  until  they  reached  the  Rock  River  and  Phelps'  newly  platted 
town.  There  they  drove  a  stake  as  an  indication  that  they  had  selected  it  as 
the  county  seat  and  named  the  place  Oregon.  The  location  was  made  so  care- 
lessly that  a  mistake  was  made  in  the  description  of  the  quarter  section,  which 
created  much  subsequent  litigation  in  the  quarrels  over  the  permanent  loca- 
tion of  the  county  seat.  The  hasty  action  of  the  commissioners  raised  much 
opposition  to  the  claims  of  Oregon. 

RIVALRY  BETWEEN  DIXON  AND  OREGON 

As  the  date  fixed  by  the  creative  act  for  the  election  of  county  officers 
had  long  passed,  Judge  Ford  appointed  December  24,  1836,  as  the  election 
day.     As  the  county  commissioners  would  control   the  places  of  holding  the 


THE  ROCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  159 

(•units  and  the  erection  of  "suitable"  county  buildings,  the  rivalry  between 
Dixon  and  Oregon  centered  in  the  choice  of  the  commissioners.  The  candidates 
who  favored  Dixon  were  Virgil  A.  Bogue,  of  Buffalo  Grove,  S.  St.  John  Mix, 
of  Byron,  and  Cyrus  Chamberlain,  of  the  Grand  Detour  precinct.  The  Oregon 
candidates,  all  of  whom  were  residents  of  the  new  town,  were  Isaac  Rosen- 
crans,  Ezra  Bond  and  W.  J.  Mix.  The  popular  result  of  the  election  was 
favorable  to  Dixon,  Bogue  and  Mix  receiving  98  votes  each  and  Chamber- 
lain.  95;  !)0  votes  were  cast  for  Bond,   89  for   Rosencrans,  and  87   for  Mix. 

•  la s  V.  Gale  was  elected  recorder,  Joseph  Crawford,  surveyor,  W.  W.  Mudd, 

sheriff,  and  Ira  Hill,  coroner.  The  largest  vote  cast  for  any  one  candidate 
was  138  for  Recorder  Gale,  and  the  total  number  of  voters  who  participated 
was  188. 

.Mr.  Gale,  of  Oregon,  the  recorder,  made  the  following  entry  in  his  diary: 
'"There  was  great  excitement  at  this  election.  All  the  towns  were  against 
Oregon.  A  large  quantity  of  whiskey  was  drunk  and  several  fights  occurred. 
Dixon,  Grand  Detour,  Buffalo  Grove  and  Bloomingville  (now  Byron),  all  com- 
bined against  Oregon.  A  great  deal  of  hard  feeling  grew  out  of  this  election 
that  lasted  until  Lee  County  was  set  off  and  erected  into  an  independent 
county  (1839).  One  man  became  so  boisterous  and  pugilistic  towards  his 
brother  that  he  was  tied  with  a  rope.  It  was  the  noisiest,  roughest,  most  ex- 
citing election  ever  held  in  the  county." 

As  Dixon  controlled  the  situation,  the  sessions  of  the  Circuit  and  County 
courts  were  held  in  its  schoolhouse.  The  new  county  was  laid  off  into  various 
election  precincts,  roads  were  "viewed,"  and  licenses  granted  for  taverns, 
groceries,  the  sale  of  liquor,  etc.  Oregon  was  still  anxious  to  get  the  upper 
hand  in  all  county  affairs  and  the  meeting  of  the  county  commissioners  there 
did  not  satisfy  her  ambition.  The  opposition  of  the  other  towns  was  finally 
transformed  into  efforts  not  to  snatch  the  county  seat  from  Oregon,  but  to 
secure  the  formation  of  a  new  county  with  Dixon  as  its  seat  of  justice. 

The  feud  between  Oregon  and  Dixon  extended  even  to  the  women  and 
children.  To  illustrate  the  situation,  Stevens  says  in  his  history  of  Lee  County: 
"The  story  is  told  to  the  effect  that  one  day  John  Phelps  had  come  to  Dixon 
on  business.  Father  Dixon  kept  the  only  tavern  in  the  place.  Phelps  was 
hungry.  Father  Dixon  was  absent,  but  just  the  same  Phelps  did  not  want  to 
enter;  but  he  had  to.  During  the  meal,  Mrs.  Dixon  is  reported  as  remarking 
to  Phelps:  'It  is  a  good  thing  for  you,  Mr.  Phelps,  that  Mr.  Dixon  is  not 
home  today,  for,  if  he  was,  you  would  get  hurt.     There  would  be  a  fuss.' 

"To  which  Mr.  Phelps  is  reported  as  replying,  'It  is  a  good  thing  for  Mr. 
Dixon,  Madam,  that  he  is  not  at  home,  for  if  he  was  he  surely  would  be  hurt. 
I  was  bom  in  a  fuss  and  nothing  pleases  me  better  than  to  be  engaged  in  a  fuss. ' 

"There  may  be  considerable  improbability  about  this  story,  but,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  the  climax  which  brought  matters  to  a  focus  was  enacted  in  Galena. 
While  there,  Phelps  discovered  the  plans  of  Mr.  Dixon  by  reading  a  posted 
notice  to  the  effect  that  at  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature  a  bill  would  be 
introduced  for  the  formation  of  a  new  county  which  would  include  Oregon 
on  its  northernmost  line.  Immediately  Phelps  posted  other  notices  to  the 
effect  that  ;it  the  next  meeting  of  the  Legislature  he  would  apply  for  a  division 
of  the  countv  whose  south  line  would  include  Dixon  on  its  extreme  southern 


160  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

limit.  At  once,  Mr.  Dixon  sought  Phelps  and  the  agreement  was  made  that 
an  equitable  division  should  be  made  which  would  give  to  Oregon  the  county 
seat  of  Ogle  and  to  Dixon,  the  seat  of  the  new  county." 

THE  FIRST  BOCK  ISLAND   COUNTY 

In  the  meantime,  various  other  strips  had  been  carved  from  the  original 
body  of  Jo  Daviess  County,  both  from  the  northeast  and  the  southwest.  The 
first,  Rock  Island  County,  was  formed  by  legislative  act  of  February  9,  1831. 
At  that  time,  Black  Hawk  and  his  warriors  were  in  ferment,  although  the  Sauk 
had  not  formally  broken  bounds  and  ventured  into  the  country  east  of  the 
Mississippi ;  but  in  the  spring  after  the  creation  of  the  county,  and  while  it 
was  still  attached  to  Jo  Daviess  for  judicial  purposes,  Black  Hawk  performed 
his  act  of  aggression  in  crossing  the  Mississippi  and  the  State  and  the  United 
States  combined  to  suppress  him  and  his  followers.  Rock  Island  was  the 
rendezvous  for  the  military  forces  which  were  to  move  up  the  Rock  River 
Valley  after  the  fugitive  Indians. 

Until  several  months  after  the  conclusion  of  hostilities,  the  civil  matters 
of  the  created  but  not  organized  county  were  held  in  abeyance.  In  1833,  by 
act  of  the  General  Assembly,  the  bounds  of  Rock  Island  County  were  thus 
defined:  Beginning  in  the  channel  of  the  Mississippi  River  on  the  north  line 
of  Township  15  north  and  west  of  the  Fourth  Principal  Meridian;  thence 
running  eastwardly  on  said  line  to  the  Fourth  Principal  Meridian ;  thence  north 
to  the  middle  of  the  channel  of  Rock  River;  thence  up  the  middle  of  the 
channel  of  said  river  to  the  Marais  d  'Osier  slough ;  thence  along  the  middle 
of  said  slough  to  the  middle  of  the  channel  of  the  Mississippi  River;  thence 
down  along  the  middle  of  said  channel  to  the  place  of  beginning. 

The  act  fixing  the  boundaries  of  the  county  provided  for  its  organization. 
Notice  was  given  that  the  voters  meet  at  the  house  of  John  Barrel,  in  Farn- 
hamsburg,  on  Monday,  July  5,  1833,  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  three  county 
commissioners,  a  sheriff,  a  coroner,  three  justices  of  the  peace  and  three  con- 
stables. The  election  was  duly  held  and  the  sixty-five  voters  cast  their  ballots 
with  more  or  less  regularity.  The  following  officers  were  selected :  George 
Davenport,  John  W.  Spencer,  and  George  W.  Harlan,  county  commissioners: 
Benjamin  F.  Pike,  sheriff;  Levi  Wells,  coroner;  George  W.  Harlan,  J.  B.  Pat- 
terson and  Joel  Wells,  Jr.,  justices  of  the  peace;  George  V.  Miller,  Hunt- 
ington Wells  and  Edward  Corbin,  constables. 

"At  this  election,"  says  Robert  W.  Olmsted  in  a  history  of  Rock  Island 
issued  by  the  Munsell  Publishing  Company,  "there  were  two  tickets,  one  rep- 
resenting a  settlement  on  the  island  (Farnhamsburg)  and  the  other  the  Hamp- 
ton settlement  (on  the  mainland).  An  incident  occurred  upon  this  occasion 
which  might  have  ended  disastrously.  An  arrangement  was  made  by  which 
Mr.  Davenport,  representing  the  Island  parties,  was  to  signal  certain  persons 
upon  the  island  should  their  votes  be  needed.  Believing  it  necessary  that  they 
should  vote,  Mr.  Davenport  took  his  handkerchief  and  made  the  required  signal. 
He  was  discovered  by  the  Hampton  party,  who  misunderstood  it,  thinking  it 
to  be  a  signal  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  fort  to  come  to  the  aid  of  the 
Davenport  party.  They  determined  at  once  to  frustrate  such  an  attempt  by 
forcibly   seizing  the  polls.     The   clerks  of  election    (Joseph   Conway    and  W. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  161 

Thompson),  apprised  of  their  intention,  substituted  other  blanks  for  those  they 
had  made.  The  substitute  was  seized  by  the  Hampton  party,  who  mounted 
their  horses  and  rode  hastily  away,  followed  by  some  of  the  Island  party  anx- 
ious to  overtake  them.  When  out  of  sight,  the  regular  poll  book  was  produced 
by  the  clerks  and  election  continued,  the  Island  party  arriving  and  depositing 
their  votes,  thus  electing  their  candidates." 

The  commissioners-elect  met  on  July  8,  1833,  at  the  Barrel  house,  Farnhams- 
burg,  and  after  taking  the  oath  of  office  appointed  Joseph  Conway  clerk  of 
their  court.  The  bonds  of  the  various  officers  were  approved  and  Joseph 
Wells,  Sr.,  was  appointed  treasurer  and  assessor.  The  county  was  now  fully 
organized  and  ready  for  business,  and  three  years  afterward  the  original  terri- 
tory of  Jo  Daviess  County  was  to  be  carved  into  five  other  political  sections, 
of  which  three  of  the  counties  were  in  the  Rock  River  valley. 

On  the  16th  of  January,  1836,  a  legislative  act  was  approved  and  went  into 
force  which  provided  for  the  organization  of  McHenry,  Kane,  Winnebago,  Ogle 
and  Whiteside.  The  succession  leading  to  the  organization  of  Ogle  County  has 
already  been  traced.  That  portion  of  Winnebago  County  west  of  the  Third 
Principal  Meridian  was  taken  from  Jo  Daviess  County ;  the  portion  east  of  that 
line,  from  La  Salle  County.  The  northern  and  southern  boundaries  were  the 
^;nne  as  at  present.  From  east  to  west,  the  territory  of  Winnebago  county 
included  nearly  twice  its  area  of  today,  embracing  all  of  Boone  County  and 
the  eastern  two  township  ranges  of  Stephenson  County. 

CREATION    OF   OLD   WINNEBAGO    COUNTY 

The  legal  description  of  Winnebago  County,  as  defined  by  the  act  of  1836, 
was  as  follows:  Commencing  at  the  southeast  corner  of  township  43,  range  4, 
east  of  the  Third  Principal  Meridian,  and  running  thence  west  to  said  meridian; 
thence  north  along  the  line  of  said  meridian  to  the  southeast  corner  of  town- 
ship 26,  in  range  11,  east  of  the  Fourth  Principal  Meridian ;  thence  west  to 
the  dividing  line  between  ranges  7  and  8 ;  thence  north  along  said  line  to  the 
northern  boundary  of  the  State;  thence  east  along  said  boundary  line  to  the 
northeast  corner  of  Range  4,  east  of  the  Third  Principal  Meridian;  thence 
south  to  the  place  of  beginning. 

No  county  created  by  the  act  of  January  16,  1836,  was  to  be  civilly  organized 
until  a  majority  of  the  voters  residing  in  the  territory  of  the  proposed  county 
had  addressed  a  petition  to  the  judge  of  the  Sixth  Judicial  Circuit,  or,  in  the 
absence  of  Judge  Ford,  to  another  circuit  judge,  requesting  authority  to  take 
such  action.  Before  it  could  be  granted,  the  voters  must  furnish  proof  that 
there  were  350  white  inhabitants  in  the  proposed  county.  Dr.  Daniel  H.  Whit- 
ney, of  Belvidere,  canvassed  the  territory  and  by  a  diligent  search  discovered 
the  required  number  of  inhabitants  and  furnished  the  proofs  thereof  to  Judge 
Ford. 

Therefore,  on  July  15,  1836,  the  incumbent  of  the  Sixth  Judicial  Circuit 
issued  an  order  for  an  election  to  be  held  at  the  house  of  Daniel  S.  Haight  on 
the  first  .Monday  in  August.  This  order  issued  by  Judge  Ford  taking  the  first 
step  in  the  creation  of  the  body  politic  of  Winnebago  County  has  been  framed 
and  is  still  preserved  (?)  in  the  office  of  the  circuit  clerk. 


162  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

East  and  West  Rockford  were  already  in  the  making.  Germanicus  Kent,  an 
Alabaman,  and  Thatcher  Blake,  a  Maine  Yankee,  had  wandered  from  Galena, 
made  their  claims  on  the  west  side  of  Rock  River  and  were  busy  promoting  a 
settlement  at  that  point.  A  little  later  had  come  Daniel  S.  Haight,  a  New 
Yorker  and  an  early  settler  of  Kane  County  in  the  Geneva  region.  He  had 
become  the  father  of  the  east  settlement.  Haig-htville  and  Kentville  were  the 
only  rivals  at  that  time  for  county  seat  honors.  Besides  this  stirring  matter 
to  be  decided,  was  the  election  of  the  county  officers,  two  representatives  for 
the  State  Legislature  and  a  member  of  Congress. 

This  was  a  day,  "big  with  events"  for  Winnebago  County,  and  as  the  occa- 
sion has  been  well  analyzed  by  the  late  Charles  A.  Church,  his  story  is  here 
borrowed:  "The  election  was  held  on  Monday,  August  1,  1836,  in  a  decidedly 
primitive  manner.  Written  or  printed  ballots  had  not  then  been  introduced 
into  Illinois.  Under  the  old  constitution,  all  votes  were  to  be  given  viva  voce 
until  otherwise  provided  by  the  General  Assembly ;  and  up  to  this  time  no 
change  had  been  made.  This  method  kept  the  interest  at  a  high  pitch,  and 
enabled  the  voters  to  tell  at  any  moment  the  relative  strength  of  the  several 
candidates.  It  is  a  gigantic  stride  from  the  viva  voce  system  of  1836  to  the 
Australian  ballot  of  today.  At  that  time  there  was  not  a  copy  of  the  Illinois 
statutes  in  the  county  to  direct  the  judges  of  election  (Germanicus  Kent, 
Joseph  P.  Griggs  and  Robert  J.  Cross)  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties.  Mr. 
Kent,  however,  knew  something  of  the  election  laws  of  Virginia  and  Alabama ; 
Robert  J.  Cross  was  familiar  with  those  of  New  York  and  Michigan  and  Mr. 
Griggs  was  acquainted  with  the  laws  of  Ohio.  The  election,  therefore,  was 
not  allowed  to  go  by  default  for  so  slight  a  cause  as  ignorance  of  the  laws  of 
their  adopted  State. 

"D.  A.  Spaulding  had  some  acquaintance  with  the  laws  of  Illinois,  and  he 
was  made  one  of  the  clerks  of  election  and  entrusted  with  the  duty  of  making 
the  poll  books.  Simon  P.  Doty,  Thomas  B.  Talcott  and  William  E.  Dunbar 
were  elected  county  commissioners ;  Daniel  S.  Haight,  sheriff ;  Daniel  H.  Whit- 
ney, recorder;  Eliphalet  Gregory,  coroner;  D.  A.  Spaulding,  surveyor.  There 
were  120  votes  cast  at  the  election." 

THREE   CONGRESSIONAL  DISTRICTS 

At  the  time  of  the  election  in  1836,  the  State  had  been  divided  into  three 
congressional  districts.  The  Third  District,  which  included  Winnebago,  extended 
from  the  Wisconsin  boundary  to  a  line  below  Springfield,  and  entirely  across 
the  State  from  east  to  west.  At  the  election  named,  William  L.  May,  the 
democratic  candidate  for  Congress  received  seventy-three  votes  in  Winnebago 
County  and  John  T.  Stuart,  the  whig,  forty-four.  The  home  of  the  congress- 
man-elect was  in  Springfield.  He  was  elected  to  complete  the  term  of  Joseph 
Duncan,  resigned. 

LEGISLATIVE  REPRESENTATION 

Previous  to  1840,  the  senatorial  district  of  which  Winnebago  County  formed 
a  part,  included  the  entire  Rock  River  Valley,  as  well  as  a  large  tract  below 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  163 

the  mouth  of  the  Bock  River.  This  vast  area  extending  from  Dubuque  almost 
to  St.  Louis,  gauged  by  the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi,  was  entitled  to 
one  senator  and  two  representatives  in  the  Legislature.  At  the  general  election 
of  1836,  Winnebago  County  was  attached  politically  to  Jo  Daviess.  A.  G.  S. 
Wriirlit  was  elected  senator  and  Elijah  Charles  and  James  Craig,  representa- 
tives. 

WHITESIDE   COUNTY   IN   THE   FORMING 

The  act  of  January  16,  1836,  by  which  Whiteside  was  carved  from  the  west- 
ern portions  of  old  Jo  Daviess  County,  defines  the  bounds  of  the  new  county 
as  at  present  constituted,  viz.:  "All  the  tract  of  country  within  the  following 
boundary,  to-wit :  Commencing  at  the  southeast  corner  of  township  19,  north 
of  range  7  east  of  the  Fourth  Principal  Meridian;  thence  west  with  the  said 
township  line  to  Rock  River;  thence  down  the  middle  of  Rock  River  to  the 
middle  of  the  Meredosia  with  the  line  of  Rock  Island  County  to  the  Mississippi 
River;  thence  along  the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the  Mississippi  River 
to  the  point  where  the  north  line  of  township  22  intersects  the  same;  thence 
east  with  said  last  mentioned  township  line  to  the  southeast  corner  of  township 
23 ;  thence  south  with  the  line  between  ranges  7  and  8  to  the  point  of  beginning, 
shall  constitute  a  county  to  be  called  Whiteside." 

The  county  honored  the  name  of  General  Samuel  Whiteside,  the  famous 
fig liter  and  subsequently  citizen  of  civil  prominence.  During  the  first  year  of 
the  Civil  war,  the  General  died  near  the  home  of  his  daughter  in  Christian 
County,  Illinois. 

The  creative  act  provided  that  until  the  county  should  be  organized  it 
should  be  attached  to  Jo  Daviess  for  election  purposes  and,  upon  the  organiza- 
tion of  Ogle  County,  to  the  latter,,  for  judicial  and  county  purposes.  The  latter 
provision  was  carried  out  upon  the  full  organization  of  Ogle  County  in  Dec  em - 
ber,  1836. 

LIVELY    COUNTY   SEAT    CONTEST    IN    WHITESIDE 

It  was  not  until  May  6,  1839,  that  Whiteside  elected  its  first  county  officers, 
and  thus  severed  its  connection  with  Ogle  County.  It  was  then  divided  into 
Albany,  Elkhorn,  Fulton,  Genesee,  Little  Rock,  Portland  and  Union  Grove 
precincts.  At  this  first  election  a  vote  was  also  taken  to  determine  the  loca- 
tion for  a  seat  of  justice  of  the  new  county,  but  none  of  the  candidates  re- 
ceived  ;i  majority  of  the  ballots  east,  and  four  more  elections  were  held  before 
the  following  September.  Then  Lyndon  was  declared  the  "permanent  county 
seal  "  by  the  two  justices  of  the  peace  named  in  the  act  for  making  such  deci- 
sion. The  town  thus  designated  was  admirably  located  nearly  in  the  center  of 
the  county,  a  short  distance  beyond  Prophetstown,  on  the  north  shores  of  Rock 
River,  with  a  fine  water  power  at  its  disposal.  It  was  for  years  one  of  the  most 
promising  points  in  the  valley.  A  little  courthouse  one  and  a  half  stories  high 
was  erected  for  court,  county  and  public  purposes,  and  Lyndon  remained  the 
county  seat  until  June,  1841,  when  the  honors  were  transferred  to  Sterling,  also 
on  Rock  River,  but  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county. 

The  proprietors  of  the  Town  of  Sterling  had  made  rather  generous  offers 

Vol.  I— 11 


164  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

to  the  county  commissioners  as  an  inducement  to  secure  the  location — sixty 
acres  of  land  and  $1,000  to  each  of  the  commissioners  for  county  purposes — and 
in  1840  the  champions  of  the  town  farther  up  the  river  applied  to  the  County 
Commissioners'  Court  for  a  recanvass  of  the  vote  by  which  Lyndon  claimed  to 
be  the  seat  of  justice.  The  application  was  granted.  The  votes  of  one  of  the 
precincts  in  the  final  canvass  of  1839  had  been  rejected  as  illegal,  which  had 
given  the  county  seat  to  Lyndon.  In  February,  1840,  a  commissioner  was 
elected  whose  vote  gave  Sterling  a  majority  in  the  court;  in  the  recanvass 
which  was  ordered  the  rejected  precinct  was  counted,  with  the  result  that 
Lyndon  received  only  253  votes  as  against  264  cast  for  Sterling.  Announce- 
ment to  that  effect  was  made  by  the  county  commissioners  April  8,  1841,  and 
a  month  later  they  commenced  to  meet  at  the  new  seat  of  justice.  But  in  the 
fall  of  1842  Lyndon  again  had  a  majority  of  the  County  Commissioners'  Court, 
resumed  its  county  seat  honors  and  in  December  was  holding  its  sessions  there. 
The  1843  General  Assembly  reopened  the  question,  and  appointed  G.  W.  Harri- 
son and  John  McDonald,  of  Jo  Daviess  County,  Joshua  Harper,  of  Henry 
County,  Leonard  Andrus  of  Ogle  County  and  R.  H.  Spicer  of  Mercer  County, 
as  commissioners  to  locate  the  seat  of  justice  of  Whiteside.  According  to  the 
provisions  of  the  act  under  which  they  received  their  authority,  Messrs.  Harper, 
Andrus  and  Spicer  met  at  the  Town  of  Albany,  Whiteside  County,  to  examine 
the  different  locations,  and  again  decided  upon  Lyndon.  As  also  required  by 
the  act,  Lyndon  donated  forty  acres  of  land  for  public  purposes,  but  no  county 
buildings  were  erected  on  the  tract,  and  the  county  seat  question  was  still 
unsolved. 

Then,  on  April  14,  1846,  the  county  commissioners  entered  an  order  that 
the  grand  and  petit  jurors  elected  at  their  March  term  should  attend  the  May 
term  of  the  Circuit  Court  at  Sterling,  instead  of  Lyndon,  as  the  public  build- 
ings erected  at  the  former  place  had  been  accepted  and  none  had  been  pro- 
vided at  Lyndon.  A  compromise  was  effected  by  which  the  terms  of  the  Circuit 
Court  were  held  at  Sterling  and  the  county  commissioners  held  their  sessions 
at  Lyndon. 

Then  the  fight  became  merrier  than  ever.  Lyndon  was  determined  not  to 
yield  to  the  order  of  the  commissioners  without  a  struggle,  and,  through  two  of 
her  citizens,  applied  for  a  mandamus  compelling  the  commissioners  to  relocate 
the  headquarters  of  the  Circuit  Court  in  their  town;  at  the  county  seat  last 
selected  under  authority  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State.  The  Court  refused 
to  grant  the  writ  on  the  ground  that  the  buildings  used  for  county  purposes  at 
Lyndon  were  not  upon  the  ground  donated  for  that  purpose,  as  required  bv 
statute.  Sterling  made  the  next  move.  The  result  was  the  passage  of  an  act 
by  the  General  Assembly,  approved  in  February,  1847,  making  Sterling  the 
county  seat  until  the  county  should  pay  that  town  for  the  lands  and  money 
donated  as  an  inducement  to  locate  the  seat  of  justice  there.  The  county  seat 
was  therefore  again  moved  to  Sterling,  the  first  meeting  of  the  commissioners 
being  held  in  September  of  that  year.  The  courthouse  at  Sterling  had  been 
finished  and  furnished  for  county  and  judicial  purposes,  so  that  comfortable 
and  convenient  quarters  were  afforded  to  all  having  business  with  the  county  or 
the  courts.  But  as  no  steps  were  taken  by  the  county  to  reimburse  the  Town 
of  Sterling,  the  arrangement  was  still  a  temporary  matter. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  V AT/LEY  165 

Lyndon  therefore  took  the  offensive  in  1849.  On  February  6th  of  that  year, 
another  legislative  act  was  approved  to  "permanently"  locate  the  seat  of  justice 
of  Whiteside  County.  It  provided  for  an  election  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  April, 
1849,  to  determine  whether  the  permanent  county  seat  should  be  at  Lyndon  or 
Sterling,  "the  latter  place  being  the  then  temporary  seat  of  justice."  Lyndon, 
through  its  citizens,  James  M.  Pratt  and  Augustine  Smith,  offered  to  donate 
fifty  acres,  and  the  town,  as  a  body,  $1,432  in  cash,  for  county  purposes.  The 
election  was  held  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  act  and  resulted  in  the 
eleven  precincts  casting  a  vote  of  519  for  Sterling  and  451  for  Lyndon;  majority 
of  68  for  Sterling.  The  main  strength  of  Lyndon's  support  came  from  the 
precinct  in  which  the  town  was  situated  and  the  adjoining  precincts  of  Prophets- 
town  and  Portland  to  the  southwest,  while  Sterling  drew  from  its  own  imme- 
diate territory  to  the  northeast,  as  well  as  from  Union  Grove,  Albany  and 
Round  Grove  precincts,  in  the  western  and  northwestern  portions  of  the  county. 

For  eight  years,  Sterling  remained  undisturbed  as  the  county  seat  of  "White- 
side. In  the  meantime,  a  new  rival  had  appeared  in  the  field,  and,  since  the 
railroads  of  Illinois  were  up  and  going,  it  was  no  longer  necessary  that  its 
seat  of  justice  should  be  located  on  Rock  River.  The  Chicago  &  North  "Western 
line  had  been  pushed  through  Northern  Illinois  and  the  Town  of  Morrison  sur- 
veyed and  platted  as  a  growing  station.  In  October,  1855,  the  young  town 
welcomed  its  first  railroad  train,  and  within  two  years  the  future  of  Morrison 
was  assured. 

At  the  general  election  of  November  3,  1857,  the  voters  of  Whiteside  County 
were  required  to  express  their  wish  as  to  the  removal  of  the  county  seat  from 
Sterling  to  Morrison.  It  was  provided  in  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly 
calling  for  such  expression  that  the  removal  should  not  take  place  until  the 
Town  of  Morrison  had  deeded  a  tract  of  land  in  section  18,  not  less  than  three 
hundred  feet  square,  as  a  site  for  county  buildings,  and  also  paid  to  the 
county  the  sum  of  $3,000  to  be  applied  toward  paying  for  their  erection. 

The  result  of  the  election  was  close,  the  majority  in  favor  of  removal  to 
Morrison  being  only  59.    For  removal,  the  votes  numbered  1,631 ;  against,  1,572. 

All  the  conditions  having  been  complied  with,  the  county  offices  were  moved 
to  Morrison  on  the  3d  of  May,  1858,  thus  concluding  a  contest  which  had  ebbed 
and  flowed,  with  more  or  less  commotion,  for  a  period  of  twenty  years. 

OLD   AND   NEW   HENRY    COUNTY 

The  commotion  in  the  lower  valley  of  the  Rock  River  was  noticeable  outside 
of  Rock  Island  and  Whiteside  counties.  Much  of  it  centered  in  the  territory 
which  was  gradually  reduced  to  the  Henry  County  of  today.  Old  Henry 
County  was  created  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  approved  January  13, 

1825,  which  also  brought  into  political  being  Knox,  Peoria,  Putnam,  Schuyler 
and  Warren  counties.  The  Henry  County  of  that  year  embraced  what  is  now 
most  of  Henry,  part  of  Whiteside,  part  of  Carroll  and  most  of  Jo  Daviess 
counties.     Its  territory  was  taken  from  both  Pike  and  Fulton  counties.      In 

1826,  a  voting  precinct  was  established  at  Galena  by  the  County  Commissioners' 
Court  of  Henry  County  and  called  the  Fever  River  Precinct.  This  was  the 
first  election  precinct  in  Northwestern  Illinois.     In  1827  the  Galena  settlement 


166  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

had  sufficient  population  to  warrant  a  petition  to  the  General  Assembly  pray- 
ing for  separate  county  organization  with  Galena  as  the  seat  of  justice.  This 
was  granted  by  forming  Jo  Daviess  County  the  territory  of  which  in  the  Rock 
River  Valley  was  subdivided  toward  the  east  and  south. 

Henry  County  was  attached  to  B\ilton  for  judicial  purposes  in  1831.  Its 
northern  and  northwestern  boundaries  were  defined  by  the  Rock  River  in  1835 
and  in  the  following  year,  by  the  establishment  of  the  limits  of  Whiteside 
County,  it  assumed  its  present  form  and  area.  In  June,  1837,  the  county  com- 
missioners first  met  at  Dayton  and  in  October  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
locate  the  seat  of  justice.  Besides  Dayton,  were  Andover,  Geneseo,  Morristown, 
Ford  and  Richmond — all,  perhaps,  worthy  of  consideration;  but,  as  is  often 
the  case,  politics  played  the  leading  role  in  the  selection. 

It  seems  that  the  year  before,  James  M.  Allan  laid  his  plans  to  locate  a 
county  seat  near  the  geographical  center  of  the  political  division  which  had 
honored  the  hero  of  the  Black  Hawk  war.  Mr.  Allan  therefore  mounted  his 
horse  and  rode  until  he  found  an  established  corner  in  Sugar  Tree  Grove  and 
from  that  point,  guided  by  a  pocket  compass,  traveled  due  north,  counting  the 
steps  of  his  horse  until  he  reached,  as  he  supposed,  section  17,  township  16 
north,  3  east,  about  five  miles  from  where  he  started ;  and  this  led  him  into  a 
rise  in  the  middle  of  a  beautiful  prairie.  He  had  made  no  error  in  his  meas- 
urement and  he  afterward  entered  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  17.  There 
he  staked  out  a  town  which  he  called  Richmond,  and  which  was  henceforth  a 
standing  candidate  for  the  county  seat. 

i  COUNTY   SEAT   CONTESTANTS 

As  required,  the  commissioners  to  locate  the  seat  of  justice  met  at  Richmond 
and  viewed  the  different  sites.  Major  Allan  won,  in  pugilistic  parlance,  with 
"his  hands  down."  He  deeded  120  acres  of  his  section  to  the  county;  also 
three  lots  to  George  Harris  provided  he  erect  a  hotel  on  the  site  by  June  1st. 
Mr.  Harris  was  also  to  build  a  courthouse,  18  by  24  feet,  one  and  a  half  stories 
in  height.  It  burned  before  it  was  completed  and  the  Harris  house  was  used 
both  for  court  and  jail.  The  first  Circuit  Court  for  Henry  County  commenced 
its  session  in  April,  1839,  with  Thomas  Ford  presiding  and  James  M.  Allan, 
clerk. 

Finally,  nothing  was  left  of  Richmond  except  a  straw-covered  stable,  and 
at  a  meeting  of  the  commissioners  held  in  Andover,  a  short  distance  southwest 
of  the  present  Cambridge,  it  was  resolved  to  change  the  location  of  the  county 
seat.  Geneseo  then  became  the  temporary  seat  of  justice,  although  the  County 
Court  held  one  session  at  the  Richmond  stable.  After  the  Legislature  had 
legalized  the  acts  passed  at  Geneseo,  it  passed  a  measure  to  formally  relocate 
the  county  seat.  The  contest  was  between  Morristown  and  Geneseo,  the  former 
being  an  easy  victor.  Geneseo  offered  its  fair  grounds  and  buildings  to  be 
transformed  into  county  property,  while  Morristown  proposed  to  give  an  entire 
quarter  section  and  one  thousand  dollars  in  cash  as  inducements  for  the  loca- 
tion. Morristown  also  stipulated  that  a  public  house  should  be  erected  out  of 
the  fund  arising  from  her  donations,  and  that  all  colonists  who  bought  lots 
should  erect  houses.    The  latter  proviso  brought  little  practical  result  and  only 


THE  BOCK  RIVER  VALLEY  167 

three  or  four  houses  were  built.  That  Geneseo's  defeat  mighl  be  smoothed, 
the  Circuit  Court  was  allowed  to  meet  there  until  the  fall  of  1841. 

At  its  completion,  the  public  house  at  Morristown  was  conveyed  to  the 
( (unit y  and  used  for  court  and  public  purposes  for  two  years,  or  until  the  court- 
bouse  was  finished.  That  structure  was  18  by  24  feet  on  the  ground,  and  a 
story  and  a  half,  above;  but  those  were  the  days  of  little  and  slow  things. 

Now  Judge  Joseph  Tillson  had  started  a  settlement  at  Sugar  Creek  Grove, 
prettily  located  and  situated  almost  in  the  geographical  center  of  the  county. 
In  the  winter  of  1843,  he  forwarded  a  bill  to  Colonel  Buford,  of  Rock  Island, 
who  represented  the  senatorial  district  in  the  Legislature,  to  relocate  the  seat 
of  justice  of  Henry  County.  Joshua  Harper  represented  the  interests  of  the 
new  claimant  for  the  county  seat  in  the  lower  house.  On  February  21,  1843, 
the  bill  passed  both  houses  of  the  Legislature  providing  as  a  site  for  that  pur- 
pose, eighty  acres  of  section  7,  township  15,  3  east — forty  acres  from  the  north- 
west quarter  and  another  forty  from  the  southwest  quarter.  The  bill  also 
stipulated  that  the  courts  should  be  held  at  Morristown  until  buildings  couM 
be  provided  at  the  new  location. 

In  June,  1843,  Judge  Tillson,  who  came  of  an  old  Massachusetts  family, 
surveyed  and  platted  the  new  county  seat  under  the  name  of  Cambridge;  and 
rs  these  were  also  the  days  of  close  economy  certain  thrifty  citizens  made  the 
proposition  to  move  the  little  courthouse  at  Morristown,  still  incomplete,  to 
the  Cambridge  site.  The  citizens  of  Cambridge  were  to  have  the  building  and 
furnish  a  court  room  in  it  until  more  permanent  quarters  could  be  provided. 
The  courthouse  was  moved  without  much  difficulty  or  any  startling  event  on 
the  5th  of  September,  1843,  and  used  for  county  purposes  for  nearly  two  years, 
or  until  the  new  building  was  completed  in  July,  1845.  With  the  growth  of 
the  county,  a  more  commodious  structure  was  required  for  county  purposes,  and, 
for  many  years,  the  second  courthouse  was  used  for  educational  purposes,  as 
a  town  hall  and  a  community  church. 

Cambridge  has  remained  the  county  seat  since  1843,  and  that  year  marks 
the  establishment  of  Henry  County  as  it  is  known  today. 

CARVING    OF    BOONE    COUNTY    FROM    WINNEBAGO 

The  next  developments  in  county  division  and  organization  relate  to  the 
upper  portion  of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  and  include  the  carving  of  Boone 
County  from  Winnebago  and  the  formation  of  Lee  from  Ogle.  The  legislative 
act  of  March  4,  1837,  provided  for  the  reorganization  of  Winnebago  County 
(erected  January  16,  1836),  and  the  creation  of  Stephenson  and  Boone.  The 
first  section  of  the  act  creates  Stephenson  County  from  the  eastern  portion  of 
Jo  Daviess  and  the  western  two  ranges  of  Winnebago.  The  third  section 
defined  the  boundaries  of  Boone  County  as  they  now  exist,  except  the  mile 
vtrip  on  the  west.  This  reads  as  follows:  "Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  represented  in  the  General  Assembly,  that  all  that  tract  of 
country  beginning  at  the  northeast  corner  of  township  46  north,  range  4  east ; 
thence  south  with  the  line  dividing  ranges  4  and  5  east,  to  the  southwest  corner 
of  township  43  north ;  thence  west  on  said  line  to  the  southeast  corner  of  Winne- 
bago County;  thence  north  to  the  place  of  beginning  on  the  north  boundary 


168  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

of  the  State,  shall  form  a  county  to  be  called  Boone,  in  honor  of  Colonel  Daniel 
Boone,  the  first  settler  of  the  State  of  Kentucky.  Thus  established,  Boone 
County  was  eleven  miles  wide  (east  to  west)  and  twenty-four  miles  long  (north 
to  south).  The  strip  of  country  a  mile  wide  to  the  eastern  boundary  of  Winne- 
bago was  claimed  by  Boone,  on  the  ground  of  errors  made  in  the  records  of 
the  Government  surveys.  Whatever  the  merits  of  the  case  between  Winnebago 
and  Boone  counties,  the  General  Assembly  passed  an  act  which  was  approved 
February  28,  1843,  and  was  designed  to  settle  the  dispute  and  purge  away  much 
bitterness  which  had  arisen  as  a  result  of  it. 

The  measure  noted  provided  for  an  election  to  be  held  at  the  house  of  Sam- 
uel Keith,  in  the  village  of  Newburg,  Winnebago  County,  on  the  succeeding 
4th  of  May,  to  determine  the  question  of  annexation  to  Boone  County.  Only 
those  could  vote  who  resided  in  the  disputed  strip.  "As  the  day  of  election 
drew  nigh,"  says  a  history  of  Boone  County  published  in  1877,  "the  interest, 
especially  among  the  people  of  Belvidere  (the  seat  of  justice),  grew  in  intensity. 
Every  man  of  influence,  character  and  intelligence,  that  could  be  available  in 
any  way,  was  sent  over  to  work  among  the  settlers  on  the  strip.  Those  of  the 
Winnebago  people  who  were  unfriendly  to  the  annexation  scheme  were  equally 
earnest  in  their  efforts.  'Noses  were  counted,'  and  so  equally  divided  did  the 
settlers  seem  to  be  that  neither  party  felt  assured  of  success.  The  drift  of 
public  sentiment  among  the  settlers  on  the  strip,  however,  seemed  to  settle 
toward  Boone  County,  and  thus  imbued  the  Belvidere  people  with  renewed 
energy.  Argument,  entreaty,  figures,  advantages  and  every  sort  of  inducement, 
were  held  out  to  the  settlers.  Finally  the  day  that  was  to  decide  the  issue 
came.  Every  settler  entitled  to  vote  was  brought  out.  When  the  polls  were 
declared  closed  and  the  ballots  counted,  the  tally  sheet  showed  that  95  votes 
had  been  cast,  of  which  51  votes  were  for  annexation  to  Boone  County  and 
44  votes  against — a  majority  of  7  in  favor  of  annexation." 

The  result  of  this  election  fixed  the  area  of  Boone  County  as  it  now  is. 
Both  before  and  after  1843,  efforts  were  made  to  extend  her  eastern  boundaries 
at  the  expense  of  McHenry  County,  but  they  were  of  no  avail. 

The  chief  excitement  in  the  early  years  of  Boone  County  as  a  political  body 
was  over  the  western  mile  strip  which  was  especially  claimed  by  the  little  settle- 
ment and  pioneer  postoffice  on  the  Chicago  &  Galena  stage  route  on  the  banks 
of  the  Kishwaukee  River.  It  had  been  platted  and  mills  built  by  the  Belvidere 
Company  and  was  the  only  town  of  any  promise  in  the  unorganized  county  of 
Boone.  Before  its  first  election  occurred  it  was  attached  to  Jo  Daviess  County 
and  was  all  included  in  the  precinct  of  Belvidere.  The  act  of  1837  which 
created  Boone  County  provided  that  an  election  for  its  first  set  of  officers 
should  be  held  at  the  house  of  Simon  P.  Doty,  one  of  the  organizers  of  the 
Belvidere  Company  and  a  founder  of  the  town,  on  the  first  Monday  of  May, 
1837. 

In  those  days  voters  literally  spoke  their  minds,  as  there  were  no  printed 
or  written  ballots.  The  polls  were  opened  in  Mr.  Doty's  house  at  the  appointed 
hour  and  the  preferences  of  the  voters  were  duly  recorded  until  evening.  Result 
of  the  election :  Milton  S.  Mason,  Cornelius  Cline  and  John  Q.  A.  Rollins, 
chosen  county  commissioners;  Simon  P.  Doty,  sheriff;  John  Handy,  coroner; 
Seth  S.  Whitman,  recorder;  S.  P.  Hyde,  county  surveyor.    On  the  3d  of  May, 


THE  EtOCK  RIVEE  VALLEY  169 

.Mr.  Mason  administered  the  oath  of  office  to  Messrs.  Cline  and  Rollins,  and  Mr. 
Rollins  did  the  same  favor  for  Mr.  Mason.  Dr.  Daniel  H.  Whitney  qualified 
as  clerk  of  the  Commissioners'  Court  and  the  transaction  of  county  business 
commenced.  Boone  County  was  thus  organized  and  became  independent  of 
Jo  Daviess  for  all  time.  Belvidere  precinct  was  divided,  the  four  north  town- 
ahipa  of  the  county  being  formed  into  Lambertsburg  precinct.  The  new  pre- 
cinct took  its  name  from  the  brothers,  James  B.  and  Jeremiah  Lambert,  who 
had  taken  claims  in  what  is  now  Leroy  Township.  To  further  organize  the 
county,  and  place  it  on  a  working  basis,  John  K.  Towner  was  appointed  county 
treasurer;  Benjamin  Sweet,  school  commissioner  and  agent,  and  Erastus  A. 
Xixon,  David  Caswell  and  George  D.  Hicks,  trustees  of  the  congressional  school 
lands.  The  erection  of  road  districts  and  the  appointment  of  road  supervisors 
were  next  in  the  order  of  business  transacted  on  this  memorable  May  3,  1837. 
It  was  also  ordered  that  all  county  roads  should  be  "opened  fifty  feet  in  the 
clear  and  that  each  able  bodied  man  should  work  on  some  road  five  days  in 
each  year."    The  Court  of  County  Commissioners  then  adjoined  sine  die. 

Thus  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  history  of  Boone  County,  as  an  organized 
body  dates  from  the  3d  of  May,  1837,  or  less  than  two  years  from  the  founding 
of  the  first  white  settlements  at  Belvidere  and  Shattuck's  Grove  in  what  are 
now  Belvidere  and  Spring  townships,  in  the  summer  of  1835.  When  Simon 
P.  Doty  and  Dr.  Daniel  H.  Whitney  arrived  in  the  Belvidere  region  in  August 
of  that  year  they  found  Archibald  Metcalf  and  David  Dunham  encamped  in  a 
shanty  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Kishwaukee  (Sycamore),  about  eighty  rods 
below  where  the  State  Street  bridge  in  Belvidere  now  spans  that  stream. 

BOOXE  COUNTY  NEVER  HAD  A  COUNTY  SEAT  FIGHT 

Boone  County  missed  the  excitement  of  having  a  county  seat  fight,  since 
Belvidere  never  had  a  competitor.  The  County  Commissioners'  Court  con- 
tinned  to  sit  at  Mr.  Doty's  house.  It  held  a  special  session  on  the  6th  of 
November  to  receive  the  report  of  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Legis- 
lature to  permanently  locate  the  county  seat.  Two  of  the  three  named  in 
the  creative  act  for  that  purpose,  James  II.  Woodworth,  of  Cook  County,  and 
John  M.  Wilson,  of  Will  County,  had  made  the  required  investigations,  and 
reported:  "Be  it  known,  that  we,  James  H.  Woodworth  and  John  M.  Wilson, 
commissioners  appointed  to  locate  the  County  Seat  of  Boone  County  in  the 
State  of  Illinois,  under  an  act  entitled  an  Act  to  create  certain  counties  therein 
named,  approved  4th  of  March,  A.  D.,  1837,  being  duly  sworn,  did  on  the 
(31)  thirty-first  day  of  October,  A.  D.,  1837,  proceed  to  examine  and  determine 
on  a  place  for  the  permanent  seat  of  justice  for  said  county,  and  taking  into 
view  the  convenience  of  the  inhabitants,  the  situation  of  the  settlements,  the 
probable  future  population  and  eligibility  of  location,  have  and  do  locate  said 
county  seat  upon  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  26,  in  township  44  north, 
range  3  east  of  the  Third  Principal  Meridian,  being  in  the  Galena  Land 
District." 

The  Belvidere  Company  had  platted  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  26 
into  town  lots,  in  1836,  three  years  before  they  were  placed  on  the  market. 
It  was  not   until  1839,  therefore,  that  settlers  could  get  clear  titles  to  their 


170  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

real  estate,  and  that  the  county  commissioners  could  receive  deeds  from  the 
owners  for  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  26  which  had  been  selected  as  the 
seat  of  justice. 

An  illustration  of  how  jealously  the  pioneers  of  Boone  County  guarded 
the  observance  of  the  law  is  afforded  in  the  preliminary  steps  leading  to  the 
final  establishment  of  the  county  seat  with  the  cumulative  conveniences  de- 
manded by  public  officials.  The  commissioners  locating  the  seat  of  justice 
designated  where  the  county  seat  should  be  on  the  land  selected,  by  driving 
a  stake  in  the  ground  on  the  mound  where  the  courthouse  has  since  been 
built.  The  laws  then  in  force  required  all  county  offices  to  be  kept  within  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  seat  of  justice.  In  December,  1838,  it  was  discovered 
that  Daniel  H.  Whitney,  the  county  clerk,  kept  his  office  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  from  the  stake,  and  the  commissioners  declared  his  office  vacant. 
James  L.  Loop,  Whitney's  successor,  gave  bonds  in  the  sum  of  $1,000  and 
entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties.  In  the  meantime,  Mr.  Whitney's 
deputy  had  taken  the  records  of  the  court.  He  was  therefore  judged  in 
contempt  and  ordered  to  pay  a  fine  of  $25,  standing  committed  until  the  fine 
was  paid.  A  warrant  of  commitment  was  made  out  and  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  sheriff,  to  be  executed  if  the  fine  was  not  paid.  A  writ  of  replevin  was 
also  sued  out  to  procure  the  books,  records  and  papers  "contemptuously" 
carried  away,  and  also  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  sheriff  to  be  executed.  The 
writ  was  served  and  the  documents  recovered  and  returned  to  court.  On  the 
7th  of  December,  Mr.  Briggs,  the  offending  deputy,  by  S.  P.  Doty,  his  rep- 
resentative, appeared  before  the  court  and  confessed  that  he  was  too  hasty 
in  committing  the  contempt  of  the  previous  day ;  whereupon  the  court  ordered 
that  one-half  of  the  fine  be  remitted.  The  other  half  ($12.50)  was  paid  by 
Mr.  Doty;  and  thus  subsided  the  first  little  ripple  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
Commissioners'  Court  for  the  County  of  Boone. 

BELVIDERE  AND   THE   COUNTY   BUILDINGS 

The  seat  of  justice  of  Boone  County  having  been  located  and  its  first  set 
of  officials  put  in  motion  its  civil,  judicial  and  political  machinery,  the  quarter 
section  selected  and  donated  by  the  Belvidere  Company  was  surveyed  into 
lots  and  blocks.  A  plot  of  ten  acres  was  reserved  on  the  highest  point  for 
county  buildings.  Daniel  H.  Whitney  was  appointed  the  commissioner  to  sell 
the  remainder  of  the  quarter  section  for  the  benefit  of  the  county.  At  the 
December  meeting  of  the  County  Commissioners'  Court,  Mr.  Whitney  reported 
that  after  advertising  in  the  Chicago  Democrat  and  American  and  posting 
written  notices  at  Belvidere  and  other  public  places,  giving  notice  of  such  sale, 
he  had,  on  the  27th  of  that  month  sold  lots  to  the  amount  of  $364.75,  and 
on  the  28th  adjourned  the  sales  indefinitely,  as  the  business  had  not  met  his 
expectations.  Before  making  the  report,  he  had  sold  a  lot  for  $30  at  private 
sale,  making  the  total  amount  realized,  $394.75. 

The  sales  made  were  for  part  cash  and  balance  on  time;  usually  one-third 
or  one-half  cash,  and  the  balance  in  periods  ranging  from  six  months  to  two 
years;  with  mortgage  on  premises,  or  other  satisfactory  security,  and  interest 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  171 

on  deferred  payments.  And  thus,  from  time  to  time,  the  lots  belonging  to 
the  county   continued  to  be  sold   and   the    proceeds  applied   to  public  matters. 

In  April,  1838,  the  commissioners  convened  in  special  session  and  ordered 
ih.it  the  clerk  advertise  for  proposals  to  be  received  until  the  first  .Monday  in 
. I une  for  the  erection  of  a  courthouse  "forty  by  fifty  feet  with  a  basement 
story  of  stone,  the  basement  story  to  be  finished  one-half  for  a  jail,  the  other 
half  into  a  room  for  a  family;  the  first  story  to  be  finished  with  three  offices 
and  a  hall  and  one  room  for  a  family's  occupancy;  the  second  story  to  be 
finished  with  a  court  room  and  two  jury  rooms;  the  house,  when  finished,  to 
lie  worth  five  or  six  thousand  dollars."  Proposals  were  also  to  be  received 
until  the  first  Monday  in  June,  "for  the  purchase  in  whole  or  in  part  of  the 
county  lands,  and  payment  to  be  made  by  the  erection  of  the  courthouse,  or 
the  furnishing  of  materials  for  the  same,  or  erecting  anj1-  portion  of  the  same." 

But  the  building  of  the  courthouse  was  to  be  a  process  of  slow  growth. 
The  financial  panic  of  1837  was  already  laying  heavy  hands  on  Boone  County. 
Money  had  to  be  borrowed  to  meet  running  expenses.  Still  some  place  had 
to  be  provided  to  keep  such  criminals  as  were  sentenced  to  confinement,  and 
a  temporary'  county  jail  was  provided  in  the  north  room  of  the  Doty  house. 
It  was  to  be  used  for  that  purpose  until  Mr.  Doty  could  erect  a  county  jail. 
It  was  completed  according  to  contract,  within  the  four  months  following 
June,  1838,  for  $250.  It  was  a  block  jail,  and  was  not  accepted  by  the  com- 
missioner until  1839.  The  room  in  Mr.  Doty's  residence  was  then  vacated 
and  the  keys  to  the  regular  receptacle  for  criminals  handed  over  to  the  sheriff, 
who  was  directed  to  procure  "two  sets  of  shackles  for  hands,  and  put  in  a 
ring,  bolt  and  chain  for  the  use  of  said  jail."  Soon  afterward  such  furnishings 
were  brought  into  play  by  the  incarceration  of  two  horse  thieves  in  the  block 
jail. 

Contracts  were  let  for  work  and  various  materials  in  the  building  of  the 
courthouse  in  1839  and  1840,  and  when  all  was  in  readiness  to  commence 
its  foundation  it  was  found  that  the  jail  erected  by  Doty  had  been  built  on 
the  site  intended  for  the  courthouse.  The  smaller  building  was  therefore 
moved  out  of  the  way.  It  was  not  until  1843,  however,  that  the  courthouse 
was  completed.  The  two-story  brick  courthouse,  only  forty  feet  in  length 
by  thirty  in  width,  with  its  court  room  above  and  county  offices  below,  was 
outgrown  in  ten  years.  Although  the  material  in  the  old  courthouse  was  used 
in  the  one  completed  in  1855,  the  later  structure  w^as  much  more  commodious 
and  in  keeping  with  the  expansion  of  the  county  and  its  interests. 

Boone  County  was  among  the  first  counties  in  the  State  to  abandon  the 
County  Commissioners  form  of  government,  and  adopt  the  Township  Organiza- 
tion system.  This  was  determined  by  virtue  of  a  provision  contained  in  the 
State  Constitution  of  1847.  Under  the  township  system,  each  township  elected 
a  supervisor,  the  entire  body  being  the  Board  of  Supervisors.  Thus  Boone 
County  has  been  substantially  traced  to  its  permanent  establishment  as  a 
political  body. 

LEE   COUNTY,   LAST    POLITICAL   DIVISION    OF    THE   VALLEY 

As  an  offshoot  of  Ogle  in  1839,  Lee  County  was  the  last  of  the  political  divi- 
sions to  assume  form  in  the  Rock  River  Valley.     Its  creative  act  was  approved 


172  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

on  February  27th  of  that  year,  and  the  county  boundaries  were  defined  as  fol- 
lows: All  that  part  of  Ogle  County  lying  south  of  a  line  beginning  on  the 
western  boundary  of  Ogle  County  at  the  northwest  corner  of  section  18,  in 
township  22,  north  of  range  8,  between  sections  7  and  18,  in  said  township,  east,  to 
the  main  channel  of  Rock  River;  thence  up  the  center  of  said  channel  to  the 
section  line  between  sections  12  and  13,  in  township  22  north  of  range  9,  east 
of  the  Fourth  Principal  Meridian;  thence  east  with  the  last  mentioned  section 
line  to  the  northeast  corner  of  section  17,  in  township  22  north  of  range  10, 
east  of  the  Fourth  Principal  Meridian ;  thence  south  to  the  southeast  corner  of 
the  last  mentioned  section ;  and  thence  east  with  the  section  lines  to  the  eastern 
boundary  of  the  county,  shall  constitute  the  County  of  Lee. 

The  act  also  appointed  as  commissioners  to  locate  the  seat  of  justice,  Lorin 
G.  Butler  of  Cook  County,  E.  H.  Nichols  of  "Whiteside  and  D.  G.  Salsbury  of 
Bureau,  the  selection  to  be  made  as  near  the  first  Monday  in  May  as  was  pos- 
sible. The  owners  of  the  site  selected  were  to  pay  to  the  county  commissioners 
$3,500  and  also  donate  twenty  acres  of  land.  Until  public  buildings  were 
erected,  the  courts  of  the  counties  of  Ogle  and  Lee  were  to  be  held  at  such 
places  in  their  respective  county  seats  as  the  county  commissioners  should  direct. 
The  election  for  officers  of  the  new  county  was  fixed  for  the  first  Monday  in 
August,  1839,  the  returns  to  be  made  by  the  judges  of  election  to  the  clerk  of 
the  County  Commissioners'  Court  of  Ogle  County.  Until  after  such  election, 
the  county  of  Lee  was  attached  to  Ogle  for  county  purposes  and  to  Jo  Daviess 
County,  for  its  representation  in  both  houses  of  the  Legislature  until  the  next 
apportionment  of  the  State  should  be  made. 

The  erection  of  Lee  County  was  caused  by  the  rivalries  of  the  various  towns 
for  the  location  of  the  county  seat  in  Ogle  County,  especially  by  the  rivalry 
of  its  two  strongest  men,  John  Phelps  of  Oregon  City  and  John  Dixon  of  Dixon's 
Ferry.  Frederick  R.  Dutcher,  a  New  York  lawyer  lately  arrived  at  Dixon,  was 
selected  by  the  supporters  of  that  place  to  engineer  the  bill  through  the  Legisla- 
ture setting  off  another  county  from  the  southern  portion  of  Ogle.  Smith 
Gilbraith,  who  had  bought  property  in  Dixon  three  or  four  years  before,  also 
accompanied  Mr.  Dutcher  to  Vandalia  to  present  the  petition  of  the  Dixon  con- 
tingent. When  they  arrived  at  the  State  capital,  they  found  Virgil  A.  Bogue 
on  the  ground  armed  with  a  remonstrance  signed  by  the  citizens  of  Buffalo 
Grove  and  Grand  Detour.  Judge  Bogue,  however,  had  not  secured  a  full  list 
of  signatures  to  his  remonstrance,  and  was  anxiously  looking  for  other  papers 
from  home  which  would  give  the  remonstrators  a  large  majority  over  the  peti- 
tioners. The  Dixon  gentlemen  knew  if  Judge  Bogue  got  in  the  full  list  of  signa- 
tures to  his  remonstrance  that  their  cause  would  be  defeated ;  and  to  forestall 
this  Mr.  Gilbraith  perpetrated  what  has  been  pronounced  by  politicians  ' '  a  very 
shrewd  piece  of  business."  He  presented  himself  at  the  postoffice  on  the  arrival 
of  the  mail  from  the  north  and  inquired  of  the  postman,  "Anything  for  Bogue?'* 
A  package  was  handed  over,  which  went  down  into  the  greatcoat  pocket  of 
Mr.  Gilbraith,  and  Judge  Bogue  anxiously  looked  for  the  desired  documents 
in  vain.  What  made  the  situation  of  the  remonstrators  more  serious  was  that 
there  was  not  sufficient  time  to  get  duplicates  of  the  missing  lists  before  the 
adjournment  of  the  Legislature.  Nothing  was  left  for  Judge  Bogue  but  to 
present  the  case  for  his  constituents  with  his  well  known  powers  of  persuasion. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  173 

Now,  there  was  a  strong  anti-abolition  sentiment  in  the  Legislature,  and  the 
Judge  was  a  fiery  abolitionist.  Messrs.  Dutcher  and  Gilbraith  therefore  warmly 
encouraged  him  to  deliver  an  abolition  speech  on  a  certain  evening,  to  which 
the  members  of  the  General  Assembly  were  invited.  As  designed,  the  effect 
was  to  alienate  the  sympathy  of  anti-abolitionists  from  the  orator  and  the 
special  cause  which  he  represented — opposition  to  county  division.  This  gave 
the  situation  to  the  petitioners  and  resulted  in  the  passage  of  the  bill  of  Feb- 
ruary 27,  1839,  creating  Lee  County. 

Mr.  Dutcher  is  credited  with  naming  the  new  county  in  honor  of  Light  Horse 
Harry  Lee  of  Revolutionary  fame,  of  whom  he  was  a  great  admirer. 

DIXON    LOCATED    AS    THE    COUNTY   SEAT 

On  the  21st  of  May,  1839,  the  commissioners  appointed  to  locate  the  seat 
of  justice  reported  that  "having  due  regard  to  the  settlements  and  convenience 
of  the  present  and  future  population  of  said  County  of  Lee,  do  hereby  locate 
the  seat  of  justice  for  the  aforesaid  county  at  the  town  of  Dixon ;  and  have 
.stuck  the  stake  for  the  place  or  point  at  which  the  public  buildings  shall  be 
erected  on  the  quarter  section  composed  of  the  west  V2  of  the  northwest  14  of  sec- 
tion 4,  township  21,  range  9  east  of  the  Fourth  Principal  Meridian,  and  the  east 
14  of  the  northeast  ^4  of  section  5,  same  township  and  range  aforesaid.  And  we 
further  report  that  the  proprietors  and  owners  of  lots  in  the  aforesaid  town 
of  Dixon  have  executed  certain  bonds  guaranteeing  the  payment  of  $6,460, 
which  is  exclusive  of  $150  signed  by  Messrs.  Gilbraith,  AYilkinson  and  Dement, 
which  is  embraced  and  included  in  a  bond  of  $3,000,  and  included  above;  also 
one  bond  for  a  deed  of  eighty  acres  of  land  adjoining  said  town  of  Dixon.  All 
of  which  is  respectfully  submitted  to  the  County  Commissioners'  Court  of  Lee 
County." 

It  was  the  general  expectation  that  Dixon  would  be  selected  as  the  county 
seat.  Nevertheless,  it  was  with  a  feeling  of  relief  that  the  matter  had  been 
settled  so  smoothly,  and  that  it  would  not  be  necessary  to  be  vexed  with  the  dis- 
turbing and  aggravating  quarrels  over  such  location  which  in  some  of  the  other 
counties  did  not  subside  for  years. 

Under  the  act  creating  the  county,  its  first  election  was  fixed  on  the  first 
Monday  in  August,  1839,  and  resulted  in  the  choice  of  the  following:  County 
commissioners,  Charles  F.  Ingals,  of  Inlet,  Nathan  R.  Whitney  of  Franklin 
Grove  and  James  P.  Dixon  of  Dixon;  clerk  of  Commissioners'  Court,  Isaac 
Boardman ;  sheriff,  Aaron  Wakely ;  county  surveyor,  Joseph  Crawford ;  probate 
justice,  H.  Morgan;  recorder,  G.  W.  Chase. 

The  county  commissioners  held  their  first  session  in  the  Dixon  schoolhouse, 
but  as  only  two  members  of  the  court  were  present  an  adjournment  was  taken 
to  the  following  Monday.  Then  the  third  member,  James  P.  Dixon,  reported 
and  was  sworn  into  office.  The  other  two  members  of  the  County  Commissioners' 
Court,  with  the  remainder  of  the  county  officers,  had  been  inducted  into  office. 
The  term  of  the  commissioners  covered  three  years  and  that  one  of  them,  after 
the  first  election,  might  be  chosen  annually,  Mr.  Ingals  was  allotted  the  three 
years'  service,  Mr.  Dixon  the  two  years'  and  Mr.  Whitney,  the  one  year. 

At  the  second,  or  adjourned  session  of  the  County  Commissioners'  Court, 


174  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

the  county  was  divided  into  six  election  precincts.  At  a  special  session  which 
was  held  in  October,  1839,  an  election  was  ordered  for  justices  of  the  peace  and 
constables,  and  the  clerk  directed  to  give  public  notice  that  proposals  would  be 
accepted  at  the  December  term  of  the  Court  for  the  building  of  a  stone  court- 
house on  the  public  square  in  Dixon.  The  court  subsequently  received  proposals 
for  building  the  courthouse  of  brick,  and  also  for  the  erection  of  a  county  jail. 
The  successful  bidders  and  contractors  were  Samuel  M.  Bowman  for  the  court- 
house and  Zenos  Aplington  and  G.  G.  Holbrook,  for  the  jail ;  the  respective  prices 
being  $6,800  and  $1,495.  In  1840  both  county  buildings  were  completed — the 
courthouse  at  a  cost  of  $7,610  and  80  acres  of  land.  The  former  was  donated  by 
the  citizens  of  Dixon  and  the  latter  by  the  founder  of  the  town,  John  Dixon. 

LAND  OFFICE  MOVED  FROM  GALENA  TO  DIXON 

In  the  autumn  of  1840,  the  land  office  was  moved  from  Galena  to  Dixon. 
During  the  year  John  Dixon  had  visited  Washington  for  the  purpose  of  bring- 
ing about  the  change.  During  the  Black  Hawk  war  General  Winfield  Scott  had 
not  only  met  Mr.  Dixon,  but  had  Jbecome  familiar  with  the  topography  of  the 
country  between  his  town  and  Galena.  The  opening  of  the  lands  to  settlement 
in  1839  and  the  large  and  growing  influx  of  settlers  to  the  upper  sections  of 
the  Rock  River  Valley  made  it  necessary  to  have  a  land  office  south  and  east  of 
Galena.  So  that  the  logic  of  events,  as  well  as  a  personal  liking  for  Father 
Dixon,  induced  General  Scott,  then  the  foremost  military  character  of  the 
country  and  soon  to  be  appointed  commander  of  its  regular  army,  to  present 
his  friend  and  his  cause  to  President  Van  Buren  in  a  most  favorable  light. 
When  the  land  office  was  moved  to  Dixon,  Colonel  John  Dement,  a  hero  of  the 
Black  Hawk  war  and  a  leading  citizen  of  that  place,  was  appointed  receiver. 

The  location  of  the  land  office  at  Dixon  had  a  marked  effect  upon  the  growth 
of  the  town,  and  in  March,  1843,  an  election  was  held  for  village  incorporation. 
There  were  forty-four  votes  cast,  all  in  favor  of  incorporation. 

When  the  office  was  moved  from  Galena  to  Dixon,  the  mode  of  conveyance, 
as  well  as  the  means  of  communication,  was  in  a  primitive  state.  The  land 
office,  with  its  iron  safe,  papers  and  maps,  was  loaded  upon  a  ' '  prairie  schooner ' ' 
in  command  of  Colonel  Dement,  the  receiver,  and  Mayor  Hackelton,  the  regis- 
ter. Left  in  charge  of  a  driver  and  propelled  by  half  a  dozen  yokes  of  oxen, 
the  conveyance  was  many  days  in  traveling  the  sixty-five  miles  from  Galena  to 
Dixon.  It  arrived  in  the  fall  of  1840  in  the  midst  of  the  presidential  election 
which  resulted  in  the  victory  of  General  Harrison.  At  that  time  but  a  small 
portion  of  the  lands  in  the  district  had  been  brought  into  market,  and  the 
subsequent  heavy  sales  attracted  people  from  all  parts  of  the  country  loaded 
with  specie  with  which  to  make  their  entries.  The  specie  received  at  Dixon  was 
shipped  to  the  subtreasury  at  St.  Louis. 

Although  Lee  County  shared  the  disturbing  effects  caused  by  the  State's 
loss  of  credit  because  of  the  collapse  of  its  impossible  internal  improvement 
system  and  the  lack  of  adequate  transportation  and  communication  between 
the  interior  towns,  its  advancement  was  noticeable.  By  1845,  the  county  had  a 
population  of  3,282,  an  increase  of  1,247  since  the  census  of  1840 ;  and  in  1850 
it  had  5,289  people,  an  advance  of  2,007  over  the  population  of  1845. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  175 

In  1850,  Lee  County  changed  from  the  form  of  government  comprising  a 
court  of  three  commissioners  to  That  of  township  organization.  Provision  for 
such  change  was  made  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  approved  February  12,  1849, 
and  under  its  authority  the  voters  of  the  county  had  indicated  their  decision 
for  the  change.  The  reorganization  divided  the  county  into  ten  civil  townships. 
each  <>f  which  was  represented  by  a  supervisor.  On  May  13,  1850,  the  Board 
of  Supervisors  of  Lee  County  held  its  first  session  at  Dixon,  and  at  that  time 
assumed  its  present  form  as  a  governing  body  of  the  county. 

COMMISSIONERS'   GOVERNMENT    ABANDONED    IN    ILLINOIS 

Thus  all  the  counties  covering  the  Rock  River  Valley  of  Illinois  assumed 
form  within  a  decade  from  the  conclusion  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  and  most  of 
them  were  fully  organized  within  that  period,  with  officials  and  citizens  meet- 
ing in  public  buildings  of  more  or  less  permanence  and  convenience.  The  year 
1S50  was  epochal  in  the  organization  of  the  Illinois  counties  of  the  Rock  River 
Valley,  as  most  of  them,  under  the  provisions  of  the  constitution  of  1848,  went 
over  from  the  commissioners'  form  of  government  to  the  supervisors'.  Rock 
Island,  as  we  have  seen,  did  not  make  the  change  until  1857,  when  politics  and 
parties  commenced  to  run  along  well  defined  channels  and  in  great  and  rugged 
courses. 

ROCK   COUNTY,  WISCONSIN,   FORMED 

Of  the  four  "Wisconsin  counties  included  in  this  work,  Rock,  Jefferson  and 
Dodge  were  carved  from  Milwaukee  County  by  the  Territorial  Legislature  of 
1836,  while  Dane  was  taken  from  Iowa  County,  in  the  same  year. 

In  July,  1835,  John  Inman,  of  Lucerne  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  William 
Holmes,  an  Ohio  man,  started  from  Milwaukee  for  the  Rock  River  Valley,  and 
passed  the  site  of  Janesville  at  the  mouth  of  the  Catfish  River.  On  their  return, 
they  passed  the  same  location,  and  were  so  impressed  with  its  advantages  for 
permanent  settlement  that  in  November  they  again  made  the  trip  from  Mil- 
waukee and  staked  their  claims  opposite  the  Big  Rock  on  the  north  bank  of 
Rock  River.  This  was  a  landmark  familiar  to  the  Indians  and  early  travelers 
of  the  upper  valley  as  it  fixed  the  locality  where  the  river  could  be  safely 
forded.  The  Big  Rock  marked  the  nucleus  of  the  settlement  which  was  born 
with  the  coming  of  Messrs.  Inman  and  Holmes.  Others  joined  them  in  1836 
and  in  December  of  that  year  the  Territorial  Legislature  created  Rock  County 
from  Milwaukee.  The  new  political  division  was  christened  in  commemoration 
of  the  Big  Rock  which  Nature  had  placed  so  impressively  on  the  banks  of 
the  river. 

In  December,  1837,  the  seat  of  justice  of  Rock  County  was  fixed  at  the 
little  settlement  which  had  clustered  around  the  Big  Rock,  and  which  had 
been  platted  by  Henry  K.  -lanes,  a  Virginian.  He,  with  his  brother,  Edward 
Janes,  was  considered  the  founder  of  the  county  seat,  which  has  developed  into 
one  of  the  most  flourishing  centers  in  the  Rock  River  Valley.  Rock  County  was 
not  fully  organized  until  1839,  and  on  April  1st  of  that  year  the  commissioners 


176  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

held  their  first  meeting.  Its  first  permanent  courthouse  was  erected  in  1841. 
It  was  a  two-story  frame  building,  located  on  the  east  side  of  the  Rock  River 
in  the  Third  Ward  of  Janesville. 

JEFFERSON  COUNTY  FORMED  IN  1836 

Jefferson  County  experienced  a  stirring  year  in  1836.  Hebron,  Watertown, 
Fort  Atkinson,  Jefferson  and  other  settlements  took  form  at  that  time,  largely 
through  the  operations  of  the  Rock  River  Claim  Company,  in  which  Solomon 
Juneau,  Daniel  Wells  and  other  Milwaukeeans  were  interested.  Aztalan,  Lake 
Mills  and  minor  settlements  appeared  in  embryo  about  the  same  time.  The 
county  was  separated  from  Milwaukee  by  legislative  act  of  December  7,  1836, 
but  attached  to  the  latter  county  for  judicial  and  political  purposes.  Jefferson 
County  was  named  by  Captain  Robert  Masters,  who  resided  in  the  bend  of  Rock 
River  below  Jefferson.  The  contest  for  the  permanent  seat  of  justice  was 
chiefly  between  Watertown  and  Jefferson,  but  in  1856  was  decided  in  favor  of 
the  latter,  as  it  was  conveniently  located  near  the  center  of  the  county  at  the 
junction  of  the  Crawfish  with  the  Rock  River.  Jefferson  was  incorporated  as 
a  village  in  1857.  It  was  a  wise  decision,  as  Watertown  is  in  the  far  north  of 
the  county,  one  of  its  wards  extending  over  into  Dodge. 

DODGE  COUNTY  ALSO  TAKEN  FROM  MILWAUKEE 

Dodge  County  was  also  erected  on  December  7,  1836,  by  act  of  the  Wisconsin 
Territorial  Legislature,  and  attached  to  Milwaukee  County  for  judicial  and 
other  purposes.  A  separate  civil  organization  was  not  effected  until  January, 
1840,  when  the  county  commissioners  met  at  Fox  Lake,  the  village  founded  sev- 
eral years  before  on  the  north  shore  of  the  lake  by  that  name.  Watertown,  or 
Johnson's  Rapids,  had  been  settled  about  the  same  time.  On  January  13th  of 
the  year  named  two  polling  places  were  opened  to  decide  the  question  of  the 
permanent  location  of  the  seat  of  justice  for  Dodge  County;  one  was  at  Fox 
Lake,  the  other  in  the  Fifth  Ward  of  Watertown.  Fox  Lake  was  then  beaten  by 
seven  votes,  but  afterward  regained  the  coveted  honor.  But  there  was  a  strong 
demand  for  a  seat  of  justice  nearer  the  geographical  center  of  the  county.  In 
1845,  therefore,  Fairfield  was  platted  in  the  center  of  the  county,  a  few  miles 
west  of  the  Rock  River;  in  1848  it  was  rechristened  Dodge  Center,  and  later, 
Juneau — the  latter  name  in  honor  of  Solomon  Juneau,  one  of  the  founders  of 
Milwaukee.    Juneau  became  a  village  in  1865,  and  is  pretty,  neat  and  growing. 

MADISON,  THE  TERRITORIAL  CAPITAL,  FOUNDED 

Dane  County,  which  embraces  several  of  the  northwestern  reservoirs  of  the 
upper  Rock  River,  as  well  as  a  section  of  the  valley  of  the  Wisconsin  River,  also 
includes  the  easternmost  outcroppings  of  the  famous  lead  regions  of  South- 
western Wisconsin.  Madison,  set  down  among  the  beauties  of  the  Four  Lakes, 
was  the  capital  of  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin  before  it  became  the  county  seat 
of  Dane. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  177 

The  act  of  Congress  enabling  Wisconsin  to  become  a  territory  became  effective 
July  3,  1836,  ami  President  Jackson  awarded  the  governorship  to  a  man  after 
his  own  heart — Henry  Dodge,  the  frontiersman  and  Indian  fighter.  Governor 
Dodge  took  the  oath  of  office  at  Mineral  Point,  in  the  lead  region,  on  the  follow- 
ing day,  the  4th  of  July.  The  two  counties  in  the  new  territory  west  of  the 
.Mississippi  were  Dubuque  and  Des  Moines.  The  first  election  was  fixed  for  the 
second  Monday  in  October,  and  the  seat  of  government  was  temporarily  fixed 
at  Belmont,  Iowa  County.  The  Legislature  met  on  the  25th  of  October,  and 
in  his  inaugural  address  Governor  Dodge  directed  the  attention  of  that  body 
to  the  permanent  location  of  the  territorial  capital,  pledging  himself  to  abide 
in  that  matter  by  the  decision  of  a  majority  of  its  members.  Dubuque,  Mineral 
Point,  Milwaukee  and  Green  Bay  were  all  prominent  competitors,  and  were 
soon  to  be  joined  by  a  new  claimant,  as  a  compromise  candidate  located  in  the 
midway  section  of  the  Territory.  His  travels  as  a  judge  between  Prairie  du 
Chien  and  Green  Bay  and  in  wide  intermediate  circuits  had  enabled  James 
Duane  Doty  to  form  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  pioneers  of  Wisconsin 
and  gauge  their  political  needs.  In  January,  1836,  at  the  last  Legislative  As- 
sembly of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  Mr.  Doty,  with  some  associates,  arranged 
to  enter  more  than  1,200  acres  of  land  between  Lakes  Mendota  and  Monona. 
As  he  had  decided  to  enter  the  lists  as  a  claimant  for  the  site  of  the  territorial 
capital,  in  the  early  autumn  of  1836,  he  appeared  upon  the  beautiful  tract 
which  he  had  entered,  in  company  with  John  V.  Suydam,  a  surveyor,  who 
tells  the  sequel  of  the  adventure,  as  follows:  "After  about  eight  days  from 
the  time  of  leaving  home,  we  reached  what  was  then  called  Four  Lakes.  We 
came  by  the  trail  that  led  around  the  north  side  and  west  end  of  Fourth  Lake, 
and  found  near  what  might  be  called  the  northwest  corner,  and  perhaps  two 
miles  from  where  the  University  buildings  now  stand,  a  small  log  house  occu- 
pied by  a  man  whose  name  I  have  forgotten  (Michael  St.  Cyr,  half-breed  trader), 
who  entertained  our  horses  and  ourselves  nights,  and  assisted  us  daytimes  in 
making  such  meanders  and  surveys  of  the  shores  of  the  Third  and  Fourth 
lakes  and  other  points  as  was  necessary  for  making  the  plat  of  the  future  city. 
This  took  us,  I  think,  three  days.  The  precise  time  in  which  the  survey  and 
original  plat  of  the  city  was  made  was  during  the  second  and  third  weeks  of 
November,  wdiile  the  Legislature  was  in  session  at  Belmont. 

"We  went  directly  to  Belmont,  where  the  Legislature  was  in  session.  Arriv- 
ing there,  I  immediately  set  about  drawing  the  plat  of  Madison,  the  Governor 
(Doty)  in  the  meantime  giving  me  minute  directions  as  to  its  whole  plan,  every 
item  of  which  having  originated  with  him  wrhile  on  the  ground  as  being  the 
most  suitable  and  best  calculated  to  develop  the  peculiar  topography  of  the 
place.  As  soon  as  the  plat  was  completed,  I  returned  home  alone,  leaving  the 
Governor  behind  to  carry  out  his  object.  On  the  adjournment  of  the  Legisla- 
ture quite  a  number  of  gentlemen,  I  never  learned  how  many,  belonging  to 
that  body  went  to  their  homes,  the  owners  of  sundry  corner  lots  in  the  new 
town;  and  the  seat  of  government  of  Wisconsin  was  permanently  located  at 
Madison,  while  the  temporary  locality  was  to  be  at  Burlington,  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Mississippi,  until  the  capitol  buildings  were  erected  and  got  ready  for 
occupancy. ' ' 


178 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


THE   COUNTY   OF   DANE    CREATED 

In  the  meantime,  Doty's  new  city  had  received  another  impetus  toward 
development;  for  on  December  7,  1836,  the  Legislature  had  created  the  County 
of  Dane,  with  Madison  as  its  seat  of  justice.  Mr.  Doty  had  christened  it  in 
honor  of  Nathan  Dane,  who  as  a  delegate  to  the  constitutional  convention  from 
Massachusetts  had  introduced  into  that  body  the  Ordinance  of  1787. 

Congress  had  made  an  appropriation  of  $20,000  for  the  erection  of  a  terri- 
torial capitol,  and  building  commissioners  were  appointed,  of  which  Doty  was 
one,  to  push  the  work.  Workmen  were  brought  from  Milwaukee  and  the  first 
Wisconsin  capitol  was  partially  completed  near  the  foot  of  King  Street  near 
Lake  Monona  by  July  4,  1837.  It  was  not  until  more  than  a  year  later,  in 
November,  1838,  that  the  first  Legislative  Assembly  met  at  Madison.  But  as 
the  accommodations  were  still  far  from  perfect  at  the  capitol,  and  living  quar- 
ters were  almost  lacking  for  the  legislators  in  attendance,  a  recess  was  taken 
until  January,  1839.  These  serious  drawbacks  caused  so  much  dissatisfaction 
that  Milwaukee  endeavored  for  many  years  to  obtain  the  location  of  the  State 
Capital,  and  the  danger  of  a  change  was  not  averted  until  the  second  and 
more  substantial  capitol  was  firmly  afoot  in  1857. 

Dane  County  remained  attached  to  Iowa  for  judicial  and  political  purposes 
for  several  years,  and  was  not  organized  as  a  separate  civil  body  until  May,  1839. 


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PRESENT  DAY    IIORICON    FROM    THE    RIVER 


CHAPTER  VIII 
POLITICS  PRIOR  TO  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

THE   BLACK    HAWK    WAR    AND    POLITICS DEMOCRATS    FATHER   THE   CONVENTION    SYS- 
TEM— THE   VAX    BUREN    LEGISLATURE   OF    183G ILLINOIS,   THE   STATE    CHAMPION 

OF  RAILROADS — SUSPENSION  OF  SPECIE  PAYMENTS — ILLINOIS  CENTRAL  LINE  IN 
THE  UPPER  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY COLLAPSE  OF  THE  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT  SYS- 
TEM— POLITICS  INVOLVED ILLINOIS  &  MICHIGAN  CANAL  AND  THE  SECOND  ILLI- 
NOIS CENTRAL THE   NOTED   CAMPAIGN   OF   1840 UPPER   ROCK   RIVER   VALLEY   OF 

ILLINOIS  STRONGLY  WHIG THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  WINNEBAGO  COUNTY WHIG  CON- 
VENTION  AT   DIXON'S   FERRY ANTI-DEMOCRATIC    SENTIMENT    IN   OGLE    COUNTY— 

BOW   JUDGE  FORD  OF  OREGON  BECAME  GOVERNOR — SPURNS   REPUDIATION WHAT 

THE    FORD    ADMINISTRATION    ACCOMPLISHED— THE   CONSTITUTIONAL    CONVENTION 

OF    1847 — DELEGATION    FROM    THE   ROCK   RIVER   VALLEY JOHN    DEMENT,    OF    LEE 

COUNTY TAYLOR  FIRST  PROPOSED  FOR  PRESIDENT  BY  LEE  COUNTY  WHIGS CON- 
GRESSIONAL   REPRESENTATIVES    FROM    ROCK    RIVER    VALLEY — LEGISLATIVE    REDIS- 

TRICTING OPPOSITION     TO    SLAVERY     EXTENSION     IN     ILLINOIS — ORIGIN     OF    THE 

REPUBLICAN  PARTY — E.  B.  WASHBURNE  FIRST  REPUBLICAN  CONGRESSIONAL  CAN- 
DIDATE— NORTHERN  ILLINOIS  GROWING  IN  POLITICAL  INFLUENCE} REAL  BIRTH  OF 

REPUBLICANISM EDITORIAL    REPRESENTATIVES    FROM    ROCK    RIVER    VALLEY — THE 

BLOOMINGTON    CONVENTION — ROCK   ISLAND    COUNTY    HOTBED   OF    ABOLITIONISM 

THE    CAMPAIGN    OF    1856 — LINCOLN    IN     OGLE    COUNTY — THE    LINCOLN-DOUGLAS 

DEBATES   OF    1858 THE    MEETING    AT    FREEPORT— THE   CAMPAIGN    OF    1860 THE 

POLITICS  OF  SOUTHERN  WISCONSIN — ROCK  COUNTY,  A  WHIG  AND  REPUBLICAN 
STRONGHOLD CHIEF  JUSTICE  WHITON  AND  THE  GLOVER  DECISION FIRST  REPUB- 
LICAN CONVENTION  IN  JANESVILLE — DANE  COUNTY  OVERSHADOWED  BY  STATE 
POLITICS — -POLITICAL  DODGE  COUNTY  AND  ITS  LEADERS — DEMOCRATIC  JEFFERSON 
COUNTY. 

The  thirty  years  covered  by  the  conclusion  of  the  Black  Hawk  war  and 
the  commencement  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  were  notable  for  political  up- 
heavals, the  birth  and  transformation  of  parties  and  national  movements,  which 
were  reflected  in  the  history  and  the  historic  characters  of  the  region  embraced 
by  the  valley  of  the  Rock  River. 

With  The  Indian  problem  out  of  the  way,  the  people  of  Illinois  commenced 
to  align  themselves  on  the  basis  of  general  issues  rather  than  on  the  score  of 
personal  leadership.  It  was  not  enough  that  Jackson  was  the  outstanding 
figure  in  the  expulsion  of  the  red  man  from  the  country  east  of  the  Mississippi. 
What  policies  and  principles  did  he  represent?  How  nearly  did  Van  Buren 
carry  out  his  views?  What  of  Clay  and  Adams?  The  fall  of  1832  witnessed 
a  clear  redistribution  of  partisans  into  whigs  and  democrats.     The  Clay  whigs 

Vol.  1—12 

179 


180  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

stood  for  protection  and  internal  improvements;  the  democrats  were  against 
both  policies,  although  at  first  the  people  of  Illinois  took  no  decided  stand 
against  the  protective  tariff.  Both  parties  upheld  Jackson's  stand  against 
nullification.  Although  the  dissolution  of  the  factional  system  predicated  on 
personal  loyalty  to  Jackson  was  not  completed  for  several  years,  the  importance 
of  national  issues  based  on  his  measures  was  plainly  emphasized  in  the  cam- 
paign and  election  of  1832. 

THE  BLACK   HAWK  WAR  AND  POLITICS 

The  Black  Hawk  war  made  the  political  fortune  of  a  large  number  of 
aspiring  Illinois  statesmen.  Hostilities  did  not  close  in  time  for  many  of  them 
to  participate  in  the  election  held  August  6,  1832,  but  the  leaders  were  repre- 
sented by  their  friends  and  were  generally  successful  in  securing  the  political 
positions  wThich  they  sought.  In  the  previous  year  the  State  had  been  appor- 
tioned into  three  congressional  districts.  The  Third  District  embraced  twenty- 
five  counties,  which  included  Jo  Daviess,  Henry  and  Knox,  of  the  territory 
within  the  Rock  River  Valley  of  Illinois.  The  candidates  for  all  the  districts 
were  pronounced  Jackson  men,  Joseph  Duncan  of  the  Third  and  Zadoc  Casey, 
of  the  Second,  having  been  prominent  in  the  Black  Hawk  war.  General  Dun- 
can, who  had  commanded  the  brigade  of  volunteers  which  burned  Black  Hawk's 
village,  was  still  in  Congress,  and  Colonel  Casey,  who  fought  so  bravely  with 
Colonel  John  Dement  at  Kellogg 's  Grove,  yet  held  the  lieutenant-governorship. 
Both  Duncan  and  Casey  were  elected  and  their  political  prestige  enhanced. 

The  Eighth  General  Assembly  which  convened  December  3,  1832,  contained 
an  imposing  array  of  participants  in  the  Black  Hawk  war.  Neither  Governor 
Reynolds'  message  nor  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly  had  special 
significance  for  the  people  or  the  interests  of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  although 
anything  relating  to  improved  avenues  of  transportation  and  communication 
was  always  pertinent  to  this  transverse  bond  between  the  Great  Lakes  and 
the  Mississippi.  The  Governor's  recommendations,  however,  proposing  a  rail- 
road or  a  canal  to  connect  Lake  Michigan  with  the  Mississippi  by  way  of  the 
Illinois  River  appealed  more  to  the  ambitions  of  Southern  than  of  Northern 
Illinois.  When  the  Assembly  came  to  legislate  for  the  first  time  in  the  interest 
of  projected  railroad  routes  it  was  the  more  settled  country  south  of  the  Illinois 
River  to  which  attention  was  directed.  As  a  developed  section  of  the  State 
the  Rock  River  Valley  was  in  embryo.  Laws  were  passed  authorizing  not  only 
the  incorporation  of  railroad  companies,  but  concerning  the  right-of-way  for 
''public  roads,  canals  and  other  public  works";  subjects  which,  within  a  few 
years,  were  to  be  as  vital  to  the  Rock  River  Valley  as  to  any  other  developing 
region  of  the  State. 

DEMOCRATS  FATHER  THE  CONVENTION  SYSTEM 

The  result  of  political  elections  as  determined  by  personal  preferences  or 
prejudices  was  first  counteracted  by  the  democrats,  who  were  the  fathers  of 
the  convention  system.  As  clearly  stated  in  the  "Centennial  History  of  Illi- 
nois":    "The  democrats  saw  that  victory  for  their  principles  could  be  won 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  181 

only  by  centering  the  vote  of  the  party  on  one  man  pledged  to  their  support 
ami  by  frowning  on  the  candidacy  of  any  rivals,  as  likely  to  divide  the  vote  of 
the  party  and  allow  a  minority  in  opposition  united  on  one  candidate  to  win. 
The  means  to  this  end  was  the  convention;  whether  district,  county,  State  or 
national,  it  could  state  the  principles  of  the  party,  choose  a  candidate  to 
exemplify  them,  and  call. upon  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party  to  support  him 
loyally." 

The  whigs  criticised  the  convention  system  as  a  device  of  political  manip- 
ulators to  kill  off  candidates  opposed  to  them.  Still  the  convention  idea  spread, 
although  the  whigs  during  the  early  incubation  of  the  scheme  made  little  use 
of  the  system  except  to  nominate  presidential  electors. 

The  first  national  democratic  convention  for  the  nomination  of  a  president 
and  vice  president  was  held  at  Baltimore,  in  May,  1835.  Martin  Van  Buren 
received  the  nomination  to  head  the  ticket.  No  national  whig  convention  to 
oppose  Van  Buren  was  held.  General  Harrison  was  nominated  for  the  pres- 
idency by  several  legislatures  and  other  candidates  were  offered  by  the  state 
supporting  them.  The  Ninth  General  Assembly  of  Illinois  indorsed  Van  Buren 
by  a  vote  of  thirty  to  twenty  and  the  convention  plan  recommended  by  twenty- 
six  to  twenty-five.  From  this  time  forward,  party  lines  became  more  clearly 
defined  than  ever.  Those  who  had  been  supporters  of  Adams  and  Clay  and  in 
favor  of  a  national  bank,  merging  other  political  differences,  called  themselves 
whigs,  while  the  followers  of  Jackson  and  Van  Buren  took  the  name  of  demo- 
crats. Neither  party  accorded  to  the  other  the  name  claimed  by  it ;  hence  arose 
the  names  of  federalists  for  the  one  and  locofocos  for  the  other.  The  latter 
sobricpuet  is  said  to  have  originated  in  New  York  City.  One  democratic  faction 
is  reported  to  have  put  out  the  lights  to  extinguish  a  rival  meeting ;  supporters 
of  the  latter  immediately  produced  candles  and  locofoco  matches  (so  called), 
by  which  combination  the  meeting  designed  to  be  subdued  was  brought  to  a  suc- 
cessful (dose. 

THE  VAN  BUREX  LEGISLATURE  OF   1836 

In  the  election  of  1836,  Van  Buren  carried  Illinois  by  nearly  3,C00  majority. 
Two-thirds  of  the  lower  house  of  the  General  Assembly  were  democratic  and 
there  was  only  a  small  whig  majority  in  the  Senate.  It  is  said  that  no  more 
remarkable  Legislature  ever  sat  in  the  United  States  than  this  Tenth  General 
Assembly,  which  convened  December  5,  1836.  "Among  its  members,"  says 
the  Illinois  historian,  Judge  John  Moses,  "were  included  a  future  president 
of  the  United  States,  a  defeated  candidate  for  the  same  high  office,  six  fu- 
ture United  States  senators,  eight  members  of  the  national  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, a  secretary  of  the  interior,  three  judges  of  the  State  Supreme  Court 
and  seven  State  officers.*  Here  sat  side  by  side  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Stephen 
A.  Douglas;  the  gallant  Edward  Dickinson  Baker,  who  represented  at  different 
times  the  states  of  Illinois  and  Oregon  in  the  national  councils;  0.  H.  Brown- 
ing, a  prospective  senator  and  future  cabinet  officer,  and  William  L.  D.  Ewing, 
who  had  just  served  a  brief  period  in  the  Senate;  John  Logan,  father  of  the 
late  senator,  General  John  A.  Logan;  Richard  M.  Cullom,  father  of  Shelby 
M.   Cullom;  John   A.   McClcrnand,   afterward  member  of  Congress  for  many 


182  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

years  and  a  distinguished  general  in  the  Civil  war;  'Uncle'  Jesse  K.  Dubois, 
afterward  State  auditor  for  eight  years;  General  James  Shields,  Colonel  John 
J.  Hardin,  William  A.  Richardson,  John  Hogan,  Robert  Smith  and  James 
Semple,  speaker  of  the  House,  all  of  them  future  members  of  Congress ;  Au- 
gustus C.  French,  a  future  governor ;  Usher  F.  Linder,  Milton  Carpenter, 
John  Moore,  John  Dougherty,  Newton  Cloud,  Archibald  Williams,  Cyrus  and 
Ninian  W.  Edwards,  W.  A.  Minshall,  Edward  B.  Webb,  William  Thomas  and 
John  Dement.  In  this  connection  it  is  worthy  of  special  remark  that  of  the 
eminent  whig  leaders  in  this  brilliant  array,  three,  Lincoln,  Baker  and  Hardin, 
met  with  death  by  violence  in  their  country's  service." 

ILLINOIS  THE  STATE  CHAMPION  OF  RAILROADS 

It  was  before  this  Legislature  of  remarkable  men,  some  of  assured  stand- 
ing, others  of  coming  fame,  that  the  internal  improvement  measure  was  brought. 
Such  States  as  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  Indiana  were  special  exponents 
of  canal  improvements ;  Kentucky  of  macadamized  roads ;  while  Illinois  was 
the  enthusiastic  champion  of  railroads  as  a  means  of  general  development.  As 
Illinois  was  the  typical  prairie  State,  her  preference  was  but  natural.  Penn- 
sylvania had  taken  the  lead  in  internal  improvements  when  the  subject  came 
before  the  General  Assembly  of  Illinois ;  in  1837,  that  great  eastern  State  had 
in  operation  218  miles  of  railroads  and  14  miles  of  canals. 

For  months  before  the  assembling  of  the  Legislature  in  December,  1836, 
meetings  had  been  held  by  the  people  urging  that  body  to  formulate  some 
plan  or  legislation  as  a  practical  working  measure.  The  convention  at  Van- 
dalia,  the  capital,  was  attended  by  delegates  from  all  parts  of  the  State,  and 
was  particularly  urgent.  The  first  member  to  formally  move  in  proposing  a 
plan  was  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  of  Morgan  County,  who,  early  in  the  session, 
introduced  a  series  of  resolutions,  in  which  the  improvements  to  be  made  were 
specifically  described,  the  works  to  be  owned  by  the  State.  The  Douglas  resolu- 
tions formed  the  basis  of  the  report  made  by  the  committee  appointed  for 
the  purpose  and  which  was  finally  passed  on  February  27,  1837. 

As  perfected,  the  bill  provided  for  an  expenditure  of  $10,200,000,  of  which 
$9,350,000  was  to  be  for  the  building  of  railroads.  Of  the  remainder,  $300,000 
was  to  be  applied  in  the  improvement  of  the  Wabash,  Illinois  and  Rock  rivers, 
$100,000  each ;  and  $100,000  of  the  Little  Wabash  and  Kaskaskia  rivers,  $50,000 
each.  For  the  improvement  of  the  Great  Western  Mail  Route,  the  appropria- 
tion was  $250,000,  and  $200,000  was  to  be  distributed  among  those  counties 
which  were  not  favored  with  either  railroads  or  canals.  A  necessary  part  of 
the  system  of  improvements  adopted  by  the  Legislature  of  1837  was  the  con- 
struction of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  from  the  south  branch  of  the 
Chicago  River  to  La  Salle,  a  distance  of  ninety-si»  miles,  and  fed  by  the 
Calumet,  Des  Plaines,  Du  Page  and  Kankakee  rivers.  Provision  was  made  for 
the  canal  improvement  by  the  passage  of  a  law  authorizing  the  sale  of  canal 
lands  to  the  amount  of  $1,000,000  and  providing  for  an  additional  loan  of 
$500,000,  the  proceeds  of  which  were  to  be  expended  during  1838. 

The  same  General  Assembly  which  launched  this  scheme  of  internal  im- 
provements, gigantic  for  a  State  so  young  and  poor,  also  changed  the  location 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  183 

of  the  capital  from  Vandal  in,  considerably  south  of  the  center  of  Illinois,  to 
Springfield,  much  nearer  the  geographical  center  and  conforming  more  to 
the  center  of  population.  This  was  made  necessary  largely  by  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  the  most  flourishing  region  in  Northwestern 
Illinois. 

SUSPENSION  OF  SPECIE  PAYMENTS 

The  suspension  of  specie  payments  followed  so  closely  upon  the  projection 
ot  the  Illinois  scheme  of  internal  improvements  as  to  partially  paralyze  it 
before  it  was  placed  in  operation.  When  the  General  Assembly  met  July  10, 
1838,  Governor  Duncan  referred  to  the  deranged  financial  condition  of  the 
country  and,  under  the  circumstances,  recommended  the  repeal  of  the  internal 
improvement  law,  wisely  remarking  that  "the  disasters  which  had  already 
befallen  the  commercial  world  suggested  the  necessity  of  escaping  from  the 
perils  of  a  system  which  could  only  be  fraught  with  evil."  The  law  to  legalize 
the  suspension  of  the  banks  was  passed,  but  the  bill  for  the  repeal  of  the  internal 
improvement  system  was  laid  on  the  table  by  a  vote  of  53  to  34.  The  fund 
commissioners  sent  East  to  raise  funds  to  tide  over  the  bank  crisis  and  com- 
mence some  of  the  public  works  contemplated,  raised  $5,600,000  and  disbursed 
$4,600,000  by  December,  1838.  A  Board  of  Public  Works  had  already  been 
elected  by  the  Legislature.  William  Kinney,  of  St.  Clair  County,  an  adroit 
politician  whom  Joseph  Duncan  had  defeated  for  the  governorship  in  1834, 
was  president  of  the  board,  and  Father  John  Dixon  was  one  of  its  seven  mem- 
bers.    Dixon  represented  the  Sixth  Judicial  District  on  that  body. 

ILLINOIS  CENTRAL  LINE  IN  THE  UPPER  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Although  the  first  work  on  the  internal  improvement  plan  was  done  on 
that  part  of  the  Northern  Cross  Railroad  from  Meredosia,  on  the  Illinois  River, 
t<>  Jacksonville,  probably  more  was  accomplished  in  the  upper  Rock  River 
Valley  in  the  early  stages  of  fixing  the  line  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
than  in  developing  any  other  unit  of  the  system  in  the  State.  To  the  rail- 
toad  from  Galena  to  Cairo  was  apportioned  more  than  one-third  the  total 
amount  designed  to  found  the  entire  system.  Dixon's  Ferry,  or  the  town  of 
Dixon,  although  it  then  contained  but  a  few  houses,  was  recognized  as  a  loca- 
tion of  commanding  importance  in  the  building  of  the  road,  and  its  founder 
as  an  important  factor  in  the  business  and  political  affairs  of  Northern  Illinois. 
While  the  survey  of  the  road  had  not  been  fixed  beyond  recall,  Sterling  made 
an  effort  to  gain  its  location.  Petitions  were  presented  to  the  Legislature 
by  both  Sterling  and  Dixon.  The  paper  offered  by  John  Dixon  and  signed 
by  nearly  140  citizens  won  the  contest.  It  read:  "Your  petitioners — citizens 
residing  on  Rock  River  and  vicinity — understanding  that  a  petition  has  been 
or  is  about  to  be  presented  to  your  honorable  body  representing  that  the 
Central  Railroad,  or  that  part  of  the  same  from  Rocky  ford  to  Savannah  cross- 
ing Rock  River  at  Dixon  is  located  on  unfavorable  ground,  occasioning  a 
longer  and  more  expensive  route — to  which  we  would  respectively  protest — 

"And  would   add   that   whatever  may   be  the   feelings  of  a  few   interested 


184  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

individuals  at  Sterling,  we  are  of  the  opinion  that  that  part  of  the  Central 
Railroad  alluded  to  has  been  judiciously  located — answering  both  the  interest 
of  the  finances  of  the  State  and  that  of  a  very  large  majority  of  the  citizens 
of  the  Rock  River  Country — 

"Authentic  information  on  this  subject  is  in  reach  of  Your  Honorable 
Body,  to  which  we  would  respectfully  refer  you.  In  the  reports  of  the  engi- 
neers, duly  appointed  to  examine  and  survey  said  road,  information  will  be 
found  properly  attested.  And  your  petitioners  have  too  much  confidence  in 
the  good  sense  and  judgment  of  our  Legislature  to  suppose  that  the  repre- 
sentations of  a  few  individuals  should  have  much  weight  against  all  the  evi- 
dence in  your  possession  to  the  contrary." 

The  contest  for  a  location  on  the  line  of  the  proposed  railroad  was  involved 
in  the  furious  fight  for  the  seat  of  justice  of  Ogle  County ;  for  Lee  was  at  that 
time  a  part  of  Ogle  County,  and  was  not  separated  from  it  until  two  years 
thereafter.  While  work  on  the  old  Illinois  Central  was  sporadically  continu- 
ing, during  1838-39,  the  State  engineers  occupied  a  little  log  building  with 
a  stone  basement  at  Dixon,  which  was  also  used  for  court  purposes.  The 
grading  of  the  road  in  Lee  County  was  made  from  the  south  bank  of  the  Rock 
River  directly  to  the  south  boundary.  Large  quantities  of  stone,  much  of  it 
dressed  for  use  in  building  piers  and  abutments  for  bridges  over  Rock  River 
and  other  streams,  were  hauled  into  Lee  County  and  deposited  along  the  route 
of  the  proposed  railroad.  In  Dixon  a  large  amount  of  material  was  left,  and 
subsequently  sold  at  public  auction. 

COLLAPSE  OF  THE  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT  SYSTEM 

The  collapse  of  the  first  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  with  the  entire  internal 
improvement  system,  was  a  blow  to  Dixon  and  all  concerned  in  the  progress 
of  the  upper  Rock  River  Valley.  The  Dixon  family,  the  members  of  which 
were  identified  with  many  interests,  were  especially  hard  hit.  The  position  of 
the  State  Board  of  Public  Works  during  these  years  was  perplexing.  While 
serving  as  one  of  its  members,  Mr.  Dixon  was  involved  in  a  matter  which 
proved  his  good  metal  as  well  as  that  of  others  associated  with  him.  The  pay- 
rolls of  the  contracting  concerns  were  made  out  and  signed  and  the  men  awaited 
Father  Dixon  to  pay  them  off.  It  was  his  duty  as  commissioner  to  draw  the 
money  at  Springfield  and  pay  the  men.  He  had  entrusted  his  draft  on  Spring- 
field to  a  contractor  named  Hamlin,  who  absconded  with  the  proceeds  amount- 
ing to  $11,500.  James  P.  Dixon  and  Smith  Gilbraith  started  in  pursuit, 
traveling  by  stage  coach  through  many  of  the  eastern  states,  but  returned  to 
Dixon  with  the  rogue  still  uncaught.  Soon  after,  James  and  Elijah  Dixon 
renewed  the  search,  traveling  in  Canada  and  through  the  eastern  and  New 
England  states,  striking  Hamlin's  trail  once  in  Connecticut,  but  again  losing 
it  and  abandoning  the  chase.  In  the  meantime,  John  Dixon  had  raised  the 
money  and  paid  it  to  the  State.  Some  time  afterward,  Hamlin  drew  a  prize 
of  $25,000  in  a  lottery.  With  this  and  his  other  ill-gotten  gains  he  returned 
boldly  to  Galena  and  opened  a  store.  Mr.  Dixon  at  once  instituted  suit  and 
recovered  judgment  for  the  $11,500  and  interest.  The  sheriff  closed  out  all 
of  Hamlin's  goods  of  which  he  could  get  possession,  which  paid  the  costs  and 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  185 

expenses  of  the  pursuit  and  a  few  hundred  dollars  of  the  stolen  money.  The 
incident  is  ;i  striking  illustration  of  Father  Dixon's  sense  of  stern  justice  and 
but  one  instance  in  a  thousand  comprising  this  period  of  speculation  and 
rascality  in  which  the  innocent  were  made  to  suffer  with  the  reckless  and  guilty. 
The  internal  improvement  scheme  was  abandoned  in  1839-40,  but  not  until 
State  bonds  exceeding  $13,000,000  had  been  issued.  This  great  State  debt, 
so  burdensome  for  a  commonwealth  in  its  unstable  infancy,  was  the  direct 
Legacy  of  a  plan  of  development  at  least  a  generation  ahead  of  the  resources 
of  the  people.  It  was  nearly  twenty  years  after  the  first  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  Company,  both  under  private  and  slate  auspices,  had  barely  scratched 
the  soil  of  the  State,  that  the  project  was  realized  and  a  line  opened  under 
the  old  name  from  Chicago  to  La  Salle  and  from  Cairo  to  Dunleith  (East 
Dubuque).  The  main  north  and  south  line  beyond  the  Illinois  River  ran  from 
La  Salle  to  Dunleith.  by  way  of  Dixon  and  Freeport.  The  Galena  &  Chicago 
Union  had  already  arrived  at  Rockford  and  Freeport,  and  subsequently  was 
extended  to  Dixon,  Sterling,  Morrison  and  Fulton,  on  the  Mississippi  River. 
Thus  was  laid  the  foundation  of  the  transportation  system  which  has  so  well 
accommodated  the  people  of  the  northern  sections  of  the  Rock  River  Valley. 
The  lower  valley  was  more  particularly  parceled  by  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island 
&  Pacific  and  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy,  also  in  the  middle  '50s. 
The  former  was  the  first  railroad  to  span  the  Mississippi ;  and  the  Rock  River 
Valley  was  thus  the  pioneer  in  cementing  the  great  regions  of  the  country 
east  of  the  Mississippi  with  those  to  the  west.  Although  Illinois  was  at  first 
crushed  to  earth  by  the  reckless  scope  of  the  internal  improvements  which 
she  projected,  her  persistent  support  of  railroad  enterprises,  to  which  her  best 
citizens  returned  again  and  again,  made  the  State  great  and  developed  the 
Rock  River  Valley  into  one  of  the  most  vital  domains  of  the  commonwealth. 

POLITICS    INVOLVED   WITH   THE   INTERNAL   IMPROVEMENTS  PLAN 

Despite  the  fact  that  the  prosecution  of  the  internal  improvements  plan 
threatened  the  State  with  bankruptcy,  the  money  expended  under  it  had  be- 
come so  strong  a  political  agency  that  the  leaders  of  both  parties  hesitated  to 
entirely  abandon  it.  Governor  Duncan,  however,  had  opposed  it  from  the  first, 
and  when  he  left  the  gubernatorial  chair  in  December,  1838,  reemphasized  his 
position,  and  urged  that  such  works  as  it  contemplated  be  placed  in  the  hands 
of  individuals  or  corporations.  He  said  in  his  valedictory  message  to  the 
Eleventh  General  Assembly:  "Experience  has  now  sufficiently  shown  that  all 
my  objections  to  it  must  in  time  be  fully  realized.  That  there  should  have 
been  many  mistakes  committed,  and  much  waste  of  public  money  in  conducting 
a  system  of  internal  improvements  upon  bo  huge  a  scale  in  a  country  almost 
destitute  of  skill  ami  experience  in  such  works  was  to  be  expected.  But  I 
confess  they  have  occurred  to  an  extent  never  anticipated  by  myself — and 
whether  by  mistake  or  design  it  is  very  manifest  that  large  sums  have  been 
squandered  on  objects  of  little  or  no  general  utility  and  in  some  cases  to  the 
detriment  of  the  public  interest.  The  want  of  economy  and  the  deleterious 
effects  of  such  a  system  owned,  controlled  and  carried  on  by  the  State,  are 
great  and  insurmountable  objections   to   it,  but,   in   my   opinion,   not    so  great 


186  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

as  the  powers  it  confers  on  the  State  government,  through  its  numerous  officers 
and  dependents,  to  influence  elections  and  legislation." 

Three  days  after  the  delivery  of  this  valedictory,  came  the  inaugural  of 
Governor  Carlin.  He  disagreed  with  the  outgoing  governor  in  all  the  essentials, 
except  as  to  the  continued  construction  of  the  Illinois  &  Michigan  canal.  Gov- 
ernor Carlin,  however,  did  observe :  ' '  Had  I  occupied  my  present  position 
at  the  establishment  of  this  system  I  would  have  recommended  its  adoption 
on  a  less  expensive  scale,  and  the  construction  of  the  most  important  works 
first. ' '  But :  ' '  Under  the  present  plan  of  proceeding,  however,  near  two  mil- 
lion dollars  have  been  expended,  and  whatever  diversity  of  opinion  may  now 
exist  as  to  the  expediency  of  the  system  as  originally  projected,  all  must  ad- 
mit that  the  character  and  credit  of  the  State  forbid  its  abandonment."  Not 
only  did  the  Legislature  not  repeal  the  original  measure,  but  appropriated  an 
additional  $800,000  for  the  improvement  of  waterways  and  the  construction 
of  railroads. 

In  the  meantime,  the  work  of  internal  improvements,  the  letting  of  con- 
tracts, the  selling  of  bonds  and  the  piling  up  of  the  State  debt,  went  merrily 
on.  Philadelphia,  New  York  and  London  were  scoured  by  the  agents  of  the 
State  and  bonds  sold  at  a  material  discount  in  the  sum  of  $13,200,000.  In 
alarm,  Governor  Carlin  called  a  special  session  of  the  Assembly  to  which  he 
recommended  a  modification  of  the  system,  stating  that  "the  ruinous  policy 
of  simultaneously  commencing  all  the  works  and  constructing  them  in  detached 
parcels  was  alike  at  variance  with  the  principles  of  sound  economy,  destructive 
to  the  interests  of  the  State  and  to  the  system  in  all  its  parts." 

The  whigs  were  generally  in  favor  of  calling  the  special  session;  the  demo- 
crats avoided  responsibility  and  endeavored  to  throw  it  upon  the  governor  him- 
self. But  the  steps  taken  by  the  Legislature  as  a  whole  lead  to  the  conclusion 
that  both  political  parties  realized  that  the  system  was  doomed.  The  Board 
of  Fund  Commissioners  and  the  Board  of  Public  Works  were  abolished.  A 
single  fund  commissioner  was  elected  who  was  to  receive  the  railroad  iron 
purchased  in  Europe  as  well  as  the  unsold  bonds;  to  dispose  of  the  iron  and 
destroy  the  bonds,  and  to  audit  and  settle  the  accounts  of  the  late  boards. 
A  new  Board  of  Public  Works  was  created,  who  were  authorized  to  adjust 
all  liabilities  under  the  Internal  Improvement  system.  Only  those  engineers 
and  agents  whose  services  were  required  to  ascertain  the  amounts  due  con- 
tractors were  to  be  retained  and  even  these  were  to  be  discharged  as  soon  as 
practicable.  Such  roads  as  were  completed  were  to  be  opened  and  managed 
by  the  new  Board  of  Public  Works.  It  was  evident  that  these  measures  were 
all  taken  to  provide  the  machinery  to  suspend  the  operations  of  the  system, 
take  an  account  of  its  stock  and  actual  accomplishments  and  liquidate  the 
debt  of  the  State,  or  at  least  gauge  it  and  check  its  increase. 

When  the  account  of  stock  and  accomplishments  was  taken,  the  people  of 
Illinois  keenly  realized  that  the  mountain  had  brought  forth  a  mouse.  The 
section  of  the  Northern  Cross  Railroad  from  Meredosia  was  more  nearly  con- 
structed than  any  other  part  of  the  system,  and  was  actually  finished  after 
the  expenditure  of  another  $100,000  derived  from  the  sale  of  canal  bonds. 
When  finally  sold  at  auction  the  road  which  had  cost  the  State  nearly  $1,000,000 
was  purchased  by  a  Springfield  capitalist  for  $21,000.     The  railroad  iron  for 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  187 

which  the  fund  commissioners  had  contracted  in  Europe  hardly  brought  enough 
to  pay  freightage. 

ILLINOIS    &    MICHIGAN    CANAL    AND    THE    SECOND   ILLINOIS   CENTRAL 

The  Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal  was  no  part  of  the  State  system  of  internal 
Improvements  as  promulgated  in  1837.  It  was  a  cooperative  enterprise  under- 
taken by  the  Nation  and  the  State  many  years  before,  and  its  building  fund 
was  a  magnificent  land  grant  donated  by  Congress  and  amounting  to  300,000 
acres.  Work  upon  this  substantial  project  was  continued  amid  the  wreckage 
of  the  internal  improvement  system  and,  although  suspended  for  a  number  of 
years  after  1841,  was  completed  in  1848. 

Although  the  great  system  of  public  works  designed  to  especially  benefit 
the  interior  of  the  State  was  in  ruins  by  1839,  it  carried  a  saving  germ  which 
eventually  developed  into  a  prodigious  fund  of  public  value.  The  second 
Illinois  Central  Railroad  was  in  the  wreckage,  with  its  grand  scheme  of  project- 
ing itself  from  Cairo  to  the  southern  terminus  of  the  Illinois  &  Michigan 
(anal  at  La  Salle,  and  thence  shooting  across  Northwestern  Illinois  to  the 
Mississippi  River  at  a  point  opposite  Dubuque,  Iowa.  The  project  was  re- 
incarnated in  January,  1850,  through  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  the  originator  of 
the  internal  improvement  scheme  of  Illinois,  who  also  became  the  father  of 
that  congressional  land  grant  of  nearly  2,600,000  acres,  the  proceeds  of  which 
formed  the  fund  which  built  and  developed  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  with 
all  the  advantages  to  the  State  and  its  Rock  River  Valley  which  that  state- 
ment implies. 

THE   NOTED    CAMPAIGN    OP    1840 

The  .collapse  of  the  internal  improvement  system  and  the  consequent  dark 
shadow  of  a  great  public  debt  which  followed  could  not  be  logically  charged 
to  either  the  democrats  or  whigs  of  the  State ;  for  although  the  democrats  were 
in  power,  not  a  few  of  their  leaders,  like  Joseph  Duncan,  opposed  the  original 
plan  and  tried  either  to  kill  it  or  to  modify  it.  The  problem  of  the  State  of 
Illinois  now  was  to  extricate  itself  from  its  indebtedness  with  honor,  so  as  to 
maintain  its  financial  credit  without  placing  a  heavy  burden  of  taxation  upon 
a  sorely  distressed  people  passing  through  a  period  of  deep  depression  fol- 
lowing one  of  wild  speculation  and  inflation.  The  widespread  stress  of  hard 
times  the  whigs  charged  upon  democratic,  particularly  Jacksonian,  measures 
and  legislation.  The  special  problems  confronting  the  State  could  not  be  charged 
to  party  legislation  or  policy,  but  rather  to  the  prevailing  rage  for  public 
expansion  and  individual  speculation.  The  consequence  was  that  the  campaign 
of  1S40  in   Illinois  was  conducted  wholly  on  national  issues. 

The  whigs  had  been  forced  to  capitulate  to  the  democracy  in  favor  of  the 
convention  system  and  partisan  cohesion.  Accordingly,  at  the  suggestion  of 
leading  newspapers,  the  first  whig  State  convention  wras  convoked  at  Spring- 
field  on  October  7,  1839,  to  effect  an  organization  and  name  delegates  to  the 
national  convention  already  called  to  meet  at  Harrisburg  on  the  following 
4th  of  December.     At  that  time  and  place,  the  whigs  nominated  William  Henry 


188  THE  EOCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Harrison  for  president  and  John  Tyler  for  vice  president.  Martin  Van  Buren 
was  unanimously  renominated  by  the  democrats  as  their  presidential  candidate, 
at  Baltimore,  May  5,  1840.  No  candidate  for  vice  president  was  placed  in 
nomination,  as  the  party  resolved  "to  leave  the  decision  to  their  republican 
fellow-citizens  of  the  several  states." 

The  whigs  declared  for  a  protective  tariff,  a  United  States  bank  and  economy 
in  the  national  administration.  Although  the  democrats  adopted  a  platform 
of  negatives,  it  was  founded  on  the  principle  of  States  Rights,  and  denied 
the  constitutionality  of  the  General  Government  to  foster  internal  improve- 
ments, assume  the  debts  of  State  or  in  any  way  to  interfere  with  the  domestic 
institutions  of  the  States.  • 

With  the  convention  plan  now  in  force  by  both  parties,  the  political  lines 
were  drawn  more  closely  than  ever  before.  It  was  a  campaign  of  strange  con- 
tradiction. It  was  fought  both  on  general  principles  and  hot  appeals  to  per- 
sonal attachment.  For  the  whigs  it  was  the  hard-cider  and  log-cabin  campaign, 
and  the  democrats  posed  as  the  poor  man's  party,  with  its  hickory  clubs  and 
poles,  emblematic  of  General  Jackson  and  his  successor.  In  his  Illinois  history, 
John  Moses  thus  graphically  describes  the  campaign  as  manifested  at  the  State 
capital:  "No  regular  army  was  ever  better  organized,  equipped  or  drilled 
than  the  contending  hosts  on  either  side.  The  whigs  had  never  elected  a  pres- 
ident and  being  for  the  first  time  united  under  one  banner,  with  bright  pros- 
pects of  success,  a  wonderful  enthusiasm  pervaded  their  ranks  such  as  the 
democrats  were  not  able  to  arouse.  They  held  meetings,  extraordinary  as  re- 
gards both  members  and  interest,  all  over  the  country.  One  of  these,  which, 
perhaps,  exceeded  all  others,  was  held  at  Springfield  in  June.  The  people  came 
from  all  portions  of  the  State;  in  wagons,  on  horseback,  on  foot,  bringing  their 
provisions  with  them  and  camping.  The  prairies  for  a  week  previous  to  the 
meeting  were  covered  with  excited  crowds,  drinking  hard  cider,  riding  in  their 
log  cabins  built  on  wheels,  and  singing  campaign  songs,  a  specimen  of  which 
is  as  follows: 

"  'Let  Frenchmen  drink  claret  and  sweet  muscadine, 
And  Germans  drink  hock  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine ; 
But  give  me  to  quaff,  with  friends  warm  and  true, 
A  gourd  of  hard  cider  to  old  Tippecanoe. 

In  the  White  House  Van  Buren  may  drink  his  champagne 
And  have  himself  toasted  from  Georgia  to  Maine — 

But  we  in  log  cabins,  with  hearts  warm  and  true, 
Drink  a  gourd  of  hard  cider  to  old  Tippecanoe.' 

"Twenty  thousand  people,  nearly  five  per  cent  of  the  entire  population 
of  the 'State,  attended  the  meeting,  among  whom  was  a  delegation  from  Chicago, 
of  whose  members  Charles  Cleaver,  Thomas  B.  Carter  and  Stephen  F.  Gale 
are  still  (1889)  living.  Securing  fourteen  of  the  best  teams  available  and 
four  tents,  they  captured  the  government  yawl  which  they  rigged  up  as  a 
two-masted  ship  and  placed  on  a  strong  wagon  drawn  by  six  fine  gray  horses. 
Thus  equipped,  with  four  sailors  on  board,  a  band  of  music  and  a  six-pounder 


THE  ROCK  BIVEK  VALLEY  189 

cannon  to  fire  salutes,  with  Captain,  afterward  .Major  General  David  Hunter,  in 
command  as  chief  marshal,  they  started  with  flying  colors  on  their  journey.  It 
was  an  exciting  and  an  ever-to-be-remembered  expedition.  At  Joliet,  which 
they  reached  on  the  evening  of  the  second  day,  their  progress  was  opposed  by 
a  mob  of  roughs  and  lahorers  on  the  canal;  hut  the  advancing  force,  at  the 
word  of  command,  having  drawn  their  pistols,  it  was  deemed  advisahle  to 
permit  them  to  proceed.  They  were  seven  days  making  the  trip.  Their  vessel 
was  a  wonder  to  the  inhabitants  along  the  route,  many  of  whom  had  never 
seen  anything  of  the  kind. 

"At  Springfield  it  divided  the  attention  of  the  masses  with  a  huge  log 
cabin,  twelve  by  sixteen  feet,  constructed  on  an  immense  truck  whose  wheels 
were  made  of  solid  wood,  cut  from  a  large  tree.  The  latter  was  drawn  by 
thirty  yoke  of  oxen ;  a  couple  of  coons  were  playing  in  the  branches  of  a 
hickory  sapling  at  one  corner;  and  a  barrel  of  hard  cider  stood  by  the  door, 
whose   latch-string   was   hanging  out. 

"The  brig  was  presented  to  the  whigs  of  Sangamon  County  in  an  able 
speech  by  William  Stuart  of  the  Chicago  American;  in  return  for  which  the 
Chicago  delegation  was  presented  with  a  live  gray  eagle  in  an  eloquent  address 
by  E.  D.  Baker,  at  the  critical  portion  of  which,  when  he  described  the  eagle's 
broad  flight  as  emblematic  of  Harrison's  election,  the  noble  bird  responded 
to  the  sentiment  b}'  rearing  his  head,  expanding  his  wings  and  giving  a  loud 
cry.  The  applause  of  the  immense  crowd  was  correspondingly  wild  and  en- 
thusiastic. The  entire  trip  consumed  three  weeks'  time,  but  was  enjoyed  by 
the  party  from  first  to  last." 

The  whigs  elected  their  president,  but  failed  to  carry  Illinois,  the  majority 
in  favor  of  Van  Buren  being  nearly  2,000.  The  foreign  vote  along  the  canal 
in  Cook  and  La  Salle  counties  and  in  St.  Clair  County,  opposite  St.  Louis, 
more  than  turned  the  scale.  The  democrats  also  succeeded  in  electing  a  large 
majority  of  the  Twelfth  General  Assembly.  The  Senate  stood  26  democrats 
and  14  whigs;  the  House,  51  democrats  and  40  whigs. 

UPPER   ROCK   RIVER   VALLEY   STRONGLY   WHIG 

The  Rock  River  Valley  presented  a  strong  whig  front.  Winnebago,  Ogle 
and  Lee  counties  being  especially  enthusiastic  in  the  cause  of  "Tippecanoe  and 
Tyler  too."  Winnebago  was  a  veritable  whig  stronghold.  On  April  11,  1840, 
the  whigs  held  a  convention  at  Rockford  and  nominated  a  full  county  ticket. 
Among  the  local  leaders  of  the  party  were  Selden  M.  Church,  Jacob  Miller, 
II.  B.  Potter,  G.  A.  Sanford  and  Isaac  N.  Cunningham.  Democratic  prin- 
ciples were  championed  by  Jason  March,  Daniel  S.  Haight,  Henry  Thurston, 
P.  Knappen,  J.  C.  Goodhue,  II.  W.  Loomis  and  C.  I.  Horseman.  Boone  County 
had  been  organized  from  the  eastern  portion  of  Winnebago  and  the  western 
two  ranges  had  been  transferred  to  Stephenson.  In  the  new  counties,  the 
whigs  also  had  the  upper  hand. 

The  August  elections  resulted  in  the  choice  of  the  whig  representatives, 
Thomas  Drummond,  of  Jo  Daviess  (afterward  so  prominent  as  a  Federal  judge), 
and  Hiram  W.  Thornton,  of  Mercer  County.  Isaac  N.  Cunningham  was  elected 
sheriff;  Alonzo  Piatt,  coroner,  and  Ezra  S.  Cable,  commissioner. 


190  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

THE  CAMPAIGN    IN   WINNEBAGO   COUNTY 

Henry  Thurston,  who  had  come  from  New  York  and  settled  in  Rockford 
three  years  before,  was  commencing  a  residence  of  nearly  sixty  years  in  this 
center  of  whigism.  A  few  years  before  his  death  and  at  the  near-conclusion 
of  this  long  period  as  a  citizen  of  Rockford,  he  wrote  as  follows  regarding  the 
stirring  campaign  of  1840  in  his  home  locality:  "The  sparseness  of  the  popula- 
tion, the  limited  amount  accessible  of  the  current  literature  of  the  day,  to 
which  some  of  the  settlers  had  been  accustomed;  the  almost  entire  deprivation 
of  the  pleasures  of  social  life  among  the  older  people,  caused  them  to  enter 
into  a  political  or  local  contest  with  a  vim  which  almost  invariably  became 
personal  before  it  was  decided.  When  the  fight  was  ended,  the  passions  cooled 
down  and  sober  second  thought  had  resumed  its  sway,  it  frequently  happened 
that  both  parties  joined  in  a  general  pow-wow  and  celebration. 

"It  was  so  in  1840.  The  whigs  of  this  locality  imitated  the  tactics  so  suc- 
cessfully practiced  throughout  the  Union.  They  had  no  cider,  either  hard 
or  sweet,  but  they  did  possess  in  abundance  all  the  paraphernalia  used  by 
the  party  in  the  populous  parts  of  the  country.  They  put  up  a  log  cabin  in 
regular  pioneer  style  on  the  southeast  corner  of  State  and  Madison  streets 
for  political  headquarters,  profusely  decorated  with  coon  skins  and  other  regalia 
pertaining  to  the  times;  imported  speakers  from  Galena,  Chicago  and  inter- 
vening points;  got  up  processions,  and  with  Frank  Parker  blowing  an  E  flat 
bugle  and  China  Parker  a  clarionet — neither  of  them  having  the  slightest 
knowledge  of  music  and  each  blowing  with  might  and  main  in  a  vain  effort 
to  drown  out  his  companion — marched  about  the  village  wherever  they  could 
secure  a  following.  The  village  drum  was  in  possession  of  the  democrats 
and  consequently  not  available  for  whig  celebrations." 

Jacob  Miller  was  the  most  popular  of  the  local  whig  orators.  He  was 
familiar  with  the  vernacular  of  the  westerner  and  drew  his  illustrations  from 
their  daily  life.  At  the  close  of  a  harangue  he  would  sometimes  produce  his 
fiddle  and  scrape  the  "Arkansas  Traveler."  The  whole  assembly  joined  in 
a  general  breakdown,  and  the  orator  of  the  day  was  borne  in  triumph  on  the 
shoulders  of  his  friends  to  the  nearest  bar. 

At  the  presidential  election,  which  occurred  in  November,  the  whigs  cast 
768  votes  in  the  county  and  the  democrats,  321.  The  whig  majority  of  447 
was  nearly  100  more  than  that  of  the  State  and  county  election  in  August. 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  one  of  the  five  whig  candidates  for  presidential  elector 
in  Illinois.  But  Illinois  was  one  of  the  seven  states  that  sent  Van  Buren 
electors  to  Washington. 

The  late  Charles  A.  Church,  the  well  known  journalist  and  historian  of 
Winnebago  and  Boone  counties,  makes  these  comments  on  the  aftermath  of 
the  famous  campaign  and  election  of  1840 :  ' '  The  facilities  for  communication 
were  so  meager  that  the  official  vote  of  the  State  was  not  known  in  Rockford 
until  late  in  December.  A  messenger  from  the  capital,  with  the  official  vote 
of  the  State,  passed  through  Rockford  ten  days  in  advance  of  its  publication 
in  the  Chicago  papers  and  communicated,  it  is  said,  the  news  to  the  prominent 
men  of  the  democratic  party,  in  each  village,  for  betting  purposes. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  191 

"The  Rock  River  Express  of  December  4.  1840,  published  this  advertise- 
ment in  display  type:  'For  Salt  River,  the  steamboat  Van  Buren,  only  font- 
years  old,  will  leave  on  the  4th  of  March  next,  for  Salt  River.  For  freight 
or  passage,  apply  to  the  White  House.  Hypocrites  will  be  in  attendance  to 
amuse  the  passengers  free  of  charge.'  " 

WHIG    CONVENTION    AT    DIXON'S    FERRY 

The  great  Jo  Daviess  representative  district  of  Northwestern  Illinois  was 
the  one  which  returned  Thomas  Drummond  and  Hiram  Thornton  to  the  lower 
house  of  the  Legislature.  It  stretched  from  the  lead  mine  region  on  the  north 
to  Mercer  County  and  the  Mississippi  on  the  south,  and  Dixon,  on  its  eastern 
border  and  almost  midway  between  these  localities,  was  the  easiest  point  of 
access  for  its  citizens.  Hon.  Elihu  B.  Washburne,  while  minister  to  France, 
wrote  a  reminiscent  letter  to  John  Dixon,  regarding  the  convention  held  in 
the  little  rough  pioneer  schoolhou.se  of  Dixon's  Ferry  to  make  these  legisla- 
tive nominations.  This  phase  of  the  communication  between  these  old  gentle- 
men, whose  life-lines  had  so  widely  diverged,  is  presented  by  Mr.  Wa.shburne 
in  these  words:  "It  was  in  June,  1840,  that  there  was  a  big  whig  convention 
held  at  Dixon's  Ferry  to  nominate  candidates  for  the  Legislature  to  represent 
a  district  composed  of  some  ten  or  fifteen  counties  in  the  northwestern  part 
of  the  State;  counties  which  now  have  populations  enough  to  send  two  mem- 
bers to  Congress.  Drummond,  now  judge  of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court, 
and  Horster  (Thornton),  the  blacksmith  of  Millersburg,  Mercer  County,  were 
nominated  and  elected  by  a  large  majority.  Tom  Campbell,  of  Galena,  and 
Dr.  Van  Valzeb  (Thomas  Van  Valzah).  of  Freeport,  were  the  democratic 
nominees.  Drummond  and  Campbell  canvassed  the  district  together  on  horse- 
back, carrying  their  duds  in  saddlebags. 

"A  lively  retinue  of  whigs  went  down  to  that  convention  from  Jo  Daviess 
County,  but  I  was  not  of  them,  only  having  put  up  my  shingle  as  a  lawyer 
a  few  weeks  before  at  Galena.  I  well  recollect  when  the  Galena  delegates  left 
in  their  lumber  wagons  for  the  long  journey,  and  they  departed  with  songs 
and  shoutings  and  banners.  When  they  got  home  they  told  of  the  glorious 
time  they  had,  and  what  a  magnificent  repast  Sample  M.  Turney  had  provided 
for  them  at  Elkhorn  Grove  (now  in  Carroll  County)  when  on  their  return. 
When  I  think  of  all  the  good  things  wc  had  to  cat  in  those  good  old  times, 
I  feel  like  showing  my  Paris  cook  the  door." 

ANTI-DEMOCRATIC  SENTIMENT  IN  OGLE  COUNTY 

Ogle  County  ran  Lee  a  close  race  on  the  strength  of  its  whig  sentiment, 
and  during  the  campaign  enthusiastic  meetings,  with  the  popular  songs  and 
music  dedicated  to  Harrison  and  Tyler,  were  held  at  Oregon,  Mount  Morris, 
Polo  and  other  centers.  The  prevailing  sentiment  against  the  democratic  ad- 
ministration, with  its  concomitants  of  hard  times  and  distressing  State  com- 
plications, brought  about  a  rebellion  against  Van  Buren,  its  responsible  head. 
The  result  in  Ogle  County  was  to  give  Harrison  451  ballots  and  Van  Buren,  266. 


192  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

HOW  JUDGE  FORD,  OF  OREGON,  BECAME  GOVERNOR 

The  State  campaign  of  1841-42,  which  terminated  in  the  August  election 
of  the  latter  year,  was  seriously  complicated  with  the  Mormon  imbroglio. 
Captain  Adam  W.  Snyder,  who  had  long  been  a  resident  of  St.  Clair  County 
in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  State  and  had  risen  from  an  obscure  position 
as  a  woolen  mill  workman  and  a  struggling  lawyer  to  substantial  standing  in 
the  Legislature  and  Congress  was  the  gubernatorial  nominee  of  the  democrats. 
He  had  taken  an  active  part  in  the  legislation  conferring  unusual  privilege 
upon  the  Mormons  at  Nauvoo  by  which  they  could  virtually  defy  the  State 
government.  The  Mormons  had  supported  the  whigs  in  1840,  but  on  account 
of  favors  shown  them  by  the  democratic  Legislature  had  transferred  their 
allegiance  to  their  new  friends.  Ex-Governor  Duncan  became  the  candidate 
of  the  whigs  without  calling  upon  the  action  of  any  convention,  as  no  other 
name  had  been  mentioned  worthy  of  consideration.  Although  some  of  the 
whig  members  of  the  Legislature  had  voted  for  the  obnoxious  charters  and 
ordinances  granted  to  the  Nauvoo  Mormons,  Joseph  Smith,  their  prophet,  had 
issued  a  proclamation  exhorting  his  followers  to  support  Snyder.  The  Mormon 
cause  in  Illinois  was  therefore  considered  bound  up  with  that  of  the  State 
democracy.  Captain  Snyder,  however,  died  in  May  preceding  the  August 
election. 

In  the  meantime,  public  sentiment  evidently  turned  against  the  friendly 
attitude  of  the  democrats  toward  the  Mormons  and  the  party  looked  around 
for  a  candidate  who  had  not  so  prominently  committed  himself  on  this  meas- 
ure as  the  deceased.  They  fixed  upon  Thomas  Ford,  who  had  been  a  resident 
of  Oregon  since  1836.  Since  that  year  he  had  ably  served  as  judge  of  the 
Northern  Illinois  circuit  and  of  the  Galena  circuit,  and  his  judicial  duties 
had  taken  him  as  far  north  as  Galena  and  as  far  east  as  Geneva,  Kane  Country. 
He  was  therefore  widely  known  and  generally  respected,  his  name  and  judicial 
record  being  more  closely  associated  with  Northern  than  with  Southern  Illinois. 
He  was  known  neither  as  a  legislator  nor  a  politician  and  had  no  record  in 
the  Mormon  troubles,  which  was  at  this  state  of  the  campaign  in  his  favor, 
as  the  whigs,  under  the  leadership  of  Duncan,  were  making  them  the  prominent 
issue  against  the  democrats. 

Judge  Ford  was  holding  court  at  Oregon  when  he  received  notice  of  his 
nomination  for  the  governorship  by  the  convention  which  had  assembled  soon 
after  Captain  Snyder's  death  in  May.  Ford  immediately  resigned  his  posi- 
tion on  the  bench  and  entered  actively  into  the  canvass.  Although  his  non- 
committal attitude  on  the  Mormon  issue  was  now  proving  an  element  of  his 
strength,  the  positive  stand  which  he  had  taken  on  the  northern  boundary 
question  was  against  him  in  the  section  of  the  State  where  he  was  best  known. 
Most  of  the  fourteen  northern  counties  of  the  State  favored  connection  with 
Wisconsin,  and  Judge  Ford  was  opposed  to  it.  In  this,  he  opposed  a  strong 
sentiment  in  his  home  county.  The  only  democratic  newspaper  in  Ogle  County 
was  the  Rock  River  Register,  which  turned  against  Ford  as  the  nominee  of  its 
party  on  the  score  of  his  position  on  the  boundary  issue  and  declared  that 
he  was  ' '  a  northern  man  with  southern  principles. ' '  The  central  and  southern 
portions  of  the  State  desired  to  retain  the  northern  counties  that  they  might 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  193 

bear  their  share  of  the  taxes  needed  to  be  levied  to  honestly  pay  the  heavy 
debt.  Despite  the  opposition  to  him  in  Northern  Illinois  and  the  lingering 
prejudice  againsl  his  party  because  of  its  late  support  of  the  .Mormons,  Judge 
Ford  \\a>  elected  in  August,  1842,  by  the  Largesl  majority  the  democrats  had 
yet  received  in  Illinois.  The  vote  stood — for  Ford,  46,901,  and  for  Duncan, 
38,584. 

A  picture  ami  analysis  of  the  governor-elect  is  given  by  Judge  John  Moses 
in  his  Illinois  history,  as  follows:  "The  governor  was  low  in  stature  and 
slender  in  person,  with  thin  features,  deep-set  grey  eyes,  and  an  aquiline  nose 
which  had  a  twist  to  one  side.  Though  small  physically,  he  was  large  mentally. 
Unlike  most  of  bis  predecessors  he  was  noted  neither  for  athletic  accomplish- 
ments nor  for  military  achievements,  although  be  served  creditably  in  the 
Black  Hawk  war.  He  had  studied  law  thoroughly  under  Daniel  P.  Cook,  and 
to  excel  as  a  lawyer  bad  been  his  highest  ambition,  to  attain  which  end  he 
had  devoted  all  his  time  and  talents.  As  a  judge  his  decisions  were  noted 
for  their  justice  and  impartiality.  He  had  never  aspired  to  distinction  as 
a  public  speaker,  nor  did  he  possess  those  qualities  which  render  a  candidate 
personally  popular.  In  fact,  if  left  to  secure  his  own  elevation  by  the  stereo- 
typed methods  of  politicians,  he  would  never  have  been  the  choice  of  his  party 
for  governor,  nor.  indeed,  for  any  other  elective  office. 

"A  better  selection,  in  many  respects,  for  the  welfare  of  the  State  at  this 
critical  juncture  in  its  history  could  not  have  been  made.  While  his  experi- 
ence on  the  bench  had  not  qualified  him  for  that  contact  with  politicians  and 
the  management  of  public  men  which  is  so  essential  to  personal  success,  and 
while  he  pi  ssessed  strong  prejudices,  was  obstinate  and  resentful  of  opposi- 
tion, especially  when  it  came  from  his  own  political  household,  his  native  in- 
tegrity, mental  calibre  and  sound  judgment,  enabled  him  to  perceive  and  grasp 
the  dangers  with  which  the  State  was  threatened  from  repudiation,  and  to 
suggest  those  measures  which  placed  its  credit  and  good  name  beyond  question 
or  reproach." 

GOVERNOR  FORD   SPURNS  REPUDIATION 

As  the  campaign  progressed,  covering  the  period  from  the  election  to  the 
convening  of  the  Legislature,  Governor  Ford  perceived  that  all  other  minor 
issues  were  being  submerged  by  the  pressing  duty  of  providing  for  the  can- 
cellation of  the  State  debt,  either  by  repudiation  or  honorable  liquidation. 
In  September,  William  S.  Wait,  of  Bond  County,  Southern  Illinois,  addressed 
a  letter  to  him,  through  the  columns  of  the  State  Register,  vigorously  opposing 
any  increase  of  taxes  for  the  payment  of  the  public  debt.  "This,"  said  the 
irovernor  in  his  reply,  "gave  me  a  decent  pretext  for  coming  before  the  people 
with  my  views  in  favor  of  the  measure,  in  advance  of  the  meeting  of  the  Legis- 
lature to  convene  in  December  following.  I  knew  that  nothing  could  be  more 
unpopular  than  to  favor  an  increase  of  taxes;  in  so  doing  I  knew  that  I  came 
into  immediate  collision  with  every  demagogue  and  incurred  imminent  hazard 
of  making  myself  utterly  obnoxious  to  a  tax-hating  people.  I  clearly  saw  that 
to  be  opposed  to  taxation  might  be  the  better  for  myself,  but  certainly  worse 
for  the  State." 


194  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

After  stating  Mr.  Wait's  position  that  increased  taxes  within  the  ability 
to  pay  would  be  without  utility,  Governor  Ford  noted  the  drawbacks  suffered 
by  the  State  in  the  past  two  years,  such  as  general  failure  of  the  crops,  high 
waters  and  the  destruction  of  farms  and  live  stock.  For  that  period  the  people 
had  been  looking  to  the  General  Assembly  to  settle  the  problem  of  the  payment 
of  the  public  debt.  He  deprecated  throwing  this  burden  on  future  generations, 
by  further  postponing  the  settlement  of  the  matter.  He  also  expressed  the 
belief  that  the  people  had  been  burdened  not  so  much  by  high  taxes,  but  by 
the  fear  of  them.  That  fear  had  lost  many  good  citizens  to  the  State  and 
repelled  many  others.    The  only  relief  was  to  offer  a  remedy  at  once. 

' '  There  are  but  two  modes  of  settling  this  question, ' '  the  governor  continued. 
"One  will  be  to  begin  at  once  a  system  of  taxation  which  we  mean  to  pursue; 
the  other  is  by  direct  repudiation.  This  last  mode  will  expose  us  to  the  merited 
scorn  and  contempt  of  the  civilized  world.  It  defies  the  eternal  principle  of 
sacred  justice,  and  will  establish  for  us  among  all  men  a  reputation  as  odious 
and  detestable  as  that  of  a  nest  of  pirates.  Mankind  will  never  forget,  and 
we  can  never  ourselves  forget,  that  we  have  had  the  money  of  our  creditors 
that  we  owe  them,  that  they  have  lost  that  much ;  and  that  with  a  heaven- 
daring  impudence  and  scornful  defiance  of  the  moral  principles  of  man's  nature, 
we  deny  the  debt  and  refuse  to  pay  it." 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  it  was  found  that  quite  an  opposition  had 
been  organized  against  the  Ford  administration,  although  the  democrats  had 
a  majority  of  about  two-thirds  in  each  house.  The  whigs  were  consistent  oppo- 
nents of  the  administration,  and  Governor  Ford,  doubtless  from  his  ignorance  of 
"practical  politics,"  had  made  many  enemies  by  his  appointments.  The  result 
was  a  near-defeat  of  both  the  canal  bill  and  the  measure  to  levy  a  permanent 
tax  in  order  to  pay  a  portion  of  the  interest  on  the  public  debt  of  the  State. 
The  two  measures  were  originally  incorporated  in  one  bill  and  failed  to  pass 
until  they  had  been  separated. 

At  the  same  session  of  the  Legislature  which  provided  for  the  levying  of 
the  permanent  tax,  an  offset  law  was  passed  making  the  legal  rate  of  interest  six 
per  cent ;  above  that  rate,  usurious.  The  latter  was  a  measure  of  great  relief 
to  the  people  of  Illinois,  as  previously  merchants  in  the  middle  and  southern 
portions  of  the  State  had  been  accustomed  to  induce  customers  to  buy  on 
credit,  and,  when  unable  to  pay,  to  take  notes  bearing  as  high  as  twelve  per  cent 
interest. 

WHAT  THE  FORD  ADMINISTRATION   ACCOMPLISHED 

A  moderate  statement  of  what  the  Ford  administration  accomplished  in 
bringing  the  State  from  a  really  serious  dilemma  into  the  company  of  the 
honorable  and  progressive  commonwealths  of  the  United  States  is  given  by  the 
governor  himself  in  his  history  of  Illinois.  He  says  on  this  point:  "In  Decem- 
ber, 1846,  when  the  author  went  out  of  office,  the  domestic  debt  of  the  treasury, 
instead  of  being  $313,000,  was  only  $31,000,  with  $9,000  in  the  treasury.  Audi- 
tors' warrants  were  at  par,  or  very  nearly  so.  The  banks  had  been  put  in  liquida- 
tion in  a.  manner  just  to  all  parties,  and  so  as  to  maintain  the  character  of 
the  State  for  moderation  and  integrity.     Violent  counsels  were  rejected.     The 


TIIK  HOCK   RIVER  VALLKY  195 

notes  of  the  banks  had  entirely  disappeared  and  had  been  replaced  in  circula- 
tion by  a  reasonable  abundance  of  gold  and  silver  coin  and  tbe  notes  of  solvent 
banks  of  other  states.  The  people  had  very  generally  paid  their  private  debts. 
A  very  considerable  portion  of  the  State  debt  had  been  paid  also.  About 
$.'{.000,000  had  been  paid  by  a  sale  of  the  public  property  and  by  putting  the 
banks  into  liquidation,  and  a  sum  of  $5,000,000  more  had  been  effectually  pro- 
vided for  to  be  paid  after  the  completion  of  the  canal;  being  a  reduction  of 
$8, 000,000  in  the  State  debt  which  had  been  paid,  redeemed  or  provided  for, 
whilst  the  author  was  in  office.  The  State  itself,  although  broken  and  at  one 
time  discredited  and  a  by-word  throughout  the  civilized  world  had,  to  the 
astonishment  of  everyone,  been  able  to  borrow7,  on  the  credit  of  its  property,  the 
further  sum  of  $1,(500,000  to  finish  the  canal;  and  that  great  work,  at  one  time 
BO  hopeless  and  so  nearly  abandoned,  is  nowr  (1847)  in  a  fair  way  of  completion." 
In  the  meantime  (1843)  the  congressional  districts  of  the  State  had  been 
reapportioned  by  the  General  Assembly,  so  that  all  the  Illinois  counties  in  the 
Rock  River  Valley  except  Boone  had  been  thrown  into  the  Sixth.  In  the  elec- 
tion of  August,  1846,  Thomas  J.  Turner,  of  Freeport,  was  sent  to  Washington 
to  represent  the  Sixth,  which  then  embraced  sixteen  counties  including  Stephen- 
son, Winnebago,  Ogle,  Whiteside,  Henry,  Lee  and  Rock  Island.  The  new  con- 
gressman had  located  in  the  lead  district  of  Southwestern  Wisconsin  and  North- 
western Illinois  in  his  youth.  A  few  years  afterward  he  located  in  Stephenson 
County  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  As  prosecuting  attorney  he  secured  the 
conviction  of  the  murderers  of  Colonel  Davenport  in  July,  1845,  and  was 
elected  to  Congress  in  the  following  year.  He  established  the  first  newspaper 
in  Freeport,  served  as  the  first  mayor  there,  was  a  leader  in  the  Legislature  for 
many  years  and  afterward  moved  to  Chicago.     He  died  in  1874. 

THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION  OP  1847 

The  constitutional  convention  which  assembled  at  Springfield,  on  June 
7,  1847,  was  the  culmination  of  attempts  made  by  three  legislatures  and  three 
popular  elections  to  determine  the  question  of  a  revision  of  the  fundamental 
law  under  which  the  State  had  been  operating  since  1818.  When  the  people 
decided  by  an  overwhelming  vote  that  they  wished  revision,  the  stage  was  all 
set  for  the  first  reformation  of  its  organic  law  to  be  made  by  any  of  the  states 
carved  from  the  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River.  It  is  said  that  party 
lines  were  not  strictly  drawn  in  the  selection  of  delegates;  at  the  same  time 
that  "the  democrats  were  careful  to  maintain  in  the  convention  the  supremacy 
which  they  held  in  the  State,  electing  92  out  of  the  162  members."  Although 
rather  an  unwieldy  body  in  point  of  numbers,  the  quality  of  its  membership 
was  remarkably  high,  the  leaders  from  both  the  democratic  and  whig  parties 
being  well  represented. 

DELEGATION    FROM    THE   ROCK    RIVER   VALLEY 

The  delegation  from  the  Rock  River  Valley  was  solid  and  brilliant,  and 
there  was  hardly  a  member  who  had  not  been  a  pioneer  and  a  community- 
builder  and  some  had  already  earned  reputations  transcending  the  bounds  of 

Vol.  1—13 


196  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

the  State.  Winnebago  County  sent  Selden  M.  Church  and  Robert  J.  Cross. 
At  that  time,  Mr.  Church  was  a  leading  business  man  of  Rockford  and  county 
clerk.  Afterward  he  was  to  be  probate  judge  and  a  leader  in  State  legisla- 
tion and  administration,  as  well  as  very  prominent  in  the  business,  financial 
and  public  affairs  of  his  home  city. 

Both  Judge  Church  and  Mr.  Cross  bore  notable  parts  in  the  constitutional 
convention  of  1847.  Early  in  the  session  Judge  Church  introduced  the  reso- 
lution barring  slavery  from  the  State,  while  Mr.  Cross  fathered  the  measures 
for  changing  the  general  elections  from  August  to  November  and  the  manner 
of  voting  from  viva  voce  to  ballot.  Mr.  Cross  also  led  in  the  effort  to  secure 
in  the  new  constitution  a  provision  for  the  creation  of  a  state  superintendent 
of  schools  with  a  liberal  salary. 

The  neighboring  County  of  Boone  was  represented  by  Dr.  Daniel  H.  Whit- 
ney, and  Stephen  A.  Hurlbut,  both  of  whom  were  early  settlers  of  Rockford  and 
Belvidere.  Dr.  Whitney  was  one  of  the  most  popular  and  beloved  physicians 
and  citizens  of  Boone  County,  a  good  story  teller,  a  pithy  writer  and  a  man 
of  kind  and  Christian  deeds.  Mr.  Hurlbut  was  a  South  Carolina  gentleman 
and  settled  at  Belvidere  as  a  young  man  soon  after  his  admission  to  the  bar. 
Both  he  and  Dr.  Whitney  were  leading  whigs  and  afterward  republicans.  Dr. 
Whitney  died  before  the  conclusion  of  the  Civil  war,  while  Mr.  Hurlbut  attained 
distinction  as  a  major  general  in  active  service  and  subsequently  as  the  admin- 
istrative head  of  a  military  department.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  reentered 
politics  and  public  life,  and  later  served  two  terms  in  Congress  and  as  minister 
both  to  the  United  States  of  Columbia  and  to  Peru.  He  died,  while  in  the 
diplomatic  service  at  Lima,  in  March,  1882. 

JOHN   DEMENT,    OF   LEE    COUNTY 

Colonel  John  Dement,  delegate  to  the  convention  from  Lee  County,  was 
already  a  notable  figure  in  the  history  of  the  State.  He  was  then  in  his 
early  '40s,  a  native  of  Tennessee  endowed  with  all  the  typical  fighting  instincts 
of  his  State.  As  a  youth,  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  Franklin  County, 
Southern  Illinois,  where,  as  a  young  man,  he  served  as  sheriff  and  member 
of  the  General  Assembly.  He  was  a  leading  character  in  three  Indian  cam- 
paigns and  one  of  the  heroes  of  the  Black  Hawk  war.  At  the  time  of  the  final 
conflict  which  drove  the  red  man  from  Illinois  soil,  Colonel  Dement  was  treas- 
urer of  the  State,  but  in  1836  resigned  his  office  to  represent  Fayette  County 
in  the  General  Assembly  and  aid  in  the  fight  against  moving  the  capital  from 
Vandalia  to  Springfield.  His  efforts  failing,  he  removed  to  the  northern  part 
of  the  State,  finally  locating  at  Dixon,  where  he  extensively  engaged  in  manu- 
facturing. He  held  the  office  of  receiver  of  the  public  moneys  under  the 
democratic  administration  from  the  time  of  his  first  appointment  by  Van  Buren 
until  it  was  abolished  in  Pierce's  time.  Colonel  Dement  was  a  democratic 
presidential  elector  in  1844  and  served  in  two  constitutional  conventions  besides 
that  of  1847,  being  temporary  president  of  those  which  met  in  1862  and  1870. 
There  was  no  delegate  in  the  convention  of  1847  whose  words  and  personality 
carried  more  weight  than  those  of  John  Dement.  He  died  at  his  home  in  Dixon 
in  1883,  the  year  before  his  son,  Henry  D.  Dement,  became  secretary  of  State 
of  Illinois. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  197 

The  following  delegates  from  other  counties  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  were 
all  substantial  and  able  pioneers:  John  W.  Spencer,  one  of  the  founders  of 
Rock  Island  and  among  the  first  white  settlers  of  the  lower  valley;  Seth  B. 
Farwell,  of  Stephenson,  and  Joshua  Harper,  of  Henry;  Aaron  C.  Jackson, 
one  of  the  old  settlers  and  prominent  whigs  of  the  Morrison  region  in  White- 
side County,  who  had  represented  that  county  and  Lee  in  the  lower  house  of 
the  General  Assembly,  and  Professor  Daniel  J.  Pinckney,  principal  of  Rock 
River  Seminary  at  Mount  Morris,  Ogle  County. 

This  is  no  place  to  review  the  proceedings  of  the  convention  which  con- 
cluded its  work  on  August  31,  1847,  or  to  even  summarize  the  constitution 
formulated.  The  most  radical  changes  from  the  old  order  of  things  political 
were  those  making  the  Supreme  Court  judges  and  State  officers  elective;  limit- 
ing the  right  of  suffrage  to  white  male  citizens,  as  contradistinguished  from 
"inhabitants,"  thus  disfranchising  unnaturalized  foreigners  who  could  vote 
under  the  constitution  of  1818 ;  and  constitutionally  correcting  the  financial 
embarrassments  of  the  State.  The  State  was  prohibited  from  contracting  any 
indebtedness  exceeding  $50,000,  and  only  that  sum  "to  meet  casual  deficits  or 
failures  in  revenue."  Neither  was  the  credit  of  the  State  "in  any  manner  to 
be  given  to,  nor  in  aid  of,  any  individual  association  or  corporation."  The 
positive  provision  of  the  constitution  adopted  by  the  convention  of  1847  was 
that  which  created  a  two-mill  tax,  the  fund  arising  from  which  to  be  exclusively 
applied  to  the  payment  of  the  State  indebtedness,  other  than  canal  and  school 
liabilities.  The  tendency  in  the  public  mind  to  honorably  liquidate  the  vast 
State  debt  for  which  the  internal  improvement  system  was  chiefly  responsible, 
notwithstanding  there  was  still  an  active  minority  who  favored  repudiation  in 
whole  or  part,  was  evident  in  the  adoption  of  the  fifteenth  article  of  the  con- 
stitution ;  and  former  Governor  Ford,  now  in  retirement  and  soon  to  pass  from 
his  useful  earthly  labors,  was  among  the  thousands  of  the  honorable  men  of 
the  State  who  rejoiced  at  all  the  constitutional  safeguards  provided  against 
the  human  tendency  to  shift  chafing  burdens  upon  the  shoulders  of  coming 
generations. 

The  constitution,  as  adopted  by  the  convention,  was  submitted  to  the  people 
at  the  election  held  on  March  6,  1848,  and  ratified  by  a  vote  of  59,887  to  15,859. 

The  Mexican  war  had  been  fought  and  won  during  a  portion  of  the  Ford 
administration  and  that  of  Augustus  C.  French.  The  treaty  of  Guadalupe 
Hidalgo  was  signed  about  a  month  before  the  new  constitution  of  Illinois  was 
ratified  by  the  people.  Although  the  war  was  a  democratic  measure,  unfor- 
tunately for  the  success  of  the  party  in  the  presidential  election  of  1848  the 
great  hero  and  military  figure  of  that  conflict  with  Mexico  by  which  the  United 
states  acquired  a  southern  empire  was  a  whig.  General  Zachary  Taylor  was 
therefore  adopted  by  the  whigs  as  their  political  leader  and  rushed  into  the 
presidential  chair.  The  population  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  was  then  so  small 
(about  60,000),  and  neither  party  had  a  noticeable  preponderance,  that  its 
vote  had  but  little  effect  upon  the  general  result  of  the  election.  But  the  whigs 
in  the  state  made  so  determined  a  fight  for  their  candidate  that  they  nearly 
overcame  the  normal  democratic  majority  of  10,000  or  12,000 — the  vote  being, 
for  Lewis  Cass  56,300  and  for  Taylor,  53,047. 


198  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

LEE   COUNTY    WHIGS    FIRST   PROPOSE   TAYLOR  FOR   PRESIDENT 

Although  the  whigs  did  not  force  a  majority  of  the  State  electors  to  vote 
for  Taylor,  they  did  proudly  claim  that  they  were  the  first  of  their  party  in 
the  United  States  to  propose  his  name  for  the  presidency;  and  that  claim 
was  made  specifically  by  the  whigs  of  Lee  County.  Finally,  that  claim  has  been 
positively  voiced  by  no  less  an  authority  than  Hon.  E.  B.  "Washburne — stalwart 
whig  and  afterward  republican,  congressional  veteran,  secretary  of  state,  min- 
ister to  Prance  and  cultured  citizen  of  the  world.  In  1848,  as  a  young  Ga^na 
lawyer  and  partner  of  Charles  S.  Hempstead,  he  was  just  entering  the  national 
field  of  his  fame,  and  wrote  of  that  time :  ' '  The  Galena  lawyers  of  that  day 
also  attended  the  Lee  County  courts.  Hempstead,  Drummond,  Hoge  (ex-con- 
gressman), and  Campbell,  were  men  who  would  adorn  the  bar  of  any  country. 
I  never  attended  a  term  of  the  court  at  Dixon,  but  you  may  remember  (ad- 
dressing John  Dixon)  speeches  made  at  a  meeting  during  the  land  sale  in 
the  spring  of  1847,  and  just  after  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista,  at  which  we  nom- 
inated General  Taylor  for  president.  It  was  the  first  meeting  in  the  whole 
country  to  make  that  nomination." 

CONGRESSIONAL  REPRESENTATIVES  FROM   ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

After  Hon.  Thomas  J.  Turner,  of  Freeport  the  next  resident  of  the  Rock 
River  Valley  to  represent  his  district  in  Congress  was  Dr.  Richard  S.  Molony, 
of  Belvidere,  Boone  County.  He  served  in  the  Thirty-second  Congress,  in 
1851-53,  and  represented  the  Fourth  District,  which  then  embraced  seventeen 
counties  (including  Cook),  Boone  being  the  only  county  in  the  Rock  River  Val- 
ley of  Illinois. 

In  the  congressional  apportionment  of  1852,  the  Illinois  counties  of  the  Rock 
River  Valley  were  distributed  among  three  districts.  Boone,  Winnebago,  Steph- 
enson and  Ogle  were  four  of  the  eight  counties  in  the  First  District,  which  was 
represented  by  E.  B.  Washburne  of  Galena  continuously  for  five  sessions  com- 
mencing with  the  Thirty-third  of  1853-55.  Although  he  never  resided  in  the 
Rock  River  Valley,  his  travels  and  investigations  in  behalf  of  his  constituents 
made  him  a  widely  known  and  highly  honored  man  in  that  section  of  the  State. 

The  apportionment  of  that  year  also  brought  Lee,  Whiteside  and  Rock  Island 
counties  into  the  Second  District,  which  also  included  Cook,  Du  Page,  Kane 
and  DeKalb.  Thus  were  the  people  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  identified  with 
the  able,  massive  and  remarkable  John  Wentworth  (Long  John)  of  Chicago. 

Henry  was  the  only  county  in  the  Valley  which  was  represented  in  the 
Fourth  Congressional  District,  which  sent  James  Knox,  of  Knoxville,  to  Wash- 
ington for  two  terms. 

LEGISLATIVE   DISTRICTING 

Under  the  constitution  of  1848  the  State  was  divided  into  twenty-five  sena- 
torial districts,  Rock  Island  and  Henry  counties  being  placed  in  the  Nine- 
teenth, Ogle  and  Lee,  in  the  Twenty-second,  Stephenson  and  Whiteside  in 
the  Twenty-third,  and  Boone  and  Winnebago,  in  the  Twenty-fourth.     The  pro- 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  199 

portion  between  the  members  of  the  two  houses  was  twenty-five  senators  to 
Beventy-five  representatives.  Whiteside  and  Lee  formed  the  Forty-fourth  Rep- 
resentative  District:  Ogle  County  was  in  the  Forty-fifth;  Stephenson,  in  the 
Forty-sixth;  Winnebago  comprised  the  Forty-seventh,  and  Boone  County  was 
in  the  Kifty-second. 

The  apportionment  of  hs.">4  maintained  the  same  ratio  of  senators  and  rep- 
resentatives, although  rearranging  the  counties.     The  Third  Senatorial  District 

e prised  Boone,  Winnebago  and  Ogle  counties;  the  Fourth,  Stephenson;  the 

Fifth,  Lee  and  Whiteside,  and  the  Ninth,  Rock  Island  and  Henry. 

OPPOSITION    TO    SLAVERY    EXTENSION    IN    ILLINOIS 

The  year  1854  cast  Illinois  into  the  maelstrom  of  national  polities  whirling 
around  the  issue  of  the  extension  of  slavery  northward.  The  Missouri  Com- 
promise restricted  the  extension  of  slavery  to  the  line  of  36  degrees  30  minutes 
north,  hut  the  Kansas-Nehraska  bill  which  passed  Congress  in  May,  1854,  de- 
clared that  "Congress  should  not  legislate  slavery  into  any  territory  or  state,  or 
exclude  it  therefrom,  but  leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and 
regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States."  On  the  basis  of  "free  soil"  it  was  proposed 
to  erect  the  territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  As  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mitte  on  Territories,  which  originally  introduced  the  measure,  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  although  at  first  personally  opposed  to  the  measure,  was  induced  to 
champion  it  as  he  found  that  the  democracy  as  a  party  favored  it.  The  popular 
sovereignty  feature  of  the  measure  especially  appealed  to  the  rank  and  file,  as 
well  as  to  the  leaders,  of  the  party.  Not  a  few  of  the  influential  democrats 
did  not  believe  in  reopening  the  slavery  issue. 

The  old  whig  party  was,  as  a  body  against  the  measure,  believing  that  the 
Compromise  of  1850  fathered  by  its  idol,  Henry  Clay,  was  a  wise  measure  and 
that  it  was  dangerous  to  repeal  it  at  that  early  day  and  reopen  the  question 
which  had  agitated  and  almost  disrupted  the  country.  Accessions  to  the  demo- 
cratic party  gathered  around  the  whig  nucleus  in  the  form  of  straight  demo- 
crats, anti-Nebraska  democrats,  knownothings  (American  party),  free  soilers 
and  abolitionists. 

ORIGIN    OP   THE   REPUBLICAN    PARTY 

It  was  not  long  before  a  name  arose  to  permanently  designate  the  opposing 
forces  to  the  democracy,  which  maintained  a  solid  organization.  The  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill  passed  the  national  House  of  Representatives  on  May  24,  1854, 
and  was  signed  by  President  Pierce  six  days  later.  It  is  said  that  the  night 
before  its  final  passage,  there  was  a  meeting  of  senators  and  representatives 
in  Congress  who  opposed  it  and  indorsed  the  plan  for  an  organization  founded 
upon  their  attitude  toward  the  measure.  No  name  was  then  suggested  for  the 
proposed  organization,  but  at  an  ant  i-Xebraska  meeting  held  in  Ripon,  Wis- 
consin, on  March  29,  1854,  while  the  bill  was  pending  in  Congress,  Alvan  E. 
Bovay,  a  leading  whig  lawyer  of  Ripon,  fastened  the  name  Republican  on  the 
local  party  which  he  organized  in  that   part   of  the  State.     This  historic  move- 


200  THE  ROCK  RTVER  VALLEY 

ment  originated  not  far  north  of  the  northernmost  valley  of  the  Rock  River 
system. 

As  this  concrete  formation  of  the  first  republican  organization  in  the  country 
leads  naturally  to  a  consideration  of  other  pioneer  steps  taken  by  whig  leaders 
in  the  region  of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  it  is  described  somewhat  at  length  from 
the  account  given  of  it  in  Dr.  M.  M.  Quaife's  history  of  Wisconsin.  It  is  as 
follows:  "The  new  party  came  into  being  in  response  to  a  widespread  need; 
yet  all  organized  movements  must  have  somewhere  a  tangible  beginning,  and  to 
Alvan  E.  Bovay,  a  resident  of  Ripon,  Wisconsin,  fairly  belongs  the  distinction 
of  father  of  the  party  which  now  for  seventy  years  (written  in  1924),  with  but 
infrequent  intermissions,  has  directed  the  government  of  the  nation.  Bovay 
was  a  native  of  New  York,  who  had  received  a  college  education  and  later  passed 
several  years  in  New  York  City,  engaged  in  reading  law  or  teaching  school.  While 
here  he  served  as  secretary  of  the  National  Reform  Association  and  formed  an 
intimate  friendship  with  Horace  Greeley,  then  in  the  heyday  of  his  power  as 
editor  of  the  Tribune.  In  1850  he  removed  to  the  frontier  town  of  Ripon,  where 
he  resumed  the  practice  of  law  and  quickly  became  a  leading  factor  in  the  com- 
munity. In  1852,  during  the  session  of  the  whig  national  convention,  Bovay 
was  a  guest  of  Greeley,  and  in  his  conversation  with  the  great  editor  he  pre- 
dicted the  early  downfall  of  the  whig  party,,  and  urged  upon  Greeley  the  desir- 
ability of  organizing  a  new  party  under  whose  banner  anti-slavery  men  of  all 
the  existing  parties  might  unite.  Greeley,  however,  was  unconvinced  of  the 
necessity  of  such  a  move,  and  Bovay  returned  to  his  Wisconsin  home  to  await 
the  course  of  events.  The  utter  rout  of  the  whigs  in  the  ensuing  election  fulfilled 
in  part  his  prognostication  to  Greeley,  and  the  course  of  events  in  Congress  in 
the  session  of  1854  convinced  him  that  the  time  was  ripe  for  action.  On  Febru- 
ary 26th  he  wrote  Greeley  an  account  of  the  local  antipathy  for  the  Nebraska 
bill,  and  urged  him  to  call  upon  its  opponents  to  assemble  in  every  church 
and  schoolh  ouse  throughout  the  free  states  and  organize  under  the  name  of 
the  republican  party. 

"Without  waiting  to  learn  the  effect  of  this  appeal,  Bovay  proceeded  to 
stir  up  the  citizens  of  Ripon  and  to  issue  the  call  for  the  holding  of  such  a  meet- 
ing in  the  Congregational  Church  on  the  evening  of  March  1.  In  this  meet- 
ing resolutions  were  adopted  condemning  the  Nebraska  bill  and  proclaiming 
if  it  should  become  a  law  they  would  abandon  old  party  organizations  in  favor 
of  a  new  one  with  the  design  of  opposing  the  principle  of  the  bill.  The  bill 
shortly  passed  both  houses  of  Congress  (May,  1854)  and  the  townsmen  of  Ripon 
again  assembled,  this  time  in  the  schoolhouse  on  March  20  (sic),  to  take  the 
action  resolved  upon  in  their  former  session. 

' '  Of  this  meeting  Bovay  wrote  at  a  later  time :  '  I  went  from  house  to  house 
and  from  shop  to  shop  and  halted  men  on  the  streets  to  get  their  names  for  the 
meeting.  At  that  time  there  were  not  more  than  a  hundred  voters  in  Ripon, 
and  by  a  vast  deal  of  earnest  talking  I  obtained  fifty-three  of  them.  We  went 
into  the  little  meeting  as  whigs,  free  soilers  and  democrats.  We  came  out  of 
it  republicans  and  we  were  the  first  republicans  in  the  Union.'  This  trans- 
formation was  accomplished  by  formally  dissolving  the  local  whig  and  free 
soil  committees  and  appointing  a  committee  of  five  members  (composed  of  one 


THE  ROCK   RIVER  VALLEY  201 

whig,  one  democrat  and  three  free  soilers)  to  servo  as  the  committee  of  the 
newly-organized  party. 

"Not  only  did  Bovay  initiate  the  first  definite  movement  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  party,  but  he  also  originated  the  name  it  has  ever  since  borne.  As 
early  as  1852,  in  his  conference  with  Greeley,  lie  had  proposed  the  name  repub- 
lican, and  from  this  choice  he  never  wavered.  Indeed  he  was  more  solicitous 
about  the  name  than  about  the  organization.  The  latter,  he  felt  confident,  was 
bound  to  come,  but  the  politicians  might  easily  select  some  other  name  and  by 
so  doing  forego  a  tremendous  advantage. 

"  'A  good  name  is  a  tower  of  strength,'  wrote  Bovay  of  this  at  a  later  time. 
'Democracy  is  a  word  which  charms.  The  influence  of  the  name  has  been 
marvelous.  Republican  is  its  only  counterpart — significant,  flexible,  magical — 
and  I  was  determined  to  secure  it  for  the  new  party.'  " 

The  first  State  convention  opposed  to  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act  to  formally 
adopt  the  name  Republican  was  that  held  at  Jackson,  Michigan,  on  July  6,  1854. 
Wisconsin  and  Vermont  followed  Michigan  in  such  action  on  the  13th  of  that 
month. 

E.  B.   WASHBUBNE,  FIBST  BEPUBLICAN  CONGBESSIONAL  CANDIDATE 

Now  comes  Rock  River  Valley  to  the  front  and  claims  that  its  First  Con- 
gressional District  was  the  pioneer  in  nominating  a  candidate  for  the  national 
House  of  Representatives  under  the  name  of  republican.  The  citizens  of 
Winnebago  County,  who  were  largely  of  New  England  blood  and  traditions, 
were  among  the  most  earnest  opponents  of  slavery  in  Illinois.  They  were  there- 
fore ranged  rather  solidly  against  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  which  drew  no 
line  for  its  exclusion.  On  August  8,  1854,  a  call  was  issued  and  signed  by 
forty-six  citizens  of  Rockford  and  vicinity,  requesting  the  voters  of  the  First 
Congressional  District,  "irrespective  of  party  to  meet  at  the  courthouse  in  Rock- 
ford,  on  Wednesday,  the  30th  of  August,  either  by  delegates  or  in  mass  to  con- 
sult upon  the  great  question  now  at  issue,  and  to  adopt  such  measures  as  shall 
be  deemed  most  efficient  for  combining  our  efforts  and  energies  at  the  approach- 
ing congressional  and  state  elections,  so  as  to  prevent  the  still  further  extension 
of  slavery,  and  to  protect  the  great  interests  of  free  labor  and  free  men  from 
being  sacrificed  to  the  interest  or  ambition  of  trading  politicians." 

There  were  thirteen  democrats  in  the  convention  and  the  others  were  whigs 
and  free  soilers.  It  was  understood  that  E.  B.  Washburne  would  be  nominated 
to  represent  the  district  which  then  included  Lake,  McHenry,  Boone,  Winnebago, 
Stephenson,  Jo  Daviess,  Carroll  and  Ogle  counties.  The  other  candidates  were 
Thomas  J.  Turner  and  Martin  P.  Sweet,  of  Freeport;  James  L.  Loop,  of  Rock- 
ford,  and  Stephen  A.  Hurlbut,  of  Belvidere.  A  committee  on  resolutions,  con- 
sisting of  one  member  from  each  county,  was  nominated.  The  leaders  of  the 
movement  were  generally  opposed  to  Mr.  Washburne  but  his  record  in  Congress 
had  been  generally  approved  by  the  people. 

It  is  said  "that  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  was  directed  somewhat  by  the, 
suggestions  of  Mr.  Hurlbut  in  preparing  anti-slavery  resolutions  so  radical  that 
Mr.  Washburne,  it  was  thought,  could  not  accept  a  nomination  upon  them.  But 
Mr.  Washburne  was  equal  to  the  occasion,  and  he  declared  the  resolution  met 


202  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

his  most  hearty  approval.  Whereupon  James  Loop  remarked,  in  language  more 
emphatic  than  pious,  that  Washburne  would  swallow  anything.  Mr.  Wash- 
burne  was  therefore  nominated  by  this  mass  convention. 

"The  claim  that  this  was  a  real  republican  convention  is  sustained  by  a 
paragraph  from  the  official  minutes  signed  by  U.  D.  Meacham,  of  Preeport, 
one  of  the  secretaries.  This  paragraph  says :  '  On  motion  Hon.  E.  B.  Wash- 
burne was  nominated  by  acclamation  as  the  candidate  of  the  republican  party 
of  the  Firsf  Congressional  District  of  Illinois  for  Congress,  to  be  supported  at 
the  coming  election.'  A  local  newspaper,  in  an  editorial  comment  on  the  con- 
vention, said:  'After  settling  a  few  other  matters,  the  convention  adjourned 
without  day,  and  the  republican  party  was  supposed  to  be  born. ' 

"The  Belvidere  Standard,  edited  by  Ralph  Roberts,  an  anti-Nebraska  demo- 
crat, did  not  recognize  Mr.  Washburne 's  ability.  A  lengthy  editorial  on  the 
convention  contained  this  paragraph :  '  The  speeches  were  mainly  short,  but 
they  were  pointed  and  practical,  except  Washburne 's.  He  may  be  a  practical 
man,  but  he  gets  off  more  hifalutin,  bombastic  nonsense,  when  he  speaks  on 
the  slavery  question,  than  any  other  man  we  ever  knew.' 

"The  regular  whig  convention  for  the  First  District  was  held  at  Rockford 
one  week  later,  September  6th.  Mr.  Washburne  was  nominated  and,  with  the 
support  of  newly-made  republicans  and  old  whigs,  was  elected  in  November." 

The  anti-Nebraska  convention  held  at  Springfield  in  October  adopted  a  plat- 
form in  harmony  with  what  afterward  became  the  principles  of  the  repub- 
lican party.  The  name,  however,  was  not  adopted,  although  Abraham  Lincoln 
in  a  letter  to  Rev.  Ichabod  Codding,  the  Congregational  minister  and  anti- 
slavery  lecturer,  refers  to  the  republican  party,  and  Zebina  Eastman,  a  leading 
Chicago  editor,  in  publishing  the  call  stated  the  purpose  of  the  convention 
was  "the  organization  of  a  party  which  shall  put  the  government  upon  a 
republican  tack  and  secure  to  non-slaveholders  throughout  the  Union  their 
just  and  constitutional  weight  and  influence  in  the  councils  of  the  nation." 

The  campaign  of  1854,  when  the  republican  party  was  taking  form  under 
the  name  it  has  since  borne,  first  brought  Douglas  and  Lincoln  in  opposition 
on  the  great  questions  of  the  day.  Judge  Douglas  had  just  commenced  his 
second  term  in  the  United  States  Senate.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  served  some  years 
in  the  lower  house  of  the  General  Assembly  and  one  term  in  Congress  and  had 
again  been  returned  to  the  Legislature  in  the  birth-year  of  the  republican  party. 
The  reputation  of  Douglas  was  already  established ;  that  of  Lincoln  yet  to  be. 

NORTHERN  ILLINOIS  GROWING  IN  POLITICAL  INFLUENCE 

When  the  Nineteenth  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  1,  1855,  it 
was  found  that  the  anti-Nebraska  party,  variously  but  not  generally  christened 
republican,  had  a  majority  of  three.  Thomas  J.  Turner,  of  Stephenson  County, 
who  had  served  one  term  in  Congress  from  his  district,  was  elected  speaker  of 
the  house.  A  United  States  senator  was  to  be  selected  to  succeed  General  James 
Shields,  of  Springfield,  and  as  Lincoln  learned  that  there  was  a  strong  oppo- 
sition against  the  general  succeeding  himself  the  popular  member  from  Sanga- 
mon  County   decided  to   become   a  candidate.     Lincoln  therefore  declined  to 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  20H 

receive  his  credentials  and  at  the  special  election  called  to  till  the  vacancy  a 
democrat  was  elected. 

Qeneral  Shields  received  the  caucus  nomination  of  the  democrats  without 
opposition,  but.  in  the  first  of  the  ten  joint  ballots  taken  in  the  Legislature 
Lincoln  led  Shields  by  four  votes.  That  was  the  nearest  Mr.  Lincoln  came 
to  being  elected.  There  was  much  shifting  of  votes  between  Shields,  Lincoln, 
Governor  Joel  A.  Matteson  and  Lyman  Trumbull.  Finally,  the  contest  nar- 
rowed to  Trumbull  and  Matteson,  and  as  on  the  tenth  ballot  Lincoln  threw 
his  support  to  the  former,  Trumbull  was  elected.  The  senator-elect  came  from 
an  eminent  Xew  England  family.  As  a  judge  he  was  highly  respected  for  his 
ability  and  uprightness,  but  had  few  qualities  which  made  for  popular  attrac- 
tion. His  appearance  was  more  that  of  a  studious  college  professor  than  of 
a  political  leader.  Hut  he  had  early  taken  a  decided  stand  against  the  repeal 
of  the  .Missouri  Compromise,  and  at  the  last  election  had  been  sent  to  Con- 
gress from  the  Alton  district  as  a  strong  anti-Nebraska  democrat.  Of  the  sena- 
tors voting  for  Trumbull  but  three  resided  south  of  Springfield,  and  of  the 
representatives,  only  six;  thus  manifesting  for  the  first  time  the  increased 
growth  and  preponderating  influence  in  politics  of  Northern  Illinois.  The 
choice  of  Mr.  Turner,  of  Freeport,  for  the  speakership  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives was  also  a  pointer  to  the  political  drift.  In  Northern  Illinois  was 
born  the  republican  party  of  the  State. 

REAL    BIRTH    OP    REPUBLICANISM 

The  Springfield  convention  of  October,  1854,  was  dominated  by  the  abolition- 
ists and  adjourned  without  making  any  organization  or  adopting  the  name  of 
any  party.  The  movement  which  resulted  in  the  birth  of  the  republican  party 
as  a  State  organization  was  inaugurated  by  Paul  Selby,  editor  of  the  Jackson- 
ville .Journal,  in  January,  1856,  who  suggested  a  conference  of  the  anti-Nebraska 
editors  of  Illinois  to  discuss  a  reconciliation  and  organization  of  the  factions 
composing  the  opposition  to  the  democratic  policy  on  the  slavery  question. 
The  first  endorsement  came  from  the  Winchester  (Scott  County)  Chronicle, 
then  under  the  editorship  of  the  late  John  Moses  and  many  years  afterward 
author  of  the  State  history  from  which  the  writer  has  often  drawn  for  data 
in  the  course  of  this  narrative.  As  an  aside,  it  may  be  added  that  he  had  the 
privilege  of  an  intimate  association  with  both  these  stanch  republicans  after 
they  had  seen  the  party  which  they  nurtured  in  its  infancy  grow  to  robust 
maturity  and  whose  achievements  they  were  still   carefully  recording. 

EDITORIAL  REPRESENTATIVES  FROM  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

The  Illinois  State  Chronicle,  published  at  Decatur,  announced  a  similar 
approval  and,  upon  the  suggestion  of  that  publication,  Decatur  was  chosen  as 
the  place  of  meeting  and  February  22nd  as  the  date.  A  formal  call  for  an 
editorial  conference  was  issued,  wdiich  was  endorsed  by  twenty-five  newspapers. 
Among  these  were  the  Tribune,  Staats  Zeitung  and  Journal,  of  Chicago,  and 
the  Pike  County  Press,  then  edited  by  the  late  John  G.  Nicolay,  who  became 
private  secretary  and  later  a  biographer  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 


204  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

A  heavy  snow  blocked  the  trains  and  prevented  a  number  from  attending 
at  the  appointed  time.  The  even  dozen  who  participated  in  the  historic  pro- 
ceedings were :  Dr.  Charles  H.  Ray,  Chicago  Tribune ;  George  Schneider,  Chi- 
cago Staats  Zeitung;  0.  P.  "Wharton,  Rock  Island  Avertiser;  E.  C.  Daugh- 
erty,  Rockford  Register;  E.  W.  Blaisdell,  Jr.,  Rockford  Republican;  B.  F.  Shaw, 
Dixon  Telegraph;  V.  Y.  Ralston,  Quincy  Whig;  Thomas  J.  Pickett,  Peoria 
Republican ;  Charles  Faxon,  Princeton  Post ;  A.  N.  Ford,  Lacon  Gazette ;  W.  J. 
Usrey,  Decatur  Chronicle,  and  Paul  Selby,  Jacksonville  Journal.  An  examina- 
tion of  the  foregoing  list  indicates  that  the  prevailing  anti-Nebraska  sentiment, 
as  voiced  by  the  press,  was  in  Western  and  Northern  Illinois.  Both  Chicago 
and  Rockford  sent  two  representatives  to  the  Decatur  meeting,  George  Schnei- 
der, of  the  Staats  Zeitung,  being  an  able  exponent  of  the  strongly  rising  repub- 
licanism among  the  Germans  of  Illinois.  Paul  Selby  was  elected  president  and 
Mr.  Usrey,  secretary,  of  the  newspaper  convention  at  Decatur.  After  adopt- 
ing strong  anti-Nebraska  resolutions,  it  recommended  the  holding  of  a  State 
convention  at  Bloomington  for  the  nomination  of  officers  and  the  selection  of 
delegates  to  the  national  convention. 

The  State  Central  Committee  which  developed  from  the  editorial  conven- 
tion was  composed  of  men  from  Northern  Illinois,  with  the  exception  of  one 
member  from  Springfield,  and  issued  the  call  and  arranged  for  the  famous 
Bloomington  convention  of  May  29,  1856. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  had  the  advantage  of  a  conference  with  Mr 
Lincoln — the  only  outsider  admitted  to  the  deliberations  of  the  conference.  As 
far  as  slavery  was  concerned,  the  platform  adopted  was  considered  conserva- 
tive. It  disavowed  any  intention  of  interfering  with  slavery  in  the  states; 
protested  against  the  introduction  of  slavery  into  territory  already  free;  de- 
manded the  restoration  of  the  Missouri  Compromise ;  opposed  know  nothingism, 
which  had  swept  the  country  as  Americanism,  and  stood  strongly  for  reform  in 
the  State  Government. 

THE   BLOOMINGTON    CONVENTION 

The  conference  adopted  an  independent  resolution  recommending  that  a 
state  convention  be  held  at  Bloomington  on  May  29th,  and  a  State  Central 
Committee  was  appointed  consisting  of  one  member  from  each  congressional 
district  and  two  for  the  State-at-large.  Of  these  members,  Selden  M.  Church 
of  Rockford  represented  the  First  District  and  Judge  Ira  0.  Wilkinson,  of  Rock 
Island,  the  State-at-large.  With  three  exceptions,  the  committee  united  in  call- 
ing the  convention  at  Bloomington.  At  the  banquet  tendered  the  editors  in 
the  evening  by  the  citizens  of  Decatur,  Lincoln  made  the  principal  address  and 
urged  as  the  gubernatorial  nominee  William  H.  Bissell,  a  popular  and  brave 
officer  in  the  Mexican  war  and  later  an  able  member  of  Congress. 

Judge  John  Moses  writes  of  this  epochal  convention  at  Bloomington:  "Al- 
though not  called  as  such — the  name,  indeed,  being  nowhere  used  in  the  pro- 
ceedings— this  convention,  which  was  held  at  Bloomington,  May  29,  1856,  has 
ever  since  been  designated  as  the  first  Illinois  republican  state  convention.  It 
was  really  a  mass  meeting  as  well  as  a  representative  body. 

"Thirty  counties,  principally  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  State,  sent  no 
delegates;   and  many  of  those   who  were  present  from  southern   and   central 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  205 

counties  were  self-appointed,  with  no  constituency  behind  them.  Other  counties 
were  represented  not  only  by  the  regular  delegates  but  also  by  large  numbers 
of  influential  citizens,  who  w-ere  present  to  cooperate  in  the  endorsement  of 
the  movement  by  voice  and  pen  and  by  giving  it  needed  financial  support. 

"It  was  a  famous  gathering  and  marked  the  commencement  of  a  new  era 
in  the  politics  of  the  State.  All  those  who  subsequently  became  leaders  of  the 
republican  party  were  there — whigs,  democrats,  know-nothings  and  abolitionists. 
Those  who  all  their  lives  had  been  opposing  and  fighting  each  other  found  them- 
selves for  the  first  time  harmoniously  sitting  side  by  side,  consulting  and  shout- 
ing their  unanimous  and  enthusiastic  accord." 

The  delegates  sent  to  the  Bloomington  convention  by  the  people  of  the  Illinois 
Rock  River  Valley  were  as  follows: 

Boone  County — Luther  W.  Lawrence  and  Ralph  Roberts. 

Henry  County — J.  II.  Howe  and  J.  M.  Allen. 

Lee  County — E.  M.  Ingals  and  J.  V.  Eustace. 

Rock  Lsland  County— N.  C.  Tyrrell,  R.  II.  Andrews,  John  V.  Cook  and  Ira 
0.  Wilkinson. 

Stephenson  County — N.  P.  Sweet,  John  H.  Davis,  George  Nolbrecht  and 
II.  X.  Hibbard. 

Whiteside  County — William  Manahan  and  William  Protrow. 

Winnebago  County — F.  Burnass,  W.  Lyman,  S.  M.  Church  and  T.  D. 
Robertson. 

ROCK  ISLAND  COUNTY,  HOTBED  OP  ABOLITIONISM 

As  Winnebago  was  one  of  the  whig  strongholds  in  the  state,  so  was  Rock 
Island  County  the  hotbed  of  abolitionism  in  Illinois.  Moline,  especially,  which 
had  been  founded  by  men  from  New  England  and  the  East,  was  one  of  the 
busiest  stations  of  the  Underground  Railway  in  the  State  and  several  fugitive 
slaves  found  refuge  at  the  homes  of  its  citizens.  Parson  A.  B.  Hitchcock  de- 
livered his  fiery  sermons  from  the  Congregational  pulpit  of  Moline,  and  John 
Deere,  the  plow  manufacturer,  was  among  the  strongest  abolitionists  of  the  place. 
The  Free  Soilers  of  Kansas  found  moral  and  material  support  among  the  cit- 
izens of  Moline,  and  one  of  their  number,  George  W.  Bell,  was  killed  when 
Quantrell,  the  pro-slavery  leader,  raided  Lawrence,  Kansas. 

Deacon  and  'Squire  N.  C.  Tyrrell,  one  of  the  delegates  to  the  Bloomington 
convention,  was  one  of  the  chief  agents  of  the  Underground  Railway  in  Rock 
Island  County.  In  his  "Beginnings  of  the  Republican  Party  in  Illinois," 
William  A.  Meese,  a  leading  citizen  and  enthusiastic  historian  of  Moline,  pays 
this  homely  tribute  to  the  faithfulness  of  Deacon  Tyrrell:  "The  Deacon  was 
comparatively  a  poor  man  and  while  he  gave  $25  toward  assisting  the  Free  Soil 
people  of  Kansas  he  could  scarce  afford  it.  In  those  days  to  get  from  Moline  to 
Bloomington  one  had  either  to  go  by  stage  via  Peoria,  or  by  rail  to  La  Salle, 
ami  then  on  the  Illinois  Central  to  Bloomington.  The  Deacon  was  bound  to 
attend  the  convention  and  not  having  the  money  started  out  on  foot  and  walked 
the  entire  distance.  On  his  return  trip  he  walked  from  Bloomington  to  Peoria, 
and  from  there  he  worked  his  passage  on  a  boat  to  La  Salle,  whence  he  paid  his 
fare  to  Moline. 


206  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

"Deacon  Tyrrell  was  a  man  of  strong  principles.  He  attended  the  Bloom- 
ington  convention  because  he  believed  it  was  his  duty,  and  his  course  stands  out 
in  strong  contrast  to  many  of  the  delegates  of  today." 

The  platform  adopted  in  convention  was  republican  in  principle  although 
not  in  name,  and  the  personnel  of  the  ticket  selected  was  a  concession  to  the  old 
whig  and  democratic  elements,  as  no  radical  republican  received  recognition. 
Some  of  the  delegates  spoke  and  some  of  those  not  officially  present,  such  as 
John  Dixon,  of  Dixon,  voiced  their  sentiments. 

The  last  speaker  was  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  made  what  some  historians 
pronounce  the  greatest  effort  of  his  life.  William  H.  Herndon,  Lincoln's  law 
partner  at  Springfield  and  afterward  his  biographer,  said  of  this  speech :  ' '  He 
had  the  fervor  of  a  new  convert;  the  smothered  flame  broke  out;  enthusiasm, 
unusual  to  him,  blazed  up;  his  eyes  were  aglow  with  inspiration;  he  felt  justice; 
his  heart  was  alive  to  the  right;  his  sympathies,  remarkably  deep  for  him,  burst 
forth  and  he  stood  before  the  throne  of  the  eternal  right  in  the  presence  of  his 
God,  and  then  and  there  unburdened  his  penitential  and  fired  soul." 

This  address  of  Lincoln's  has  never  been  preserved  to  the  world,  and  it  is 
known  as  the  ' '  lost  speech. ' '  The  reporters,  not  realizing  the  loss  thus  incurred 
to  the  world,  threw  down  their  pens  and  lived  only  in  the  inspiration  of  the  hour. 

As  Lincoln  had  recommended,  the  convention  nominated  William  H.  Bissell 
for  governor.  The  democratic  State  convention  named  William  A.  Richardson 
as  the  head  of  the  regular  ticket.  One  June  2nd,  a  few  days  after  the  meeting 
of  the  republican  State  convention,  the  democrats  at  Cincinnati  nominated 
James  Buchanan  for  the  presidency,  Senator  Douglas  being  among  his  opponents. 
Then  on  June  17th,  two  weeks  later,  the  first  national  republican  convention 
met  in  Philadelphia  and  nominated  John  C.  Fremont  as  head  of  the  ticket  and 
Lincoln  was  a  close  second  for  the  vice-presidency.  Millard  Fillmore  was  the 
presidential  candidate  of  the  know-nothings,  or  American  party,  and  a  State 
ticket  was  also  put  in  the  field  by  that  organization. 

THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1856 

The  campaign  of  1856  was  one  of  the  most  exciting  and  bitter  of  any  ever 
waged  in  Illinois;  for  it  was  war  throughout,  and  even  John  M.  Palmer,  who 
had  presided  at  the  Bloomington  convention,  was  so  infuriated  at  the  abuse  of 
one  of  his  opponents  as  to  threaten  the  use  of  the  pistol. 

LINCOLN  IN  OGLE  COUNTY 

Lincoln  himself  took  an  active  part  in  the  campaign,  especially  in  those  sec- 
tions of  the  State  where  the  votes  of  the  two  chief  parties  were  fairly  equally 
divided.  A  case  in  point  was  Ogle  County  and  the  mass  meeting  which  he 
addressed  at  Oregon  in  August  was  one  of  the  most  enthusiastic  of  the  cam- 
paign. A  graphic  account  of  this  notable  event  in  the  political  history  of  the 
Rock  River  Valley  is  thus  given  in  the  Kauffman  history  of  Ogle  County:  "Mr. 
Lincoln  came  to  Oregon  from   Dixon  by  way  of  Polo,  going  to  Polo  over  the 


THE  HOCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  207 

then  recently  completed  Illinois  Central  Railway,  and  driving  the  rest  of  the 

way  accompanied  by  Senator  Zenas  Applington,  .John  I).  Campbell  and  J.  W. 
Carpenter,  on  the  morning  of  August  16th.  The  speaking  took  place  in  the 
grove  in  North  Oregon,  at  or  near  the  boulder  now  marking  the  spot  and  com- 
memorating the  occurrence. 

"A  fellow  speaker  with  Mr.  Lincoln  was  John  Wentworth,  of  Chicago,  a 
former  democrat  and  congressman  of  the  Second  District,  familiarly  known  as 
Dong  John.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  in  the  Illinois  Legislature  and  one  term  in 
Congress  (1847-49),  after  winch  lie  had  resumed  the  practice  of  the  law,  and 
had  not  taken  much  part  in  public  affairs  until  called  forward  at  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  republican  party  by  Ins  hatred  of  slavery.  Judge  Campbell  recalls 
that  the  posters  gave  Wentworth's  name  first,  in  letters  twice  the  size  of  those 
used  for  Lincoln  's  name. 

"The  occasion  was  the  opening  of  the  campaign  in  Ogle  County.  Went- 
worth spoke  first  for  an  hour  or  more.  As  Lincoln  began  his  speech,  a  branch 
of  the  oak  tree  under  which  had  been  erected  the  platform  on  which  the  speaker 
stood,  touched  his  head  and  disturbed  him.  Taking  from  his  pocket  a  huge 
jack-knife  he  cut  away  a  portion  of  the  limb,  remarking  as  he  did  so,  'I  don't 
see  how  John  got  along  with  this.'    John  was  himself  over  six  feet  in  height. 

"Both  speakers  urged  the  election  of  the  republican  ticket.  There  were  also 
present  on  the  platform  Martin  F.  Sweet,  of  Freeport,  and  John  F.  Farnsworth, 
of  St.  Charles,  the  latter  then  candidate  for  Congress  in  the  Second  District. 
Following  Mr.  Lincoln,  Mr.  Sweet  briefly  addressed  the  audience.  It  is  said 
that  more  than  half  the  population  of  the  county  was  present." 

The  four  speakers  were  entertained  at  Moore's  Hotel,  afterward  the  Rock 
River  House,  where  after  dinner  they  shook  hands  with  such  of  the  citizens  as 
desired  to  meet  them.  After  the  speaking  they  were  taken  to  the  law  office  of 
Henry  A.  Mix  and  still  later  to  his  home.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  asked  by  Mr.  Mix 
what  he  thought  were  the  chances  of  Fremont's  election,  and  replied:  "Mr. 
.Mix.  as  an  attorney,  what  is  your  opinion  of  the  value  of  a  tax-title  in  Illinois?" 
As  Fremont  failed  of  election,  Mr.  Lincoln's  suggestion  of  the  uncertainty  that 
lay  in  his  own  mind  was  evidence  of  his  political  sagacity. 

In  (I'iV  County,  Fremont  received  899  votes,  Buchanan  755  and  Fillmore 
294 :  a  showing  which  indicated  a  strange  division  of  sentiment. 

In  the  State  at  large,  the  republicans  carried  the  State  ticket  and  elected 
Bissell,  but  the  electoral  vote  went  to  Buchanan  because  of  the  support  given 
Fillmore  and  his  know-nothings.  The  republicans  elected  four  congressmen  and 
the  democrats  five.  The  democrats  also  secured  both  branches  of  the  Legislature, 
although  tiny  had  a  small  majority  on  joint  ballot.  The  Senate  stood:  Dem- 
ocrats,  13;  republicans,  12;  the  house  as  follows:  Democrats,  38;  republicans, 
•  !1  :  know-nothings.  6.  The  long  ascendancy  of  the  democratic  party  had  been 
arrested  in  Illinois. 

DOUGLAS   AM)   LINCOLN,   THE  ILLINOIS   LEADERS 

The  animosities  of  the  campaign  were  carried  into  the  Legislature  and  kept 
alive  in  the  House  during  the  entire  session,  which  ended  in  February,  1857. 


208  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

But  State  politics  were  soon  to  be  aligned  on  national  controversies  which  should 
decisively  divide  the  country  between  two  great  parties.  In  Illinois,  by  common 
consent,  the  spokesmen  for  the  people  and  the  expounder  of  the  vital  problems 
then  seething  and  taking  definite  form  were  Lincoln  and  Douglas.  If  any 
excuse  was  needed  for  bringing  to  the  front  these  masterly  politicians  and 
statesmen,  it  was  that  there  was  nothing  of  moment  before  the  Legislature  and 
the  State  except  the  contest  for  the  United  States  senatorship  made  necessary  by 
the  approaching  end  of  Douglas's  term.  No  other  worthy  opponent  appeared 
to  discuss  the  questions  of  the  day,  the  hour,  the  minute,  with  the  Little  Giant, 
than  the  lank,  droll,  diplomatic  and  eloquent  lawyer  from  Springfield.  Lincoln 
was  then  approaching  his  fortieth  year,  had  already  met  Douglas  in  debate  upon 
several  occasions,  during  which  he  had  given  a  good  account  of  himself,  and  at 
the  Bloomington  convention  had  electrified  the  State  and  the  Nation  by  the 
direct  and  concentrated  fire  of  his  words. 

DOUGLAS  SPLITS  WITH  BUCHANAN 

Events  moved  with  tragic  rapidity  to  give  national  significance  to  the  ex- 
position of  the  current  questions  which  were  so  profoundly  agitating  all  classes. 
On  the  very  day  that  the  Illinois  Legislature  adjourned,  the  Territorial  Legis- 
lature of  Kansas  passed  an  enabling  act  for  admission  into  the  Union  as  a  State. 
Delegates  from  about  one-half  of  the  counties  were  elected  in  June  and  Robert 
J.  Walker,  of  Mississippi,  whom  President  Buchanan  had  appointed  governor 
of  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  refused  to  accept  the  office  without  the  assurance 
from  the  democratic  administration  that  the  proposed  State  constitution  should 
be  submitted  to  the  people  before  being  sent  to  Washington  for  congressional 
action.  Otherwise  Governor  Walker  pledged  himself  to  use  his  best  efforts  to 
defeat  the  admission  of  Kansas  under  the  constitution  adopted  by  the  coming 
convention. 

On  his  way  westward,  Governor  Walker  called  upon  Douglas  in  Chicago 
and  to  make  the  Illinois  leader  clearly  understand  the  conditions  under  which 
he  accepted  his  trust  read  his  inaugural  address  to  Douglas.  It  had  been 
modified  slightly  in  the  handwriting  of  Buchanan,  which  drew  forth  the  remark 
from  Douglas  that  he  did  not  understand  what  right  the  President  had  to  in- 
terfere with  the  convention  and  domestic  affairs.  Douglas,  however,  did  not 
hesitate  to  declare  that  he  would  not  support  the  Kansas  constitution  without 
being  convinced  that  it  embodied  the  popular  will. 

The  Lecompton  convention  met  on  the  5th  of  September,  1857,  and  after 
adopting  a  constitution  adjourned  until  after  the  October  election,  which,  after 
the  rejection  of  fraudulent  votes  was  given  to  the  free-soil  party.  As  the  pro- 
slavery  delegates  in  the  convention,  however,  were  in  the  majority,  it  was  de- 
termined to  submit  the  constitution  to  the  people  in  such  a  form  that  to  subscribe 
to  it  as  a  whole  it  was  necessary  to  vote  upon  the  slavery  issue.  The  ballot  read : 
"For  the  constitution  with  slavery,  For  the  constitution  with  no  slavery."  If 
the  vote  were  challenged  (as  it  would  be,  by  some  pro-slavery  man  if  the  form 
was  "with  no  slavery,")  the  voter  was  required  to  take  an  oath  to  support  the 
constitution,  which  expressly  recognized  slavery. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  209 

Douglas  and  Buchanan  split,  squarely  on  the  Lecompton  constitution.  The 
Illinois  senator  insisted  that,  as  pledged  by  the  administration,  that  instrument 
should  be  submitted  to  the  Kansas  people  as  a  whole;  Buchanan  and  his  sup- 
porters claimed  that  the  obligation  of  the  administration  extended  only  to  the 
submission  of  the  slavery  question  of  the  decision  of  popular  sovereignty.  The 
position  assumed  by  Buchanan  in  behalf  of  the  national  democracy  was  quite 
contrary  to  the  record  and  character  of  Senator  Douglas  for  honorable  dealing 
both  with  individuals  and  the  public.  As  he  had  been  barred  from  administra- 
tion counsels  since  his  differences  with  Buchanan  that  portion  of  the  President's 
inaugural  message  dealing  with  the  Lecompton  constitution  surprised  him;  but 
when  its  last  line  had  been  read  he  arose  and  spoke  as  follows:  "Before  I  yield 
the  floor,  I  desire  simply  to  state  that  I  have  listened  to  the  message  with  great 
pleasure  and  concur  cordially  with  the  greater  part  of  it  and  in  most  of  the 
views  expressed;  but  in  regard  to  one  topic — that  of  Kansas — I  totally  dissent 
from  all  that  portion  of  the  message  which  may  fairly  be  construed  as  approving 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  Lecompton  convention.  At  an  early  period,  I  shall 
avail  myself  of  an  opportunity  to  state  my  reasons  for  this  dissent,  and  also 
to  vindicate  the  right  of  the  people  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas  to  be  left  perfectly 
free  to  form  and  regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way  according 
to  the  organic  act." 

At  the  pro-slavery  election  of  December  21,  1857,  the  free-State  men  generally 
declined  to  vote.  Therefore,  the  vote  for  "the  constitution  with  slavery"  was 
6,226;  for  "the  constitution  with  no  slavery,"  569. 

The  free-State  Legislature  passed  an  act  for  the  submission  of  the  entire 
constitution  to  be  held  January  4,  1858.  Upon  that  day,  10,226  votes  were  cast 
against  the  Lecompton  constitution;  138  for  "the  constitution  with  slavery," 
and  23,  for  "the  constitution  with  no  slavery." 

Passing  over  the  intricacies  of  the  debates  and  legislation  in  Congress,  it  is 
to  the  point  of  this  article  to  know  that  the  original  bill  accepting  the  Lecompton 
constitution  was  rejected  in  April,  1858,  and  what  was  known  as  the  English  bill, 
or  Lecompton  Junior,  was  submitted  to  the  people  in  August.  That  bill  carried 
with  it  the  promise  from  Congress  that  if  the  constitution  should  be  adopted  it 
would  pass  over  to  the  State  of  Kansas  a  valuable  land  grant.  Evidently  the 
voters  viewed  the  proposition  as  did  Douglas — that  it  was  a  plain  bribe  to  carry 
tin'  constitution,  for  the  vote  showed  that  they  had  cast  11,300  ballots  against 
the  bill,  and  only  1,788  for  it.  The  breach  between  Douglas  and  Buchanan  was 
widening  day  by  day. 

The  Dred  Scott  decision,  which  had  been  withheld  until  after  the  election 
<>f  1856  was  handed  down  a  few  days  after  the  inauguration  of  Buchanan  in 
March,  1857.  Southern  statesmen  claimed  that  it  declared,  in  effect,  the  uncon- 
stitutionality of  the  Missouri  Compromise  and  left  Kansas  as  a  territory  open 
to  the  settlement  of  slave  owners  with  their  slaves.  Douglas  always  claimed 
that  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  unconstitutional  even  before  it  was  repealed 
by  the  Nebraska  act,  which  left  the  question  of  slavery  to  be  settled  by  popular 
sovereignty.  Then  came  the  struggle  over  the  Lecompton  constitution  and  its 
final  extinguishment  by  the  voters  of  Kansas,  with  Douglas  still  standing  upon 
the  principle  of  a  decision  of  the  question  by  a  vote  of  the  people. 


210  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

REPUBLICAN  STATE  CONVENTION  NOMINATES  LINCOLN  FOR  THE 
UNITED  STATES  SENATE 

On  June  16,  1858,  the  Republican  State  Convention  met  at  Springfield  and 
unanimously  nominated  Lincoln  to  succeed  Douglas  in  the  United  States  Senate. 
Realizing  that  he  would  have  no  opposition,  he  had  prepared  a  speech  to  deliver 
before  the  convention.  As  was  his  custom,  he  had  written  it  on  scraps  of  paper 
carried  in  his  tall  "stove-pipe"  hat,  which  he  revised  and  copied  at  length  be- 
fore submitting  it  to  his  friends  and  political  leaders.  None  of  them  approved 
of  its  radical  and  sharp-cut  sentiments.  Douglas  still  clung  to  the  belief  that 
slavery  could  be  regulated  by  the  popular  will  and  voice;  others  by  some  wiser 
compromise  than  had  been  offered;  but  Lincoln  had  reached  the  bold  decision 
upon  which  rested  the  platform  of  the  abolitionists.  His  position  was  stated  in 
the  portion  of  his  address  which  has  been  quoted  as  often  as  his  entire  Gettys- 
burg speech:  "A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.  I  believe  this 
government  cannot  endure  permanently  half -slave  and  half-free.  I  do  not  ex- 
pect the  Union  to  be  dissolved — I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall — but  I  do 
expect  that  it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing  or  the  other. 
Either  the  opponents  of  slavery  will  arrest  the  further  spread  of  it  and  place 
it  where  the  public  mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course  of 
ultimate  extinguishment,  or  its  advocates  will  push  it  forward  till  it  shall  become 
alike  lawful  in  all  the  states,  old  and  new,  North  as  well  as  South." 

DOUGLAS   OPENS  HIS  CAMPAIGN 

On  July  9,  1858,  Douglas  arrived  in  Chicago  from  Washington,  was  enthu- 
siastically received  and  opened  the  campaign  for  the  senatorship  at  the  old 
Tremont  House.  His  close  rival,  Lincoln,  was  there,  and  there  was  the  usual 
clash  of  wits  and  intellect ;  but  the  real  battle  was  to  come.  A  week  afterward, 
Douglas  left  for  Springfield  to  consult  with  the  Democratic  Central  Committee 
and  arrange  for  his  speaking  appointments.  He  spoke  at  Bloomington.  Lincoln 
was  called  upon  to  respond  and  declined,  holding  that  the  meeting  was  called 
primarily  by  the  friends  of  Judge  Douglas  and  that  it  would  be  improper  for 
him  to  address  it. 

ARRANGEMENT   FOR  THE  LINCOLN-DOUGLAS   DEBATES   OF   1858 

While  in  Springfield,  Douglas  and  his  Central  Committee  prepared  a  partial 
list  of  appointments  for  meetings  over  the  State  running  to  August  21st,  and 
Lincoln  and  his  friends  prepared  another  list.  The  lists  clashed  in  places,  and 
on  July  21st,  Lincoln  penned  a  note  to  Douglas  suggesting  the  arrangement  of 
the  joint  debates  which  have  become  historical.  No  two  men  in  Illinois  had 
been  brought  together  oftener,  or  drawn  larger  and  more  enthusiastic  audiences 
than  Douglas  and  Lincoln.  Although  the  Little  Giant  did  not  decline  to  meet 
the  Big  Giant,  he  honestly  stated  his  objections  to  the  arrangement  to  a  friend. 
"Between  you  and  me,"  he  writes,  "I  do  not  feel  that  I  want  to  go  into  this 
debate.  The  whole  country  knows  me  and  lias  me  measured.  Lincoln,  as  re- 
gards myself,  is  comparatively  unknown,  and  if  he  gets  the  best  of  this  debate — 


THE  ROCK   RIVER  VALLEY  211 

and  I  want  to  say  he  is  the  ablest  man  the  republicans  have  got — I  shall  lose 
everything.  Should  I  win,  I  shall  gain  but  little.  I  do  not  want  to  go  into  a 
debate  with  Lincoln." 

After  much  correspondence  back  and  forth,  the  two  leaders  and  their  com- 
mittees agreed  upon  the  following  as  the  dates  and  places  of  the  joint  debate: 

Ottawa,  La  Salle  County,  August  21,  1858. 
Frecport,  Stephenson  County,  August  27. 
Jonesboro,  Union  County,  September  15. 
Charleston,  Coles  County,  September  18. 
Galesburg,  Knox  County,  October  7. 
Quincy,  Adams  County,  October  13. 
Alton,  Madison  County,  October  15. 

Books  have  been  written  about  these  Lincoln-Douglas  debates  in  which  the 
entire  slavery  issue  of  the  day  was  turned  around  and  around,  upside  down 
and  downside  up,  ventilated  and  re-ventilated,  by  these  students  and  masters  of 
politics  and  politicians  and  by  these  philosophers  of  State  and  national  affairs. 
The  stand  already  firmly  taken  by  Douglas  and  Lincoln  was  restated  in  detail, 
but  not  especially  re-elucidated.  The  personalities  of  the  principals  were  con- 
trasted before  the  world,  as  their  speeches  were  broadcast  throughout  the  uni- 
verse. Although  Douglas  won  the  senatorship  when  the  test  came  in  the  Legis- 
lature, Lincoln  achieved  the  enduring  fame  feared  by  his  great-minded  opponent. 

THE  MEETING   AT    FREEPORT 

At  the  first  meeting  held  at  Ottawa,  Judge  Douglas  propounded  to  Lincoln 
a  series  of  seven  questions  dealing  with  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  the  admis- 
sion of  States  and  the  treatment  of  territories  by  congress  in  regard  to  the  pro- 
hibition of  slavery.  They  Avere  asked  upon  the  basis  of  the  charge  that  Lincoln 
had  taken  a  stand  against  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  and  the  admission  of  any 
more  slave  states  into  the  Union  in  the  Springfield  convention  of  October,  1854. 
Lincoln  was  introduced  to  the  audience  at  the  second,  or  the  Freeport  meeting, 
by  Thomas  J.  Turner,  who,  after  Lincoln  had  denied  that  he  was  even  present 
at  the  Springfield  convention,  said  that  he  was  the  author  of  the  resolutions  to 
which  Douglas  claimed  Lincoln  had  subscribed. 

As  the  force  of  the  questions  put  by  Douglas  rested  upon  Lincoln's  support 
of  these  resolutions,  the  absolute  completeness  and  conclusiveness  of  the  denial 
made  at  the  Freeport  meeting,  with  Lincoln's  direct  and  categorical  answers  to 
the  other  questions  propounded  by  Douglas,  knocked  the  support  from  the 
foundation  of  the  case  which  the  Little  Giant  had  endeavored  to  press  against 
his  adversary.  The  extract  from  Lincoln's  Freeport  speech  which  bears  upon 
the  fundamentals  is  this:  "As  introductory  to  these  interrogatories  which  Judge 
Douglas  propounded  to  me  at  Ottawa,  he  read  a  set  of  resolutions  which  he  said 
Judge  Trumbull  and  myself  had  participated  in  adopting  in  the  first  republican 
state  ((invention  held  at  Springfield  in  October,  1854.  He  insisted  that  I  and 
Judge  Trumbull  and  perhaps  the  entire  republican  party  were  responsible  for 
the  doctrines  contained  in  the  set  of  resolutions  which  he  read,  and  I  understand 
that  it  was  from  the  set  of  resolutions  that  he  deduced  the  interrogatories  which 
he  propounded  to  me,  using  these  resolutions  as  a  sort  of  authority  for  pro- 

Tol.  1—14 


212  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

pounding  these  questions  to  me.  Now,  I  say  here  today  that  I  do  not  answer 
his  interrogatories  because  of  their  springing  at  all  from  that  set  of  resolutions 
which  he  read.    I  answered  them  because  Judge  Douglas  thought  fit  to  ask  them. 

"I  do  not  now,  nor  never  did  recognize  any  responsibility  upon  myself  in 
that  set  of  resolutions.  When  I  replied  to  him  upon  that  occasion,  I  assured 
him  that  I  never  had  anything  to  do  with  them.  I  repeat  here  today  that  I 
never  in  any  possible  form  had  any  tiling  to  do  with  that  set  of  resolutions.  It 
turns  out,  I  believe,  that  those  resolutions  were  never  passed  in  any  convention 
held  in  Springfield.  It  turns  out  that  they  were  never  passed  at  any  convention 
or  any  public  meeting  that  I  had  any  part  in.  I  believe  it  turns  out,  in  addition 
to  all  this,  that  there  was  not,  in  the  fall  of  1854,  any  convention  holding  a 
session  in  Springfield,  calling  itself  a  Republican  State  Convention ;  yet  it  is 
true  that  there  was  a  convention,  at  Springfield,  that  did  pass  some  resolutions. 
But  so  little  did  I  really  know  of  the  proceedings  of  that  convention,  or  what 
set  of  resolutions  they  had  passed,  though  having  a  general  knowledge  that  there 
had  been  an  assemblage  of  men  there,  that  when  Judge  Douglas  read  the  resolu- 
tions, I  really  did  not  know  but  they  had  been  the  resolutions  passed  then  and 
there.  I  did  not  question  that  they  were  the  resolutions  adopted.  For  I  could 
not  bring  myself  to  suppose  that  Judge  Douglas  could  say  what  he  did  upon 
this  subject  without  knowing  that  it  was  true.  I  contented  myself  on  that 
occasion  with  denying,  as  I  truly  could,  all  connection  with  them,  not  denying 
or  affirming  whether  they  were  passed  at  Springfield. 

"Now,  it  turns  out  that  he  has  got  hold  of  some  resolutions  passed  at  some 
convention  or  public  meeting  in  Kane  County.  I  wish  to  say  here  that  I  don't 
conceive  that  in  any  fair  and  just  mind  this  discovery  relieves  me  at  all.  I  had 
just  as  much  to  do  with  that  convention  in  Kane  County  as  that  at  Springfield. 
I  am  just  as  much  responsible  for  the  resolutions  at  Kane  County  as  that  at 
Springfield — the  amount  of  the  responsibility  being  exactly  nothing  in  either 
case;  no  more  than  there  would  be  to  a  set  of  resolutions  passed  in  the  moon." 
Lincoln  concluded  this  phase  of  his  speech  by  expressing  his  astonishment  that 
a  man  of  Judge  Douglas's  world-wide  fame  should  have  been  so  unfair  and 
reckless  as  to  make  such  positive  charges  without  careful  investigations  as  to 
their  truth.    Lincoln's  astonishment  of  that  day  has  descended  to  this  day. 

Lincoln  then  turned  about  and  propounded  four  questions  to  Judge  Douglas. 
By  the  common  consent  of  historians,  local,  national  and  international,  the 
answer  which  Douglas  made  to  Lincoln's  second  question  split  the  democratic 
party  into  Northern  and  Southern  factions,  made  Douglas  the  leader  of  the 
former  and  forever  ruined  his  chances  for  the  presidency. 

Lincoln's  second  question:  "Can  the  people  of  a  United  States  Territory, 
in  any  lawful  way,  against  the  wish  of  any  citizen  of  the  United  States,  exclude 
slavery  from  its  limits  prior  to  the  formation  of  a  State  Constitution  ? ' ' 

Reply  of  Douglas:  "1  answer  emphatically,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  has  heard  me 
answer  a  hundred  times  from  every  stump  in  Illinois,  that  in  my  opinion  the 
people  of  a  Territory  can,  by  lawful  means,  exclude  slavery  from  their  limits 
prior  to  the  formation  of  a  State  constitution.  Mr.  Lincoln  knew  that  I  had 
answered  that  question  over  and  over  again.  He  heard  me  argue  the  Nebraska 
bill  on  that  principle  all  over  the  State  in  1854,  in  1855  and  in  1856,  and  he 
has  no  excuse  for  pretending  to  be  in  doubt  as  to  my  position  on  that  question. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  213 

It  matters  not  what  way  the  Supreme  Court  may  hereafter  decide  as  to  the 
abstract  question  whether  slavery  may  or  may  not  go  into  a  Territory  under 
the  ('oust it ut ion — the  people  have  the  lawful  means  to  introduce  it  or  exclude 
it  as  they  please,  for  the  reason  that  slavery  cannot  exist  a  day  or  an  hour  any- 
where, unless  it  is  supported  by  local  police  regulations.  Those  police  regula- 
tions can  only  be  established  by  the  local  Legislature;  and  if  the  people  are 
opposed  to  slavery,  they  will  elect  representatives  to  that  body  who  will  by 
unfriendly  legislation  effectually  prevent  the  introduction  of  it  in  their  midst. 
I  f.  on  the  contrary  they  are  for  it,  their  legislation  will  favor  its  extension. 
Hence,  no  matter  what  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  may  be  on  that 
abstract  question,  still  the  right  of  the  people  to  make  a  Slave  Territory  or  a 
Free  Territory  is  perfect  and  complete  under  the  Nebraska  Bill." 

This  was  subsequently  designated  as  Douglas's  "Freeport  Doctrine"  or 
"Theory  of  Unfriendly  Legislation."  As  Douglas  intimated,  Lincoln  was  well 
aware  of  the  consistent  position  Avhich  his  rival  had  repeatedly  defined,  but  he 
won  his  point  of  having  it  redefined  with  new  precision  and  a  telling  force  sur- 
charged evidently  with  considerable  indignation. 

The  joint  debates  did  not  prevent  Douglas  from  being  reelected  to  the  United 
States  Senate  by  a  majority  of  eight  votes,  but  went  far  toward  carrying  the 
republican  State  ticket  and  electing  Lincoln  to  the  presidency  two  years  after- 
ward. It  is  said  that  Lincoln,  as  was  his  custom,  when  about  to  take  a  radical 
step  in  politics,  consulted  his  confidential  friends  rather  than  the  body  of  the 
party  leaders,  and  that  their  concensus  of  opinion  as  to  the  policy  of  forcing  an 
answer  from  Judge  Douglas  on  the  second  question  was  that,  if  he  did,  he  could 
never  be  senator.  The  sequel  to  the  story  was  his  reported  answer:  "Gentle, 
men,  I  am  killing  larger  game.  If  Douglas  answers,  he  can  never  be  president, 
and  the  coming  battle  of  1860  is  worth  a  hundred  of  this." 

THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1860 

With  the  opening  of  the  year  1860,  Mr.  Lincoln's  name  was  frequently 
mentioned  by  the  republicans  for  the  presidency,  as  was  that  of  Judge  Douglas 
by  the  northern  wing  of  the  democracy.  It  is  said  that  the  first  organized 
presidential  effort  in  behalf  of  Lincoln  was  made  at  a  meeting  in  the  office  of 
the  secretary  of  state  at  Springfield,  and  it  was  attended  by  some  of  the  most 
prominent  citizens  of  Chicago.  Lincoln  hesitated;  but  in  February,  in  response 
to  an  invitation  from  a  New  York  committee,  he  visited  the  metropolis,  made  his 
famous  Cooper  Institute  speech,  captured  New  York  and  afterward  New  Eng- 
land, received  a  great  ovation  on  his  return  to  Springfield  and  became  the 
marked  man  of  the  country.  On  the  9th  of  May,  the  Republican  State  Conven- 
tion met  at  Decatur,  and  after  an  impassioned  speech  by  Richard  J.  Oglesby, 
Lincoln  was  indorsed  for  the  presidency.  Richard  Yates  was  nominated  for 
governor.  A  week  later,  the  National  Republican  Convention  assembled  at 
Chicago.  The  leading  candidates  were  Seward  and  Lincoln  and  on  the  third 
ballot,  the  Illinois  man  was  nominated.  Eventually,  or  during  the  progress  of 
the  last  ballot,  the  nomination  was  made  unanimous. 

During  the  preceding  month,  the  Democratic  National  Convention  at 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  had  been  obliged  to  adjourn  without  agreeing  upon 


214  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

a  nominee,  and  more  than  a  month  after  the  republican  convention  had  unani- 
mously nominated  Lincoln,  the  democrats  held  another  convention  at  Baltimore 
without  agreeing  upon  a  candidate.  They  did  worse,  the  northern  democrats 
named  Douglas  for  their  candidate  and  the  southern,  John  C.  Breckenridge,  of 
Kentucky.  The  Constitutional,  or  Union  Party,  successors  of  the  old  whigs  and 
know-nothing  organizations,  put  forward  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee.  As  a  party, 
the  republicans  were  united ;  the  democracy  was  split  into  antagonistic  fragments. 

The  campaign  of  1860  was  fierce  and  bewildering.  The  republican  party  in 
Illinois  was  so  compact  and  rich  in  strong  orators  that  for  the  first  time  in 
twenty  years  Lincoln's  voice  was  not  heard.  Douglas,  on  the  other  hand,  broke 
all  precedents  for  a  presidential  candidate  and  went  directly  before  the  people. 
In  this  campaign  the  Rock  River  Valley  was  wide  awake.  One  of  the  greatest 
rally  days  for  the  republicans  was  September  1st,  at  Rockford.  The  special 
attraction  was  Cassius  M.  Clay,  the  celebrated  Kentucky  orator,  and  it  Avas 
estimated  that  12,000  people  packed  the  courthouse  square  to  listen  to  him. 
He  was  introduced  by  Judge  S.  M.  Church.  During  September  and  October  a 
series  of  joint  discussions  was  held  by  Judge  Allen  C.  Fuller,  of  Belvidere,  and 
John  A.  Rawlins,  of  Galena.  One  debate  was  held  in  each  county  of  the  First 
Congressional  District,  which  then  comprised  Lake,  McHenr}^,  Boone,  Winne- 
bago, Stephenson,  Jo  Daviess,  Carroll  and  Ogle.  Judge  Fuller  was  the  repub- 
lican candidate  for  presidential  elector  and  Mr.  Rawlins  was  the  candidate  of 
the  Douglas  democracy. 

These  debates  have  a  historic  interest  by  reason  of  the  subsequent  prominence 
of  the  participants.  Judge  Fuller  became  the  war  adjutant  of  the  State  and 
the  able  supporter  of  Governor  Yates.  Upon  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war  in 
1861,  Mr.  Rawlins  publicly  advocated  coercive  measures,  and  it  is  said  that  it 
was  partly  through  his  influence  that  General  Grant  tendered  his  services  to 
the  Government.  He  served  on  the  staff  of  General  Grant  from  the  time  Grant 
was  given  command  of  a  brigade  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  advanced 
from  step  to  step  until  he  reached  the  grade  of  a  major  general  and  in  1869 
was  appointed  secretary  of  war  by  President  Grant. 

The  result  of  the  campaign  of  1860  was  to  give  the  republicans  to  Illinois  for 
the  first  time.  The  Lincoln  electors  received  172,171  votes ;  Douglas,  160,205 ; 
Union  party,  4,913;  independent  democrats,  2,332.  The  republicans  carried 
four  congressional  districts  and  the  democrats,  five.  E.  B.  Washburne  was 
returned  from  the  First,  The  republicans  also  controlled  the  Legislature  by  a 
majority  of  one  in  the  Senate  and  seven  in  the  House.  Lincoln's  foresight  of 
becoming  a  "big  game  hunter"  and  captor  was  realized,  although  his  ultimate 
fame  was  to  be  earned  in  agonies  which  brought  to  him  the  sweating  of  blood 
over  the  horrors  of  the  Civil  war. 

THE  POLITICS  OF  SOUTHERN   WISCONSIN 

The  Southern  Wisconsin  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  was  politically  agitated 
for  more  than  two  decades  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war,  but  it  was 
largely  over  local  questions,  among  which  the  county  seat  contests  loomed  large. 
Dane  was  spared  such  trials,  as  no  town  arose  to  contest  the  claims  of  Madison. 
But  Jefferson,  Dodge  and  Rock  were  in  continuous  turmoil  over  their  "per- 


THE  BOCK  BIVEB  \  ALLEY  215 

manent"  seats  of  justice,  which  remained  fixed  only  long  enough  for  the  con- 
testants to  gather  fresh  breath  and  strength.  The  prevailing  politics  of  the 
counties  was  virtually  determined  by  the  preponderance  of  racial  settlement. 

ROCK   COUNTY   A    Willi!    AM)   REPUBLICAN   STRONGHOLD 

The  early  population  of  Rock  County  was  largely  of  New  England  and  New 
York  origin,  and  was  stamped  as  a  whig  stronghold  until  the  republican  party 
took  form.  The  democratic  following  was  chiefly  drawn  from  the  Norwegians 
and  Irish.  After  Bock  was  separated  from  Walworth  County  in  1845,  its  politics 
was  hugely  governed  by  the  rivalries  between  Janesville  and  Beloit.  It  must 
be  said,  however,  thai  the  whigs  usually  mustered  the  strongest  leaders. 

CHIEF  JUSTICE   WIIITON   AND  THE  GLOVER  DECISION 

Among  the  most  prominent  was  Edward  V.  Whiton,  of  Janesville,  during  the 
last  six  years  of  his  life  chief  justice  of  the  State  Supreme  Court.  In  the  spring 
of  1854,  while  Chief  Justice  "Whiton  was  sitting  as  the  head  of  that  bench, 
Joshua  Glover,  the  negro  employed  near  Racine,  was  seized  by  a  St.  Louis  slave 
catcher  and  rushed  to  Milwaukee.  There  were  abolitionist  uprisings  in  Racine, 
Milwaukee  and  other  places  in  Southern  Wisconsin.  Sherman  M.  Booth,  editor 
of  the  Waukesha  American  Freeman,  took  up  the  case  and  was  arrested  and 
sentenced  to  fine  and  imprisonment  for  his  pains.  Glover  was  rescued  by 
his  friends  and  railroaded  to  Canada,  and  Booth  was  released  on  habeas  corpus 
proceedings,  Chief  .Justice  Whiton  writing  the  decision  which  declared  the 
Fugitive  Slave  act  unconstitutional. 

It  is  little  wonder  that  Rock  County  and  the  country  to  the  north  were 
deeply  stirred  by  the  issues  of  the  day,  and  that  the  soil  was  mellow  to  receive 
the  seeds  which  germinated  into  the  body  of  the  Republican  party.  Alvan  E. 
Bovay,  the  Bipon  lawyer,  and  L.  B.  Washburne,  the  Galena  lawyer,  nominated 
for  Congress  at  Etockford,  took  bold  steps  in  the  establishment  of  the  new  party, 
and  in  the  fall  preceding  the  meeting  of  the  Nineteenth  General  Assembly  of 
Illinois,  the  Janesville  leaders  came  to  the  front. 

FIRST   REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION    IN  JANESVILLE 

On  October  12,  1854,  a  convention  assembled  at  the  courthouse  in  response 
to  a  call  signed  by  L.  P.  Harvey,  afterward  secretary  of  state  and  governor; 
•John  Howe,  George  II.  Williston,  Peter  Schmitz,  J.  II.  Budd,  S.  G.  Colley, 
A.  Ilnskins,  J.  Dawson  and  E.  Vincent.  The  call  invited  the  electors  of  Rock 
County  "who  are  determined  to  support  no  man  for  office  who  is  not  positively 
and  fully  committed  to  the  support  of  the  principles  announced  in  the  Repub- 
lican platform  adopted  at  Madison  on  the  13th  of  July  last  to  meet  at  the  court- 
house on  the  12th  of  October  to  effect  a  thorough  organization  of  the  Republican 
party."  The  convention  was  largely  attended  and  enthusiastic.  .James  Suther- 
land, an  early  settler  and  business  man,  was  nominated  by  the  convention  for 
the  State  Senate,  and  Judge  David  Moggie  became  an   independent  candidate. 

An   illustration  of  how  seriously  the  citizens  and  office  aspirants  were  taking 


216  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

the  national  issues  of  the  day  was  the  withdrawal  of  the  republican  candidate 
for  district  attorney,  who,  firmly  of  the  belief  that  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  was 
unconstitutional,  refused  to  risk  the  possibility  of  public  service  until  the  ob- 
noxious measure  could  be  finally  wiped  from  the  statutes.  Matthew  H.  Car- 
penter, afterward  a  republican  of  national  fame,  was  the  democratic  candidate 
for  district  attorney.  In  1856,  Fremont  had  a  majority  of  2,743  in  Rock  County 
for  the  presidency,  Sutherland  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate  a  second  time, 
and  all  the  county  officers  were  carried  into  office  on  the  republican  ticket.  In 
fact,  the  Civil  war  saw  Rock  County  solidly  in  the  republican  column. 

For  a  number  of  years  before  the  republican  party  of  Rock  County  arose  in 
its  strength,  the  democrats  were  often  in  power,  and  among  their  most  stalwart 
leaders  were  Judge  David  Noggle,  A.  Hyatt  Smith,  Matt.  H.  Carpenter,  Col. 
Ezra  Miller  and  John  Winans. 

DANE  COUNTY  OVERSHADOWED  BY  STATE  POLITICS 

As  Madison  was  the  territorial  and  state  capital,  politics  in  Dane  County 
outran  local  and  sectional  matters.  It  was  the  center  of  movements,  cabals, 
parties  and  combinations  which  were  wide  in  scope  and  interest,  and  left  little 
to  county  politics.  A  case  in  point  was  the  election  for  corporation  officers  in 
1855,  immediately  preceding  the  assumption  of  municipal  dignity.  Even  this 
event  failed  to  cleave  the  electors  into  parties,  or  as  one  of  the  local  papers  com- 
mented rather  apathetically :  ' '  The  contest,  although  warm  in  some  respects, 
had  nothing  to  do  with  politics." 

POLITICAL  DODGE  COUNTY   AND   ITS    LEADERS 

Dodge  County,  on  the  other  hand,  was  stirred  from  border  to  border  by 
several  disagreements  of  long  standing,  such  as  county  seat  disputes  and  even 
more  local  issues,  like  the  Horicon  dam  controversy — which  is  even  not  yet 
settled.  Its  population  was  also  less  uniform  than  that  of  either  Dane  or  Rock 
County.  The  result  was  a  fairly  equal  division  of  the  whig  and  democratic 
parties.  At  the  first  election  for  county  organization  and  the  location  of  the 
seat  of  justice,  in  February,  1840,  the  division  of  the  voters  was  not  so  much 
along  political  lines  as  allegiance  to  the  two  contestants,  Fox  Lake  and  Water- 
town.  Fox  Lake  did  not  deny  that  Watertown  might  slightly  outrank  her  in 
population,  but  when  the  returns  showed  that  her  rival  had  a  majority  of  7 — 
22  for  Watertown  to  15  for  Fox  Lake — the  figures  were  at  first  inexplicable. 
Now,  there  lived  in  the  Fifth  Ward  of  Watertown,  a  lively  Irish  politician, 
William  M.  Dennis,  and  the  night  before  the  election  he  had  entertained  at  his 
house  15  mill  hands  in  the  employ  of  Cole  &  Bailey  of  Fox  Lake.  He  had  not 
only  entertained  them,  but  induced  them  to  vote  for  Watertown  as  the  seat  of 
justice  of  Dodge  County.  Further  explanation  as  to  how  Fox  Lake  lost  the 
county  seat  should  be  unnecessary.  Mr.  Dennis  afterward  served  several  terms 
in  the  State  Senate,  being  sent  from  Watertown.  In  1845,  Dodge  Center,  later 
Juneau,  was  selected  as  the  compromise  seat  of  justice,  and  Mr.  Dennis  could 
concentrate  on  state-wide  legislation. 

Dodge  County  was  early  settled  by  an  intelligent  and  ambitious  class  of 
German  citizens,   of   which  young  Carl   Schurz  was  a  typical   representative. 


TDK  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  217 

Watertown  was  especially  thus  favored.  William  E.  Smith,  who  subsequently 
became  governor  of  the  state,  was  a  pioneer  of  Fox  Lake,  and  while  residing 
there  served  repeatedly  in  both  houses  of  the  Legislature  as  a  whig  and  re- 
publican. A.  Scott  Sloan,  a  Dodge  County  man,  was  scut  to  Congress  twice 
dining  the  period  just  before  the  war.  Charles  Billinghurst,  of  Watertown,  was 
one  of  the  original  Silas  Wright  democrats,  served  in  the  first  Legislature  and 
held  various  county  offices  before  he  was  elected  to  the  Thirty-fourth  Congress 
in  1854.  The  district  which  Mr.  Billinghurst  represented  was  then  said  to  be 
the  largest  in  the  Union.  He  served  two  terms  in  Congress,  was  a  strong 
opponent  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  remained  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives until  the  republican  party  was  well  established.  Mr.  Billinghurst  died 
on  August  18,  1865. 

Col.  C.  H.  Larrabee  was  an  outstanding  figure  both  in  public  and  military 
life.  lie  was  a  delegate  to  the  second  state  constitutional  convention  of  1847-48 
and  an  associate  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  1848-53.  He  then  served  in 
the  Thirty-sixth  Congress  and  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war  went  to  the  front 
as  major  of  the  Fifth  Volunteer  Regiment.  Subsequently  he  was  promoted  to 
the  colonelcy  of  the  Twenty-fourth,  and  commanded  it  until  hostilities  ceased. 
Colonel  Larrabee  moved  to  Seattle,  state  of  Washington,  after  the  war,  and 
continued  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

DEMOCRATIC   JEFFERSON   COUNTY 

The  political  tendency  of  Jefferson  County  was,  on  the  whole  democratic. 
The  population  was  of  mixed  racial  character,  the  foreign  element  predominat- 
ing; and  the  sympathy  which  the  whigs  manifested  with  the  Know  Nothings,  or 
so-called  American  party,  had  the  effect  of  attracting  the  citizens  of  foreign 
birth  and  parentage  to  the  voting  ranks  of  the  democracy.  Therefore  the  dem- 
ocrats obtained  a  strong  foothold  in  the  early  political  campaigns  of  Jefferson 
County.  The  delegates  to  the  state  constitutional  conventions  were  such  rock- 
rooted  democrats  as  Milo  Jones  of  Fort  Atkinson  and  Theodore  Prentiss  of 
Watertown.  Among  the  whig  pioneers  were  the  Cole  brothers  of  Watertown. 
The  last  battle  in  Jefferson  County  between  the  whigs  and  democrats  was  fought 
in  1854  and  the  democrats  carried  everything  before  them.  In  I860,  the  long 
struggle  over  the  Nebraska  bill  and  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise  gave 
such  vigor  to  the  young  republican  party  that  the  new  organization  carried  the 
county  for  the  first  time;  but  in  1862  and  1864  the  democracy  was  reinstated  in 
local  politics. 

Briefly  stated,  the  whigs  and  later,  the  republicans,  dominated  Rock  County 
before  the  Civil  war  period.  Dane  County  was  too  overshadowed  by  state  politics 
to  have  much  political  character  as  a  circumscribed  section  of  the  commonwealth. 
Whigs,  republicans  and  democrats  made  Jefferson  County  debatable  political 
ground,  while  the  democracy  had  the  upper  hand  in  Dodge  County  prior  to  the 
period  which  serves  as  a  chronological  limit  to  this  chapter. 

The  Rock  River  Valley  of  Wisconsin  and  Illinois  had  its  political  character 
determined  both  by  local  and  national  issues,  as  befits  a  people  who  are  both 
domestic  and  patriotic. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE   TIES  THAT  BIND 

MEANS  OP  TRANSPORTATION  AND  COMMUNICATION — EARLY  STEAMBOATS  AND  FERRIES 

THE    MILWAUKEE    &    ROCK    RIVER    CANAL PIONEER    RAILROAD    OF    THE    ROCK 

RIVER  VALLEY THE  GALENA  &  CHICAGO  UNION ITS  LIFE  SAVED  BY  COUNTIES  OF 

THE  UPPER  VALLEY FOUNDATION  LAID  OF   THE  CHICAGO  &   NORTHWESTERN  SYS- 
TEM  EXTENSION    OF    LINES    FROM    MILWAUKEE    INTO    SOUTHERN    WISCONSIN — 

DEVELOPMENT  OF    THE  CHICAGO,  MILWAUKEE  &  ST.   PAUL EXCITING   ADVENT  OF 

THE   MILWAUKEE   LINE  INTO   ROCKFORD THE   CHICAGO   &  ROCK   ISLAND  REACHES 

THE    MISSISSIPPI,   THROUGH   THE    LOWER   VALLEY THROWS   FIRST  BRIDGE   ACROSS 

THE  FATHER  OF  WATERS BECOMES  THE  CHICAGO,  ROCK  ISLAND  &  PACIFIC THE 

BURLINGTON   ROUTE   IN   THE   UPPER   ROCK   RIVER   VALLEY ITS   STERLING    BRANCH 

TO  ROCK  ISLAND THE  FREEPORT   DIVISION  OF  THE   ILLINOIS  CENTRAL THE  TRI- 

CITY  BRIDGES  AND  STREET  RAILWAYS EARLY  NAVIGATION  OF  THE  ROCK  RrVER  IN 

WINNEBAGO,  OGLE  AND  LEE  COUNTIES PROPOSED  SHIP  CANAL  FROM  LAKE  MICH- 
IGAN TO  THE  WATERS  OF  THE  UPPER  ROCK THE  ILLINOIS  &  MICHIGAN  CANAL  AS 

A   GREAT    CHICAGO    FEEDER — THE   ERA   OF   PLANK   ROADS THE    HENNEPIN    CANAL 

AS  A  CUT-OFF  TO  THE  MISSISSIPPI LARGELY  AN  ENTERPRISE  OF  THE  ROCK  RIVER 

VALLEY OPENED  TO  THE  PUBLIC  IN  1907 — EXTENSION  OF  HARD-SURFACED  ROADS 

THE   TIES    THAT    BIND   THE    VALLEY   TAPPED   BY    LINES    OF   ELECTRIC    CARS    AND 

AUTOS. 

The  Rock  River  Valley,  like  other  sections  of  the  United  States,  has  pros- 
pered and  expanded  largely  through  the  development  of  its  means  of  trans- 
portation and  communication.  Thereby  its  people  and  communities  have  been 
bound  closer  and  closer  and  have  been  able  to  cooperate  in  trade,  business,  com- 
merce and  social  life.  In  the  early  times,  the  means  were  crude  and  born  of 
bald  necessity — trails,  ox  teams  and  horses,  sturdy  legs,  rivers  and  streams, 
canoes  and  larger  water  craft  propelled  by  poles,  sail  and  steam.  The  plank 
roads  had  their  place ;  the  iron  ways  followed,  as  well  as  intertwined  thorough- 
fares of  cement,  and  another  age  is  overlapping  the  present,  in  which  the  lanes 
of  the  air  are  being  lighted,  and  both  communication  and  transportation  are 
being  perfected  through  the  artificial  flight  of  human  mechanisms. 

EARLY   STEAMBOATS   AND    FERRIES 

The  Mississippi  and  its  tributary  waterways  long  took  the  precedence  of 
overland  communication  and  travel  in  what  are  now  Illinois  and  Wisconsin. 
With  the  advent  of  the  white  man  of  unmixed  blood  and  instinctive  love  of 
stability  and  cooperation,  the  flotillas  of  Endian  canoes  and  half-breed  pirogues 

218 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  219 

wne  invaded  by  that  curious  invention,  the  steamboat.  It  is  true  that  Fulton's 
"New  Orleans,"  when  it  came  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  in  the 
winter  of  L812,  did  not  move  as  rapidly  as  the  skillfully  propelled  canoe  or 
pirogue,  but  it  was  a  great  floating  house,  propelled  by  a  mysterious  force  and 
held  untried  possibilities  of  cooperation  between  the  growing  communities  of  the 
great  valley  and  its  offshoots.  This  pioneer  steamboat  arrived  at  New  Orleans 
on  Christmas  day  of  1812,  having  achieved  an  average  speed  of  three  miles  an 
hour  and  being  destined  for  the  lower  river  trade  alone.  Two  years  before,  such 
prominent  New  Yorkers  as  De  Witt  Clinton,  Robert  Fulton,  Robert  R.  Liv- 
ingston, Daniel  Tompkins  and  Nicholas  J.  Roosevelt,  had  organized  the  Ohio 
Steamboat  Navigation  Company.  This  company  had  engineered  a  bill  through 
the  Louisiana  Legislature  granting  to  them  the  sole  right  to  operate  steamboats 
on  the  waters  of  that  state  for  a  period  of  fourteen  years,  with  the  privilege  of 
renewing  the  charter  at  the  end  of  that  period.  The  monopoly  was  bitterly 
opposed  by  Captain  Henry  M.  Shreve,  owner  of  the  steamer  Washington,  the 
first  stern-wheel  boat.  The  captain  also  adopted  the  light  draft,  flat-bottomed 
boat,  well  adapted  to  the  shallow7  waters  of  Louisiana;  he  placed  his  double 
boilers  on  deck  instead  of  below,  and  introduced  flues  to  the  mechanism  of  his 
craft.  He  was  ingenious,  enterprising  and  determined.  In  1814,  Captain  Shreve 
commenced  his  legal  protest  against  this  monopoly,  and,  although  his  position 
was  not  sustained  by  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  until  three  years  oi 
litigation  had  passed,  he  continued  pluckily  to  navigate  the  wraters  of  Louisiana 
in  defiance  of  the  State  law.  His  was  a  decisive  victory  for  the  free  navigation 
of  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributary  wraters. 

In  connection  with  the  historic  trip  of  the  New  Orleans  down  the  Ohio  and 
.Mississippi,  it  is  pertinent  to  know  that  its  centenary  was  celebrated  at  Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania,  where  the  steamboat  was  built,  in  October  and  November, 
1911.  A  replica  of  the  old  boat  had  been  built  and  was  christened  by  Mrs. 
Alice  (Roosevelt)  Longwortb,  a  descendant  of  Nicholas  Roosevelt  and  daughter 
of  the  former  President  of  the  United  States.  Afterward  the  model  of  the  New 
Orleans  made  the  trip  accomplished  so  strenuously  by  her  forebear  a  century 
previously.  She  stopped  at  the  towns  on  the  way  for  the  purpose  of  holding 
celebrations.  Rock  Island  being  among  the  important  places  where  "she  tied 
up."  At  the  end  of  three  weeks  she  arrived  at  New  Orleans,  finding  the  city 
in  gala  attire  for  her  reception. 

Although  the  growth  of  steamboating  on  western  rivers  was  rapid,  for  many 
years  the  keel-boat  guided  and  propelled  by  poles  was  the  ruling  form  of  river 
transportation  above  St.  Louis.  The  Zebulon  M.  Pike,  built  in  1815  at  Hen- 
derson, Kentucky,  was  the  first  steamboat  to  navigate  the  Mississippi  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio  River.  She  required  six  weeks  to  make  her  first  trip  from 
Louisville,  Kentucky,  to  St.  Louis,  as  she  ran  only  in  daytime,  tying  up  at 
aighl  to  replenish  her  supply  of  wood  fuel.  The  Pike  was  the  first  steamboat 
to  reach  St.  Louis,  and  the  first  one  to  moor  at  that  city  from  an  Atlantic  port 
was  the  Maid  of  Orleans  which  came  by  way  of  Philadelphia  and  New  Orleans. 
She  was  operated  by  both  sails  and  steam  power. 

Captain  Shreve,  having  beer  supported  by  the  highest  court  in  the  land  in 
his  contention  for  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  waters,  invaded  the  field 
of  the  northern  marine,  but  his  career  was  soon  terminated  by  the  explosion  of 


220  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

one  of  the  boilers  of  the  "Washington  as  the  steamer  was  leaving  Marietta,  Ohio. 
Twelve  persons  were  killed  aboard  and  the  Captain  seriously  injured. 

By  1819,  there  were  sixty-three  steamers  plying  up  and  down  the  Mississippi. 
As  they  approached  their  ports  of  call,  they  announced  their  coming  by  dis- 
charging a  small  cannon  placed  in  the  bow.  In  1823,  the  first  steamboat  arrived 
at  Fort  Armstrong  over  the  Rock  Island  rapids,  coincident  with  the  first  influx 
of  white  squatters  upon  the  fertile  lands  at  the  mouth  of  Rock  River  still  occu- 
pied by  the  Sauk  and  Foxes. 

Before  1830,  Oliver  W.  Kellogg  and  John  Boles  had  broken  their  overland 
trails  from  the  Illinois  River  to  the  Galena  lead  regions,  and  travel  was  pouring 
over  them  from  Chicago,  Peoria  and  districts  farther  south.  Trade  and  travel 
had  also  reached  the  eastern  banks  of  the  Mississippi  and  was  looking  for  new 
western  fields  of  adventure.  Colonel  George  Davenport  established  his  ferry 
across  the  Mississippi  between  Farnhamsburg  and  Davenport,  and  Bogardus, 
Ogee  and  Dixon  found  a  like  establishment  on  the  Rock  River  to  make  travel 
easier  from  southeast  to  northwest  and  vice  versa. 

The  ferry  at  Rock  Island  was  for  many  years  one  of  the  model  establish- 
ments of  its  kind  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  one  operated  by  Colonel  George 
Davenport  in  1825  was  replaced  in  popular  favor  by  Antoine  Le  Claire 's  estab- 
lishment which  commenced  business  in  1834.  There  was  no  change  of  boats,  as 
with  the  Davenport  ferry,  which  required  the  passage  of  the  Illinois  channel  of 
the  river  to  Rocky  Island,  and  thence  from  the  landing  in  front  of  the  Colonel 's 
residence  to  the  Iowa  shore.  At  first  Le  Claire  operated  flat  boats,  but  in  1836, 
when  he  sold  his  establishment  to  Captain  John  Wilson  new  and  up-to-date  boats 
were  put  into  the  service.  Up  to  this  time,  the  method  of  summoning  the  ferry 
from  the  opposite  shore  was  to  yell  and  continue  to  do  so  until  the  boat  was 
seen  to  start ;  but  Captain  Wilson  introduced  ferry  alarms  in  the  form  of  hang- 
ing triangles  of  iron  or  steel,  upon  which  the  operator  would  pound  with  a  bar 
or  club  and  succeed  in  waking  the  town,  if  not  the  ferryman.  Captain  Wilson 
put  on  a  steam  ferry  boat  in  1842,  which  was  later  discontinued  and  not  replaced 
until  1852.    This  was  the  first  steam  ferry  on  the  Mississippi  above  St.  Louis. 

THE   MILWAUKEE  &   ROCK   RIVER   CANAL   PROJECT 

The  old-time  plan  to  connect  Lake  Michigan  with  the  Mississippi  by  a  con- 
tinuous waterway  assumed  tangible  form  in  1837-42,  through  the  initiative  of 
the  enterprising  men  of  Milwaukee.  But,  as  events  proved,  they  planned  beyond 
the  means  available  to  practically  develop  the  enterprise  known  as  the  Milwaukee 
&  Rock  River  Canal. 

The  Territorial  Legislature,  then  sitting  at  Burlington,  passed  an  act  incor- 
porating the  Milwaukee  &  Rock  River  Canal  Company,  in  the  fall  of  1837,  and 
Governor  Dodge  signed  the  act  on  January  5,  1838.  The  charter,  which  was 
accepted  by  the  company,  provided  for  the  capitalization  of  the  enterprise  rang- 
ing from  $100,000  to  $1,000,000.  The  incorporators  were  Byron  Kilbourn, 
Solomon  Juneau,  James  H.  Rodgers,  Samuel  Brown,  S.  D.  Cowles  and  Wil- 
liam R.  Longstreet,  the  two  gentlemen  first  named  being  considered  the  fathers 
of  the  Village  of  Milwaukee.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the  company  in  Febru- 
ary, 1838,  Mr.  Kilbourn  was  elected  president  of  the  canal  company,  and  In- 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  221 

crease  A.  Lapham  (in  after  years  to  arise  as  one  of  Wisconsin's  first  scientists) 
was  selected  as  its  engineer. 

The  plan  was  to  run  the  survey  from  the  head  of  slack  water  on  the 
Menonionee  River  to  the  Rock  River  in  the  region  of  Lake  Koshkonong.  The 
several  sections  of  the  canal  were  projected  as  follows:  Distance  to  the  eastern 
end  of  the  summit  level,  22y2  miles;  lockage,  316  feet;  across  the  summit  level, 
1  mile;  western  end  of  the  summit  level  to  Rock  River,  27  miles;  lockage,  80 
feet ;  feeder  at  summit  level,  y2  mile.  The  estimated  cost  of  this  main  canal 
was  $730,000;  to  which  add  cost  of  branch  canal  near  the  crossing  of  Fox 
River  to  the  foot  of  the  rapids  at  Prairie  Village  (5  miles  and  lockage  of  40 
feet  i.  amounting  to  $68,000,  which  would  bring  the  total  cost  of  the  project 
to  $798,000. 

A  land  grant  amounting  to  140,000  acres  was  passed  through  Congress  and 
made  effective  by  the  President's  signature  in  .June,  1838,  and  within  the 
coming  year  the  company  had  sold  43,000  acres,  amounting  to  about  one-half 
the  value  of  the  grant,  for  $108,000.  The  Territorial  Legislature  also  author- 
ized the  .Milwaukee  &  Rock  River  Canal  Company  to  borrow  money  to  further 
the  enterprise.  But  times  were  hard  and  money  in  the  East  was  '"tight," 
and  .John  II.  Tweedy,  the  financial  agent  of  the  company,  and  Byron  Kilbourn, 
representative  of  the  Territorial  Government,  made  little  headway  in  raising 
funds;  so  that  by  the  summer  of  1839,  although  various  sections  of  the  work 
had  been  put  under  contract,  only  about  $2,000  had  been  expended  in  actual 
construction;  a  dam  had  been  thrown  across  Milwaukee  River  and  about  a 
mile  of  the  canal  had  been  dug  from  the  dam  to  the  junction  with  the  Menonio- 
nee River.  The  outlook  was  so  discouraging  that  the  remainder  of  the  land 
grant  was  withdrawn  from  the  market,  and  in  1842,  when  Doty  succeeded  Dodge 
as  governor  of  the  territory  the  Legislature  rescinded  all  acts  which  had  been 
passed  relating  to  the  canal  project.  The  repealing  act  was  passed  by  the 
Legislature  and  approved  by  the  Governor,  being  signed  by  the  chief  executive 
in  February,  1842.    Nothing  had  been  expended  on  canal  contracts  since  July, 

1841,  and  when  the  last  financial  statement  wras  made  by  the  company  in  August, 

1842,  thirty-nine  cents  remained  in  its  treasury.  Thus  the  Milwaukee  &  Rock 
River  Canal  went  the  way  of  many  other  large  public  ambitions  in  those  days 
of  limited  means  and  limitless  hopes. 

The  financial  complications  passed  over  by  the  Territory  to  the  State  on 
account  of  the  canal  fiasco  may  form  an  interesting  topic  of  discussion,  but 
the  subject  has  no  legitimate  part  in  this  chapter. 

THE   GALENA    &   CHICAGO    UNION    RAILROAD 

In  the  meantime  settlement  up  the  Rock  River  Valley  and  throughout  the 
interior  regions  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  far  distant  from  the  main  water 
courses,  was  bringing  to  the  consciousness  of  the  people  the  supreme  impor- 
tance of  founding  and  improving  the  land-ways  of  the  country.  For  years 
Chicago,  Galena  and  Milwaukee  were  the  chief  generators  in  originating  and 
expanding  such  enterprises  between  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Mississippi  River. 

The  first  railroad  project  which  vitally  affected  the  growth  and  bright 
destiny  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  was  that  designated  as  the  Galena  &  Chicago 


222  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Union.  It  was  chartered  on  January  16,  1836,  to  construct  a  railroad,  with 
either  a  single  or  double  track,  between  the  termini  mentioned  in  the  title. 
The  choice  was  also  given  to  use  either  animal  or  steam  power.  The  survey 
was  immediately  begiui  in  Chicago  and  completed  to  the  Des  Plaines  River. 
Work  was  suspended  in  June,  1838,  but  resumed  the  following  year;  piles  were 
driven  along  the  sloughs  of  Madison  Street  and  stringers  placed  upon  them. 
A  lean  purse  held  by  the  originators  of  the  railroad  caused  another  pause  in 
building  operations. 

This  stoppage  was  a  great  disappointment  to  the  people  of  the  Rock  River 
Valley,  who  hoped  to  reap  the  benefits  of  a  thrifty  midsection  between  the 
booming  lead  regions  of  the  northwest  and  the  ambitious  little  city  at  the 
southern  bend  of  Lake  Michigan,  lying  low  with  a  great  destiny  almost  within 
its  grasp.  Winnebago  County  was  the  nucleus  of  this  strong  interior  senti- 
ment of  Northern  Illinois  for  close  cooperation  with  both  Chicago  and  Galena. 
The  far-seeing  ones  especially  sensed  the  conviction  that  there  were  far  more 
elements  of  growth  centering  in  Chicago  than  in  Galena;  and  their  disappoint- 
ment was  particularly  keen  that  the  enterprise  should  have  collapsed,  even 
temporarily,  in  the  city  by  the  lake. 

It  is  to  the  credit  of  the  earnest  and  able  citizens  of  Winnebago  County 
and  the  other  sections  of  the  Northern  Rock  River  Valley  that  they  continued 
for  six  years  to  keep  before  the  public  the  great  importance  of  this  fine  rail- 
road connection  between  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Mississippi  River.  Their  faith- 
fulness culminated  in  the  enthusiastic  meeting  held  in  Rockford  on  the  28th 
of  November,  1845.  Anson  S.  Miller  was  chosen  chairman  and  Selden  M. 
Church,  secretary.  The  meeting  was  addressed  by  Hon.  Martin  P.  Sweet.  It 
was  resolved  that  those  counties  interested  in  the  construction  of  a  railroad 
from  Galena  to  Chicago  be  recommended  to  send  delegates  to  a  convention 
to  be  held  in  Rockford,  January  7,  1846.  At  that  date  and  place,  319  delegates 
assembled  who  represented  Cook,  DeKalb,  McHenry,  Rock,  Ogle,  Boone,  Lee, 
Kane,  Stephenson,  Winnebago  and  Jo  Daviess.  A  committee  of  one  from  each 
county  was  appointed  to  report  resolutions  expressive  of  the  views  of  the 
convention.  Its  membership,  as  fixed  by  the  chair,  was  as  follows:  J.  Y. 
Scammon,  of  Cook  County;  George  T.  Kasson,  McHenry;  Charles  S.  Hemp- 
stead, Jo  Daviess;  M.  G.  Dana,  Ogle;  James  S.  Waterman,  DeKalb;  William 
H.  Gilman,  Boone;  James  A.  Clark,  Stephenson;  A.  B.  Wells,  Kane;  S.  M. 
Church,  Winnebago;  L.  G.  Fisher,  Wisconsin  Territory. 

RAILROAD  SAVED  BY  COUNTIES  OF  THE  UPPER  VALLEY 

The  resolutions,  presented  by  Mr.  Scammon  and  unanimously  adopted,  ap- 
pealed to  the  farmers  and  business  men  to  subscribe  to  the  stock  of  the  pro- 
posed railroad,  as  the  value  of  the  property  along  its  route  would  be  doubled 
and  the  convenience  of  the  inhabitants  immeasurably  profited.  But  before 
the  canvass  for  subscriptions  commenced,  the  citizens  of  Chicago  agreed  to 
pay  $20,000  to  the  original  owners  of  the  charter  in  stock  of  the  new  com- 
pany, half  of  that  sum  at  its  organization  and  the  remainder,  when  the  road 
should  be  completed  to  Rock  River,  or  as  soon  as  dividends  of  six  per  cent, 
had  been  earned.    Work  was  begun  in  1847  and  subscription  books  were  opened 


THE  ROCK   RIVER  VALLEY  223 

m  Chicago  and  Galena,  as  well  as  in  the  several  settlements  through  which 
the  road  was  to  pass.  The  canvass  for  funds  met  with  some  opposition  in 
Chicago,  caused  by  the  fear  that  the  building  of  the  road  might  divert  busi- 
ness from  thai  city.  The  rural  districts  responded  more  promptly  and  gen- 
erously, the  men  and  women  of  Rockford  and  adjoining  distriets  being  espe- 
cially enthusiastic  and  liberal.  William  B.  Ogden,  the  president  of  the  com- 
pany,  solicited  subscriptions  in  the  interior  of  the  State  and  so  overcame  the 
Chicago  opposition  that  by  April,  1848,  more  than  $350,000  worth  of  stock 
had  been  bought  along  the  proposed  line  of  the  road.  Also  largely  through 
Mr.  Ogden 's  influence  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railroad  was  granted  the 
privilege  of  constructing  a  temporary  track  into  Chicago  to  facilitate  the  haul- 
ing  of  the  necessary  construction  material.  In  June,  1848,  the  first  grading 
peg  was  driven  at  the  corner  of  Kinzie  and  Ilalsted  streets,  Chicago,  and  in 
October  the  Pioneer,  a  clumsy  and  primitive  engine,  was  shipped  from  the 
Mast,  unloaded  from  the  docks  in  Chicago  and  commenced  the  work  of  haul- 
ing materials  for  the  construction  of  the  road.  In  December,  it  left  Chicago 
for  the  West,  hauling,  six  freight  cars  extemporized  into  passenger  coaches, 
and  with  much  eclat  bore  most  of  the  prominent  citizens  interested  in  the  rail- 
road over  the  four  miles  of  rails  already  laid. 

By  January,  1850,  nearly  $165,000  had  been  expended  in  the  construction 
of  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  line  and  it  had  been  extended  forty  miles  to 
Elgin.  The  track  was  laid  as  far  west  as  Belvidere  in  the  spring  of  1852, 
and  to  Cherry  Valley,  Winnebago  County,  in  March  of  the  same  year.  On 
the  2nd  of  August.  1852,  a  real  train  of  cars  arrived  in  East  Rockford,  its 
progress  accompanied  by  the  ringing  of  bells  and  the  firing  of  cannon.  It 
was  a  notable  day  for  Rockford,  and  a  signal  for  its  large  growth,  and  an 
event  which  caused  some  uneasiness  to  the  municipal  aspirations  of  Chicago 
and  Galena,  On  September  1,  1853,  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  had  extended 
its  line  to  Freeport,  120  miles  from  Chicago.  There  it  rested  on  its  way  to 
Galena,  to  which  Freeport  was  to  be  bound  by  another  railroad  tie. 

FOUNDATION  LAID  OF  THE  CHICAGO  &  NORTHWESTERN   SYSTEM 

lii  the  meantime,  various  lines  were  being  extended  from  Milwaukee  into 
the  Rock  River  Valley  and  over  Southern  Wisconsin.  In  1848,  the  Legislature 
of  the  Badger  State  chartered  the  Madison  &  Beloit  Railroad  Company,  and 
in  1850  gave  it  authority  to  extend  to  the  Wisconsin  River,  as  well  as  to  the 
Mississippi  River  at  La  Crosse.  Wisconsin,  and  to  a  point  near  St.  Paul,  Min- 
nesota; also  from  Janesville  to  Fond  du  Lac.  The  name  of  the  corporation 
was  then  changed  to  the  Rock  River  Valley  Union  Railroad  Company.  In 
1851.  as  the  line  from  Janesville  north  did  not  materialize,  the  Illinois  Legis- 
lature sought  to  push  the  enterprise  by  chartering  the  Illinois  &  Wisconsin 
Railroad  Company,  with  authority  to  consolidate  with  any  line  or  lines  in 
Wisconsin.  The  Wisconsin  Legislature  responded  in  1855  by  authorizing  the 
consolidation  of  the  Illinois  &  Wisconsin  Railroad  Company  with  the  Rock 
River  Valley  Union,  and  the  new  organization  became  the  Chicago,  St.  Paul 
&  Fond  du  Lac  Railroad  Company.  Put  previous  to  consolidation,  the  latter 
had  failed   and   the  bondholders   foreclosed.      William   B.   Ogden,  of  Chicago, 


224  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

was  elected  president  of  the  consolidated  organization,  and  under  his  manage- 
ment the  line  reached  Janesville  in  1855  and  Fond  du  Lac,  in  1858. 

Previous  to  1854,  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railroad  had  built  a  branch 
of  its  Galena  line  from  Belvidere  to  Beloit,  and  in  that  year  leased  the  Beloit 
&  Madison  line,  and  from  1856  operated  it,  with  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi 
Railroad,  reaching  Janesville  by  way  of  Hanover  Junction,  eight  miles  west 
of  that  city. 

The  Green  Bay,  Milwaukee  &  Chicago  Railroad  was  chartered  in  1851,  by 
the  Wisconsin  Legislature,  to  build  a  line  from  Milwaukee  to  the  Illinois  State 
boundary,  there  to  connect  with  a  road  to  be  called  the  Chicago  &  Milwaukee. 
Both  roads  were  completed  in  1855  and  operated  together  until  1863,  when 
they  were  consolidated  as  the  Chicago  &  Milwaukee  Railroad  Company.  To 
prevent  its  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Company,  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railway  Company,  which  was  formed  in  1864,  leased 
this  line  in  perpetuity  in  May,  1866.  Since  that  time  it  has  been  operated 
as  its  Chicago  division. 

As  to  the  lines  of  the  Northwestern  which  are  bound  more  closely  to  the 
history  of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  note  is  made  of  the  Racine,  Janesville  & 
Mississippi  Railroad  Company.  It  was  chartered  in  1852  and  four  years  later 
was  completed  to  Beloit,  by  way  of  Elkhorn,  sixty-eight  miles  from  Racine. 
In  1859  it  was  sold  to  the  bondholders  and  extended  to  Freeport  the  same 
year ;  afterward  continued  to  Savanna,  Carroll  County,  on  the  Mississippi  River, 
and  thence  to  Rock  Island.  Until  it  was  consolidated  with  the  Northwestern 
system  it  was  known  as  the  Western  Union  Railroad. 

In  1870-74,  the  Baraboo  Air  Line  was  built  from  Madison  to  LaCrosse  and 
thence  to  Winona  Junction,  Minnesota.  It  was  projected  in  the  interest  of 
the  Northwestern  system,  and  gave  Madison  and  Southern  Wisconsin  another 
important  means  of  communication  with  the  Northwest. 

THE   CHICAGO,    MILWAUKEE   &   ST.    PAUL 

The  various  steps  leading  to  the  formation  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  & 
St.  Paul  Railroad  system  are,  if  possible,  more  involved  than  those  which 
led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Northwestern.  In  1838-41,  the  Wisconsin  Legis- 
lature chartered  several  railroads  leading  westward  from  Milwaukee,  but  for 
a  number  of  years  none  of  them  took  practical  shape.  But  the  Milwaukee 
&  Waukesha  Railroad  Company  was  incorporated  in  1847.  In  April,  1849, 
after  the  necessary  amount  of  funds  stipulated  in  the  charter  had  been  raised, 
the  name  of  the  line  was  changed  to  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  Railroad, 
as  the  company  had  been  authorized  to  extend  its  tracks  to  the  river  in  Wis- 
consin. Milwaukee  capitalists  and  business  men  loaned  the  company  money 
and  credit,  and  in  1851  this  pioneer  Wisconsin  railroad  had  reached  Waukesha, 
twenty  miles  to  the  west.  In  1852  it  had  advanced  to  Milton,  Northeastern 
Rock  County;  to  Stoughton,  Dane  County,  in  1853;  to  Madison,  in  1854,  and 
to  Prairie  du  Chien,  on  the  Mississippi  River,  in  1856.  These  extensions  from 
Milwaukee  to  Prairie  du  Chien  were  accomplished  only  after  sore  trials  and 
disappointments,  and  in  1859-60  the  company  defaulted  in  its  interest  pay- 
ments.   The  bondholders  therefore  foreclosed  on  the  property  of  the  Milwaukee 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  225 

&  .Mississippi  concern   and  effected   a   new  organization   called   the  Milwaukee 
&  Prairie  du   Chien. 

In  18f<2,  the  Southern  Wisconsin  Railroad  Company  was  chartered  to  build 
a  line  from  Milton  to  the  Mississippi  River.  In  that  year,  the  Milwaukee  & 
Mississippi  line  had  reached  that  point,  but  was  not  authorized  to  go  to  Janes- 
ville,  eight  miles  to  the  southwest.  The  Southern  Wisconsin  therefore  closed 
the  gap,  and  the  Janesville  line  was  afterward  purchased  by  the  Milwaukee 
and  Mississippi  and  extended  to  Monroe,  Green  County,  thirty-four  miles  to 
the  west. 

The  people  of  La  Crosse  then  got  busy,  and,  with  the  cooperation  of  Byron 
Kilbourn  and  other  prominent  Milwaukeeans,  succeeded  in  chartering  and  or- 
ganizing the  La  Crosse  &  Milwaukee  line.  The  first  meeting  of  the  company 
was  held  in  La  Crosse  in  1852,  but  no  actual  work  toward  construction  was 
accomplished  until  a  consolidation  had  been  effected  with  the  Milwaukee,  Fond 
du  Lac  &  Green  Bay  Railroad  Company  in  1854.  The  latter  had  been  organized, 
under  chartered  rights,  had  the  support  of  Milwaukee  moneyed  men,  and  had 
the  evidences  of  its  substantial  nature  in  the  shape  of  depot  and  grounds  in 
the  Cream  City.  But  like  many  another  pioneer  railroad  it  became  financially 
embarrassed  and  turned  to  consolidation  as  its  salvation.  Therefore  the  Mil- 
waukee, Fond  du  Lac  &  Green  Bay  and  the  La  Crosse  &  Milwaukee  companies 
united  their  interests,  and  in  1855  the  line  of  the  La  Crosse  &  Milwaukee  Rail- 
road Company  reached  Horicon,  Dodge  County,  fifty  miles  northwest  of  Mil 
waukee. 

In  the  following  year,  the  La  Crosse  &  Milwaukee  enterprise  received  other 
feeders  to  its  growing  body.  The  Milwaukee  &  Watertown  Railroad  Company 
had  been  chartered  in  1851,  and  in  1856  had  completed  its  line  from  Brook- 
field,  fourteen  miles  west  of  Milwaukee,  to  Watertown,  by  way  of  Oconomowoc. 
Watertown  was  a  station  on  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  line,  subsequently 
foreclosed  and  absorbed  by  the  Milwaukee  &  Prairie  du  Chien  corporation. 
In  1856,  the  Milwaukee  &  Watertown  road  was  consolidated  with  the  La  Crosse 
&  Milwaukee.  In  the  spring  of  that  year,  Congress  offered  a  land  grant  to 
aid  in  the  construction  of  a  railroad  from  Madison  or  Columbus,  via  Portage 
City,  to  the  St.  Croix  River  or  lake;  thence  to  the  west  end  of  Lake  Superior 
to  Bayfield.  Disposal  of  the  grant  and  the  personnel  of  the  incorporators  of 
the  proposed  company  to  receive  this  valuable  gift  from  Congress,  caused  such 
a  disagreement  among  the  members  of  the  Legislature  that  a  compromise  was 
effected  by  allowing  the  grant  to  go  to  the  newly  consolidated  concern  known 
as  the  La  Crosse  &  Milwaukee  Railroad  Company.  At  the  legislative  session 
of  1858,  the  disposal  of  the  St.  Croix  Land  Grant  was  thoroughly  investigated, 
and  it  was  ascertained  that  those  who  voted  for  the  measure  had  been  bribed 
by  the  distribution  of  the  land  grant  bonds — $5,000  to  each  representative  of 
the  Legislature  who  cast  his  vote  for  it,  and  $10,000  to  each  senator.  Under 
the  circumstances,  such  bonds  became  valueless,  and  the  company  never  at- 
tempted to  realize  upon  them. 

But  in  1857  the  La  Crosse  company  completed  its  line  through  Portage 
to  La  Crosse,  and  the  Watertown  road  to  Columbus.  A  few  years  afterward, 
the  Milwaukee  &  Horicon  line  was  built  from  Horicon,  through  Waupun  and 
Ripon,  to  Berlin,  Green  Lake  County,  which  was  controlled  by  the  La  Crosse 


226  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

&  Milwaukee  Company  and  afterward  became  a  part  of  the  northern  division 
of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  system. 

The  Madison,  Fond  du  Lac  &  Lake  Michigan  Railroad  Company  was  char- 
tered in  1855  to  build  a  line  from  Madison,  via  Fond  du  Lac,  to  Lake  Michigan. 
In  1857  it  bought  of  the  La  Crosse  company  that  portion  of  its  road  acquired 
by  the  consolidation  of  the  Milwaukee  &  Watertown  line  and  changed  its  name 
to  the  Milwaukee  &  Western  Railroad  Company.  It  owned  a  line  of  eighty 
miles  from  Brookfield,  a  few  miles  west  of  Milwaukee,  to  Watertown,  with 
branches  from  Watertown  to  Columbus,  Columbia  County,  and  to  Sun  Prairie, 
Dane  County. 

In  1858-59,  the  La  Crosse  &  Milwaukee  and  the  Milwaukee  &  Horicon  de- 
faulted in  the  payment  of  interest  on  their  bonded  debts,  and  in  1862-63  both 
roads  were  sold  to  the  bondholders,  who  organized  the  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 
Railway  Company.  In  1863,  the  consolidated  company  purchased  the  property 
of  the  Milwaukee  &  Western  line,  thus  coming  into  control  of  the  railroads 
from  Milwaukee  to  La  Crosse,  from  Horicon  to  Berlin,  and  from  Brookfield 
to  Watertown,  with  branches  from  the  last  named  point  to  Columbus  and  Sun 
Prairie. 

In  1864,  the  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railway  Company  built  short  lines  from 
Columbus  to  Portage  and  from  Brookfield  to  Milwaukee,  and  in  1869  extended 
the  Sun  Prairie  branch  to  Madison.  It  also  purchased  several  minor  lines 
running  out  of  Ripon.  In  1867,  it  secured  control  of  the  Milwaukee  &  Prairie 
du  Chien  road  and  a  few  years  afterward  its  Wisconsin,  Iowa  and  Illinois 
lines  were  combined  as  a  system.  In  1871-72,  the  Wisconsin  Union  Railroad 
Company  built  a  line  from  Milwaukee  to  the  State  line  between  Wisconsin 
and  Illinois  to  connect  with  a  road  constructed  from  Chicago  to  the  Illinois 
State  line;  at  Chicago,  the  system  "hooked  up,"  in  railroad  parlance,  with 
the  Eastern  trunk  lines  centering  in  Chicago. 

The  advent  of  the  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad  into  Rockford  was  at- 
tended by  an  exciting  conflict  of  legal  authority  between  that  organization 
and  the  Chicago  &  Iowa.  On  March  30,  1881,  arrived  the  first  Milwaukee 
locomotive  ever  seen  in  Rockford.  All  arrived  and  no  particular  place  to  go. 
It  drew  up,  however,  nearly  opposite  the  Chicago  &  Iowa  depot,  and  the 
superintendent  of  the  Pacific  division  of  the  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul,  with  others, 
forcibly  ejected  those  in  possession  of  that  property  under  the  plea  that  the 
Chicago  &  Iowa  road  was  occupying  it  illegally,  as  it  had  never  received  a 
valid  lease  from  its  predecessor,  the  Chicago,  Rockford  &  Northern.  The  legal 
battle  between  the  two  roads  was  fierce  and  resulted  in  the  court  upholding 
the  Chicago  &  Iowa.  But  these  contentions  and  proceedings  did  not  long  delay 
the  advent  of  the  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paid  to  Rockford.  The  company  had  secured 
control  of  the  old  Western  Union  line  to  the  north,  which  connected  Rockton 
and  Durand,  and,  building  a  track  from  Rockton  to  Rockford,  entered  the 
latter  city  November  6,  1881.  Then  a  contract  was  made  in  Chicago  by  which 
the  Milwaukee  road  secured  from  the  Chicago  &  Iowa  a  lease  of  its  track  from 
Davis  Junction,  in  Northeastern  Ogle  County  to  Rockford.  The  first  train 
from  the  south  arrived  through  this  station  on  November  21,  1881. 

The  Chicago  &  Great  Western  represents  a  line  which  was  completed  from 
Chicago  to  the  Mississippi  and  beyond,  in  1886.     It  passes  through  the  upper 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  227 

sections  of  the  Hock  River  Valley,  by  way  of  Byron,  Pearl  City,  Stockton  and 
Galena  Junction,  in  Ogle,  Stephenson  and  Jo  Daviess  counties. 

In  the  meantime  had  been  laid  the  foundations  of  two  other  great  railroad 
systems  which  furthered  the  cooperative  network  of  communication  extending 
over  every  section  of  the  Rock  River  Valley.  The  Chicago,  Rock  Island  & 
Pacific  and  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  railroads  are  in  mind.  In  1851, 
the  Legislature  of  Illinois  incorporated  the  Chicago  &  Rock  Island  Railroad. 
It  was  designed  first  to  connect  the  Great  Lakes  with  the  Mississippi  River, 
crossing  the  State  between  the  points  named,  a  distance  of  more  than  180 
miles.  The  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific,  or  the  Chicago  &  Rock  Island, 
as  it  was  originally  known,  opened  for  business  at  Rock  Island  on  February 
22,  1854,  and  on  the  6th  of  June,  of  that  year,  there  was  a  grand  excursion 
of  two  trains  and  five  steamers,  which  poured  their  human  freight  into  the 
city  to  celebrate  the  event  with  the  home  people.  But  a  railroad  had  already 
been  chartered  by  the  Iowa  Legislature  for  the  construction  of  a  line  from  the 
.Mississippi  to  the  Missouri,  across  the  Hawkeye  State,  from  Davenport  to 
Omaha,  Nebraska.  The  destiny  of  the  Illinois  railroad  was  evident,  especially 
in  April,  1856,  when  a  wooden  truss  bridge  was  completed  across  the  Mis- 
sissippi, from  Rock  Island  to  Davenport,  and  the  first  locomotive,  with  several 
empty  freight  cars,  passed  over  to  the  western  country.  The  two  railroads 
east  and  west  of  the  Mississippi  were  consolidated  in  1866  as  the  Chicago, 
Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Railway,  and  three  years  later  it  completed  its  connec- 
tion with  the  Union  Pacific  at  Omaha.  In  Illinois,  an  important  connection 
between  sections  of  the  Chicago  &  Rock  Island  railway  was  completed  by  the 
Peoria  &  Bureau  Valley  Railroad,  extending  from  Peoria  to  Bureau  Junction 
(about  47  miles)  in  1854.  It  was  leased  in  perpetuity  to  the  trunk  road.  Thus 
Rock  Island  and  Henry  counties  were  brought  into  intimate  connection  with 
the  East  and  the  West,  and  the  lower  Rock  River  Valley  was  further  accom- 
modated by  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy. 

In  1872,  the  Rock  Island  &  Peoria  Railroad,  now  a  part  of  the  Rock  Island 
system  which  passes  through  the  southwestern  townships  of  Henry  County  and 
the  northeastern  portion  of  Rock  Island  County,  completed  the  line  from  Peoria 
to  Rock  Island.  The  charter  which  authorized  its  construction  had  been  secured 
the  year  before  under  the  name  of  the  Pacific  &  Rock  Island  Railroad. 

The  original  section  of  the  Burlington  Route  was  the  line  constructed  by 
the  Chicago  &  Aurora  Railroad  Company,  which  was  completed  in  1853  and 
extended  from  the  junction  with  the  old  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railroad, 
thirty  miles  west  of  Chicago,  to  Aurora.  Later,  it  was  extended  to  Mendota, 
La  Salle  County,  and  in  1855  the  Illinois  Legislature  changed  the  name  of 
the  company  to  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy.  In  1854,  a  line  between 
Mendota  and  Galesburg,  Knox  County,  eighty  miles,  was  constructed  by  the 
Central  Military  Tract  Railroad  Company,  and  in  1855  the  Northern  Cross 
Railroad  completed  its  line  from  Quincy  to  Galesburg.  About  the  same  time 
the  Peoria  &  Oquawka  Railroad  was  opened  from  Peoria  to  the  Mississippi 
River  at  the  latter  point  in  Henderson  County,  nearly  opposite  Burlington, 
Iowa.  Both  of  these  lines  were  acquired  by  foreclosure  and  consolidated  with 
the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  system  in  1860-63,  the  former  constituting 

Vol.  1—15 


228  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

the  Quincy  branch  of  the  main  line,  and  the  latter  constituting  its  Burlington 
connection. 

Up  to  1863,  the  Burlington  Route  entered  Chicago  over  the  track  of  the 
Galena  &  Chicago  Union  line,  but  during  that  year  commenced  the  construc- 
tion of  an  independent  line  between  Aurora  and  Chicago.  It  was  completed 
in  1864,  the  year  which  also  marked  the  birth  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
system,  or  at  least  the  laying  of  its  foundation. 

The  development  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  now  shifts  to  the 
upper  country  of  the  Rock  River  Valley.  While  engaged  in  the  supervision 
of  the  construction  of  a  bridge  across  Rock  River  at  Oregon,  Ogle  County, 
Francis  E.  Hinckley,  a  Chicago  engineer,  learned  of  the  existence  of  the  Ogle 
and  Carroll  County  Railroad  Company,  chartered  ten  years  before,  but  still 
inert.  The  original  purpose  was  to  build  a  railroad  from  Rochelle  to  Mount 
Carroll.  But  Mr.  Hinckley  improved  upon  the  first  plan,  and  largely  through 
his  exertions  the  Illinois  Legislature  incorporated  the  Chicago  &  Iowa  Rail- 
road Company,  in  1869 ;  it  authorized  the  building  of  a  line  from  Rochelle  to 
Savanna,  Carroll  County,  on  the  Mississippi.  Mr.  Hinckley  was  elected  its 
president.  Arrangements  were  then  made  with  the  Burlington  Company  for 
connecting  with  its  line  at  Aurora.  The  construction  train  of  the  new  road 
reached  Rochelle  on  December  31,  1870,  having  run  through  from  Aurora. 
By  April  1,  1871,  the  road  was  completed  to  Oregon.  The  first  train  ran  into 
Mount  Morris  on  November  12,  1871,  and  Forreston,  Northwestern  Ogle  County, 
on  the  28th.    There  connection  was  made  with  the  Illinois  Central. 

The  Chicago  &  Iowa  Railroad  continued  to  be  operated  as  built  for  seven- 
teen years,  except  that  its  headquarters  were  moved  to  Rochelle.  Eventually 
through  a  receiver's  hands,  it  passed  to  the  ownership  of  the  Chicago,  Bur- 
lington &  Quincy  Railroad  Company.  In  1885,  a  new  organization,  the  Burling- 
ton &  Northern  Railroad  Company,  leased  the  Chicago  &  Iowa  Railroad  and, 
beginning  at  Oregon,  built  the  line  west  to  Savanna  as  originally  projected; 
thence  it  was  extended  north  to  La  Crosse,  whence,  by  further  leasing,  through 
trains  were  run  from  Chicago  to  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis.  The  Chicago  & 
Iowa  had  also  leased  a  line  of  road  extending  from  Flagg  Center,  just  west  of 
Rochelle,  to  Rockford,  which  had  been  built  by  the  Chicago,  Rockford  &  North- 
ern Railroad  Company.  All  these  lines  were  absorbed  by  the  Chicago,  Burling- 
ton &  Quincy  Railroad  Company. 

In  1869,  the  Sterling  branch  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Rail- 
road was  built  from  Sterling  to  Rock  Island.  Although  the  original  company 
was  chartered  and  organized  in  1854,  most  of  its  officials  residing  in  Sterling, 
the  panic  of  1857,  the  Civil  war  and  other  disturbances  so  interfered  with 
its  construction  that  it  was  not  completed  until  fifteen  years  after  its  projec- 
tion. The  organization  which  built  it  was  known  as  the  Rockford,  Rock  Island 
&  St.  Louis  Railroad  Company,  afterward  reorganized  and  incorporated  as 
the  St.  Louis,  Rock  Island  &  Chicago  Railroad.  The  line  was  leased  in  1876 
by  the  Burlington  road  and  not  long  afterward  became  a  part  of  the  system. 

The  most  important  section  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  system,  as  it 
relates  to  the  Rock  River  Valley,  is  its  Freeport  division.  It  was  constructed 
under  a  charter  granted  to  the  Chicago,  Madison  &  Northern  Railroad,  and 
opened  for  traffic  in  1888.     It  was  transferred  to  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 


OrENING  OF  THE  HENNEPIN  CANAL  AT  ROCK  FALLS,  1907 
Government  boat  "Rambler"  enters  the  locks 


inch    the    courtesy    of    the    Rork    Island    Arsenal) 

REMAINS    OF    FIRST    Mississippi    RIVER    BRIDGE 

The  island  pier  of  the  bridge,  built   by  the  present  Chicago,  Rock  Island  ifc   Pacific  Railroad 

Company,  from  Rock  Island  to  Davenport  in  1856. 


230  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Company  in  January  of  the  following  year.  The  line  extends  from  Chicago, 
by  way  of  Freeport,  to  Madison,  and  140  miles  of  the  road  are  in  Illinois.  As 
originally  planned,  the  main  line  of  the  Illinois  Central  was  completed  from 
Cairo  to  La  Salle  in  1855 ;  in  the  same  year  the  road  was  finished  from  La  Salle 
to  Dunleith  (now  East  Dubuque).  It  is  somewhat  of  a  coincidence  that  busi- 
ness on  the  Dixon  Air  Line  and  the  Illinois  Central  at  Dixon — the  former 
designed  by  the  Chicago  railroad  builders  to  tap  the  upper  Rock  River  Valley 
east  and  west,  and  the  latter,  north  and  south — should  have  commenced  within 
a  few  days  of  each  other.  The  first  business  done  in  the  receipt  and  shipment 
of  freight  at  that  point  over  the  Dixon  Air  Line  Railroad  was  about  February 
10,  1855,  five  days  before  that  branch  of  business  was  commenced  at  the  Illinois 
Central  depot.  It  may  be  added  that  what  was  then  considered  a  "beautiful" 
iron  bridge  was  completed  by  the  Illinois  Central  at  Dixon  on  January  1,  1855, 
the  last  rail  being  laid  upon  it  in  the  midst  of  a  furious  northwest  snowstorm 
which  had  been  raging  that  day. 

Rock  Island,  Moline  and  Davenport  are  closely  bound  by  various  lines  of 
railroad  and  other  means  of  communication,  and  hundreds  of  their  incorpo- 
rated companies  bear  the  title  of  Tri-City.  Before  the  railroads  and  street 
cars  could  bind  them,  of  course  the  bridges  across  the  Mississippi  had  to  be 
built.  Only  about  two  weeks  after  the  first  wooden  bridge  was  opened  from 
Rock  Island  to  Davenport  and  the  pioneer  Chicago  &  Rock  Island  train  crossed 
to  the  Iowa  side  of  the  river,  the  steamer  Effie  Afton  bound  down  stream 
crashed  against  the  central  pier,  burned  to  the  water's  edge  and  set  fire  to 
the  bridge.  It  was  repaired,  but  was  never  a  popular  structure  with  the 
steamboat  men  and  lumber  raftsmen,  who  considered  it  rather  in  the  light  of 
a  hindrance  to  navigation  than  as  a  help  to  transportation  by  land.  In  1868, 
the  ice  played  havoc  with  the  bridge,  and  work  was  commenced  on  a  steel 
bridge  to  be  constructed  from  the  western  end  of  the  Island  to  Davenport. 
It  was  built  jointly  by  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Railroad  Company 
and  the  War  Department,  and  completed  in  February,  1872.  Originally,  the 
bridge  was  intended  for  use  in  the  transaction  of  government  business  only, 
and  not  as  a  thoroughfare  between  the  Illinois  and  Iowa  shores;  but  the  more 
liberal  policy  prevailed,  and  soon  after  the  completed  work  was  turned  over 
to  the  War  Department,  Captain  D.  W.  Flagler,  then  the  commandant  at  Rock 
Island  Arsenal,  threw  the  bridge  open  to  the  public.  This  second  bridge  was 
1,550  feet  long,  five  spans  and  draw,  and  cost  about  $1,000,000.  It  was  a  double 
deck,  two-track  bridge,  with  footpaths  on  the  sides  below,  the  same  as  the  bridge 
of  today  completed  in  1895. 

The  old  pier  of  the  original  bridge  on  the  Illinois  side,  which  had  been 
crumbling  away,  was  finally  bound  together  with  cement,  and  a  metal  tablet 
placed  upon  it,  the  structure  being  thus  preserved  as  a  memorial  of  the  first 
bridge  to  be  thrown  across  the  Mississippi. 

The  first  bridge  connecting  the  Island  with  the  City  of  Rock  Island  was 
a  wooden  affair  and  belonged  to  the  municipality.  This  the  Government  bought 
soon  after  the  construction  of  the  arsenal  wras  begun  in  1863.  In  the  spring 
of  1868  the  bridge  was  carried  away  by  the  ice  and  was  succeeded,  as  soon 
as  an  appropriation  for  the  purpose  could  be  secured,  by  one  of  steel.  Moline 
owned  the  original  bridge  connecting  the  city  with  the  Island.     The  Govern- 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  231 

ment  bought  this  in  1868,  and  replaced  it  with  the  present  steel  bridge  in  1873. 
The  railroad  and  street  railway  bridges  from  the  Island  to  the  Illinois  shore 
are  under  the  control  of,  though  not  built  by  the  Government. 

The  year  1868  is  marked  as  the  commencement  of  the  bridge  construction 
era  which,  with  the  building  of  the  street  railways,  has  resulted  in  making 
three  huge  and  growing  cities  one  great  community  so  far  as  cooperation  of 
vital  interests  is  concerned.  What  matters  it  that  two  of  these  municipalities 
are  in  Illinois  and  one  in  Iowa?  The  initial  move  in  the  founding  of  a  street 
railway  system  embracing  the  three  cities  was  made  by  Rock  Island  and  Moline 
in  March,  also  of  1868.  The  City  Council  of  Rock  Island  and  the  Village  Board 
of  Moline,  on  the  24th  and  25th  of  that  month,  granted  certain  franchises  to 
the  Moline  and  Rock  Island  Horse  Railway  Company  by  which  construction 
work  on  a  line  between  these  two  places  should  commence  within  one  year. 
It  is  of  record  that  this  four  mile  line  of  crescent-shaped  rails  was  being 
operated  by  a  lone  horse  and  a  human  companion  within  two  years.  In  winter, 
the  passengers  stamped  their  feet  in  the  straw  to  keep  them  warm  and  were 
convinced  that  their  world  was  progressing.  Fare,  five  cents  within  either 
corporate  limits,  and  ten,  if  the  passenger  ventured  to  go  beyond.  There  was 
no  competition  until  1885,  when  the  Union  Street  Railway  Company  was  granted 
franchises,  put  on  some  hardy  mules  and  forced  the  rate  of  fare  down  to  five 
cents.  The  competition  brought  a  losing  business  to  each  company,  and  in 
1888  a  Chicago  syndicate  absorbed  and  improved  the  Rock  Island  and  Moline 
lines,  as  well  as  the  street  railways  centering  in  Davenport.  The  processes  of 
purchase,  consolidation  and  extension  of  the  lines  between  the  three  cities  and 
to  their  outlying  territory  are  too  involved  to  be  mentioned  here,  but  eventuated 
in  the  organization  of  the  Tri-City  Railway  Company  in  1895,  which  was  at 
the  foundation  of  the  system  which  has  so  closely  bound  together  the  progres- 
sive municipalities  of  Davenport,  Iowa,  and  Rock  Island  and  Moline,  Illinois. 

Before  the  railroads  got  the  upper  hand  of  all  other  proposed  means  of 
communication  and  transportation  in  the  Rock  River  Valley,  the  navigation 
of  the  parent  stream,  and  travel  by  plank  road,  held  the  attention  of  the  people 
of  Northern  Illinois  for  a  number  of  years.  At  an  early  day,  the  Mississippi 
River  steamboats  occasionally  made  trips  up  the  Rock  River.  In  April,  1838, 
the  steamer  Gipsey  went  up  the  river  as  far  as  Oregon,  to  deliver  a  load  of 
St.  Louis  bacon  consigned  to  Mr.  Phelps  of  that  place.  He  would  not  receive 
the  meat,  and  the  captain  turned  back  and  unloaded  the  bacon  at  Dixon.  At 
intervals,  other  boats  appeared  on  its  waters,  and  in  the  '40s  a  movement  was 
gaining  headway  to  ask  Congress  for  a  grant  of  unsold  lands  to  be  applied  to 
the  improvement  of  the  river.  One  of  the  first  meetings  with  that  object  in 
view  was  that  held  at  Rockford,  on  January  11,  1840,  but  nothing  practical 
developed  from  the  action  of  the  convention.  But  the  agitation  was  continued, 
and  on  February  28,  1844,  the  Rockford  Forum  created  some  excitement  among 
those  still  interested  in  the  movement  by  announcing  that  the  steamboat  Lighter 
from  St.  Louis  would  ascend  Rock  River  on  the  opening  of  navigation  in  the 
spring.  Patronage  was  solicited,  and  the  Forum  advised  citizens  to  make 
exchanges  of  grain  for  provisions.  The  Lighter  arrived  in  Rockford  in  the 
latter  part  of  June,  and  in  the  following  month  extended  its  trip  as  far  north 
as  Janesville,   Wisconsin. 


232  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

The  visit  of  this  steamboat  to  various  points  in  the  upper  Rock  River 
Valley  renewed  the  interest  in  the  improvement  of  its  navigable  waters,  and 
on  July  13,  1844,  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  courthouse  in  Rockford  to  con- 
sider the  subject.  Committees  were  appointed  and  resolutions  adopted,  and 
on  November  22nd  of  that  year  a  river  convention  was  held  at  Sterling,  in 
the  lower  valley.  How  near  the  revived  project  to  make  the  Rock  River  a 
navigable  interstate  waterway  succeeded  is  thus  told  by  Charles  A.  Church 
in  his  "History  of  Winnebago  County":  "William  Pollock,  who  had  been 
employed  to  make  a  survey,  presented  a  report  (to  the  Sterling  convention 
of  1844).  He  stated  that  he  had  made  an  examination  of  Rock  River  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Pecatonica  to  Sterling,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  miles,  and 
estimated  that  the  total  cost  of  removing  all  obstructions  between  these  points 
at  $4,366.75.  This  was  an  insignificant  sum  and  was  probably  far  below  what 
the  actual  cost  would  have  been.  The  General  Government  had  done  noth- 
ing in  response  to  the  petition  sent  in  1840,  and  the  assistance  of  the  State 
Legislature  was  invoked.  On  February  25,  1845,  an  act  was  approved  for  the 
improvement  of  Rock  River.  Duncan  Ferguson,  of  Winnebago,  John  Dixon, 
of  Lee,  Spooner  Ruggles  and  William  W.  Fuller,  of  Ogle,  and  Theodore  Winn, 
of  Whiteside,  and  their  successors,  were  made  a  body  politic  and  corporate 
under  the  name  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  for  the  improvement  of  the 
navigation  of  Rock  River.  For  the  purpose  of  creating  a  fund  for  making 
these  improvements,  it  was  provided  that  a  tax  should  be  levied  for  the  year 
1845,  of  seven  and  one-half  mills  on  every  dollar's  worth  of  assessable  per- 
sonal property  in  Winnebago,  Ogle  and  Lee  counties. 

"In  October,  1845,  operations  were  actually  begun  at  Rockford,  under  the 
direction  of  Alonzo  Hall.  A  cofferdam  about  fifty  feet  wide  was  built  through 
the  rapids.  A  wheel  at  the  lower  end,  propelled  by  the  current,  baled  out 
the  water.  A  steamboat  channel  was  excavated  in  the  autumn  and  winter 
and  the  rock  piled  outside  the  dam.  The  improvement  ruined  the  ford,  and 
was  absolutely  useless  for  navigation,  as  the  rapids  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
in  ordinary  stages  of  water  would  not  float  a  steamer.  Similar  attempts  at 
improvements  were  made  in  the  other  counties  during  the  year.  The  money 
which  remained  in  hand  after  these  expenditures  was  to  be  refunded  pro  rata, 
as  provided  by  law,  to  the  counties  from  which  it  had  been  collected." 

The  next  proposal  of  those  who  championed  the  improvement  of  the  Rock 
River  smacked  of  audacity.  On  January  1-2,  1846,  a  ship  canal  convention 
was  held  in  Rockford.  The  delegates  representing  Northern  Illinois  and  South- 
ern Wisconsin  adopted  a  memorial  to  Congress  praying  for  the  construction 
of  a  ship  canal  connecting  the  Great  Lakes  with  the  navigable  waters  of  the 
Rock  River.  But  the  bold  project  was  dropped,  revived  nearly  twenty  years 
later  and  finally,  with  the  permanent  coming  of  the  railroads,  died  a  natural 
death. 

This  seemed  an  especially  bold  proposition  for  the  people  of  the  upper  Rock 
River  Valley  to  make,  as  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  was  a  tangible  enter- 
prise at  that  time,  much  money  had  been  expended  upon  it  and  practical 
progress  made.  When  the  canal  was  opened  for  navigation  in  April,  1848,  the 
outlay  on  that  public  work  had  exceeded  $6,000,000;  a  large  sum  for  those 
small  days. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  233 

Very  soon  after  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  commenced  to  draw  the 
products  of  the  rich  Illinois  Valley  into  the  elevators  and  commission  houses 
til"  Chicago,  a  State-wide  movement  commenced  in  the  building  of  plank  roads. 
Not  only  the  Illinois  Valley,  but  the  valleys  of  the  Fox  and  Rock  rivers  awoke 
to  the  importance  of  providing  comparatively  easy  routes  of  transportation 
and  travel  afforded  by  these  new  wooden  ways.  Finally  the  demand  became 
so  insistent  and  widespread  that  the  Illinois  Legislature,  in  February,  1849, 
passed  a  general  law  for  the  construction  of  plank  roads.  Soon  Chicago  was 
the  hub  of  a  gigantic  wheel,  the  spokes  of  which  were  hundreds  of  plank 
roads  radiating  in  every  direction  except  into  Lake  Michigan.  They  became 
not  only  feeders  by  which  the  farmers  were  easily  drawing  their  crops  to 
market,  but  pleasure  drives  and  forerunners  of  the  great  trunk  lines  of  cement 
which  accommodate  the  autos  of  today.  In  the  Rock  River  Valley,  Freeport, 
Rockford  and  other  points  in  the  upper  district,  were  especially  active  in  the 
extension  of  plank  roads  in  every  direction. 

As  stated  by  a  thoughtful  writer  on  the  subject  of  the  Illinois  plank  roads : 
"The  period  considered  is  from  1848,  the  date  of  their  first  inception,  until 
the  railroad  relegated  them  to  a  secondary  factor.  In  their  first  function,  the 
plank  roads  were  the  main  through  routes  from  the  back  country  to  Chicago. 
Later,  railroads  usurped  this  through  traffic  and  plank  road  stock  went  below 
par.     From  this  time  the  function  of  plank  roads  was  not  to  furnish  through 

transportation  routes,  but  to  serve  as  branch  lines  to  the  railroads  and  the  canal. 

#     #     # 

"The  use  of  the  plank  roads  in  this  secondary  phase  may  best  be  illustrated 
by  the  consideration  of  those  running  into  Freeport.  This  town,  with  rail- 
road connections  to  Chicago  once  established,  began  the  building  of  plank 
roads  out  into  the  surrounding  country.  One  was  built  by  the  way  of  Cedar- 
ville  and  Oneco  to  Monroe,  in  Green  County,  Wisconsin.  Other  routes  were 
to  Rock  Run  and  North  Grove,  and  still  another  to  the  mills  on  Yellow  Creek. 
These  roads  connected  the  territory  within  a  radius  of  thirty  miles  of  Free- 
port  with  a  cash  market.  This  territory,  too,  like  that  immediately  adjacent 
to  Chicago,  was  enhanced  in  value." 

Wisconsin  did  not  lag  behind  Illinois  in  the  plank  road  fever;  Milwaukee 
being  the  hub  of  the  Badger  State,  Beloit,  Janesville  and  Madison  were  soon 
in  smooth  communication  with  the  Cream  City,  and  the  rich  agricultural  dis- 
tricts of  Southern  Wisconsin  poured  their  riches  into  Milwaukee. 

For  the  information  of  those  whose  memory  runneth  not  back  to  the  times 
of  the  resounding  plank  roads  of  Wisconsin  or  Illinois,  the  following  is  re- 
produced from  the  files  of  an  old  Niles  Register  and  will"  apply  to  the  typical 
wooden  way  of  the  Northwest:  "The  roads  are  constructed  with  either  a 
single  or  a  double  track.  The  single  track  is  eight  feet  wide  with  plank,  and 
as  much  more  without  it,  upon  which  wagons  may  turn  out.  The  whole  (six- 
teen feet)  is  graded  at  the  rate  of  about  six  hundred  feet  to  the  mile,  or  one 
foot  in  twelve.  The  road  being  first  covered  with  clay  spread  evenly  over  it, 
sills  are  laid  down  at  the  sides,  and  the  ends  of  the  planks  are  made  to  rest 
upon  these,  and  at  the  same  time  also  upon  the  clay  of  the  intervening  road. 
The  ends  of  the  planks  are  not  pinned  or  fastened  in  any  way  whatever,  care 
only  being  taken  that  they  shall  not  lie  in  a  straight  line  upon  the  sills,  but 


234  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

irregularly,  so  as  to  give  a  better  hold  to  wagons  coming  from  the  clay  on  the 
plank  roads.  There  is  also  a  good  ditch  at  each  side  of  the  road  so  as  to  drain 
it  well." 

When  the  first  plank  roads  were  being  built  out  of  Chicago  and  Milwaukee 
and  from  a  few  points  in  the  Rock  River  Valley,  Frink  &  Walker's  line  of 
stages  comprised  the  only  extensive  transportation  system  in  Illinois.  Its 
route  from  Rock  Island  was  up  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Mississippi  to  Albany, 
Whiteside  County,  thence  east  to  Dixon  and  Chicago,  the  headquarters  of  the 
'  line ;  from  Chicago,  in  a  southwesterly  direction  to  Bloomington,  and  thence 
in  the  same  general  direction  to  St.  Louis.  As  John  Deere,  the  plow  man  used 
to  say,  "If  you  were  going  to  St.  Louis,  you  must  go  by  way  of  Michilli- 
mackinac. "  The  stage  departed  from  Rock  Island  via  Moline,  each  morning, 
returning  each  night  when  the  condition  of  the  roads  was  in  fairly  good  order ; 
when  bad,  very  uncertain.  Time  to  Chicago,  on  good  roads,  about  thirty  hours ; 
to  St.  Louis,  forty  to  forty-eight. 

It  has  become  evident  that  the  building  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal 
and  the  plank  roads  of  the  State  were  more  for  the  benefit  of  Chicago  than 
of  the  Rock  River  Valley.  But  many  years  afterward  an  enterprise  was  con- 
ceived and  executed  by  which  the  Great  Lakes  were  connected  through  the 
lower  Rock  River  Valley  with  the  Mississippi.  The  link  which  brought  these 
mighty  waters  together  was  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  Canal,  generally  known 
as  the  Hennepin  Canal.  The  old  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  had  its  western 
terminus  at  La  Salle,  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Illinois  River,  which  took 
a  swing  far  to  the  south  before  it  joined  the  Mississippi.  It  was  to  construct 
a  direct  waterway  to  the  Mississippi  from  the  point  where  the  Illinois  makes 
its  first  decided  bend  toward  the  south  that  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  Canal 
was  projected  and  assumed  tangible  form  more  than  fifty  years  ago.  As  formally 
opened  in  1907,  it  had  a  length  of  seventy-five  miles  from  its  eastern  terminus, 
a  short  distance  above  the  town  of  Hennepin,  Putnam  County,  to  its  outlet 
into  the  Mississippi  at  Milan,  Rock  Island  County,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Rock 
River.  The  feeder  of  the  Hennepin  Canal  starts  just  east  of  Rock  Falls,  White- 
side County,  and  runs  almost  south,  joining  the  main  channel  in  Bureau  County, 
a  distance  of  more  than  twenty-nine  miles. 

It  is  claimed  that  the  originators  of  the  plan  to  build  the  Hennepin  cut-off 
were  Major  James  M.  Allan,  of  Geneseo,  Henry  County,  and  L.  D.  Whiting  and 
John  H.  Bryant,  of  Bureau  County.  A  canal  convention  was  held  in  Sawyer's 
Hall,  Geneseo,  followed  by  meetings  at  Dixon,  Sterling  and  other  interested 
towns.  The  scheme  was  finally  presented  both  at  Springfield  and  Washington 
and  a  preliminary  survey  of  the  route  was  made  as  early  as  1871.  But  such 
innovations  move  slowly,  especially  when  they  have  to  depend  on  Congress  for 
funds  to  further  them.  Thomas  J.  Henderson,  representative  in  the  lower 
house  of  that  body,  resided  in  Princeton,  Bureau  County,  designated  as  the 
eastern  terminus  of  the  canal,  and  naturally  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  project. 
Largely  through  his  able  efforts,  Congress  made  its  first  appropriation  of  $500,- 
000  for  the  construction  of  the  canal,  and  another  half  a  million  dollars  was 
appropriated  in  1892. 

Excavation  was  begun  at  Milan,  in  July,  1892,  when  Captain  L.  L.  Wheeler, 
civil  engineer  in  charge  of  the  work,  turned  the  first  sod  with  a  spade  which 


THE  HOCK  RIVER  VALLEY  235 

was  afterward  deposited  in  the  museum  of  the  Historical  Society  at  Daven- 
port. Congress  made  another  appropriation  to  further  the  work  in  1894,  and 
m  the  following  year  citizens  of  Rock  Island,  Davenport,  Moline  and  Milan 
joined  in  a  monster  celebration  in  honor  of  the  dedication  of  the  canal.  Then 
tame  the  important  consideration  of  an  adequate  feeder  from  Rock  River,  in 
order  to  maintain  a  suitable  stage  of  water  in  the  canal  proper.  Dixon  and 
Sterling  both  put  in  a  claim  for  the  terminus  of  the  feeder,  but  were  informed 
that  the  War  Department  would  be  guided  in  its  decision  by  the  length  of 
the  route  and  economy  of  construction.  The  necessary  funds  were  subscribed 
by  the  citizens  of  Sterling  and  Rock  Falls.  The  survey,  which  was  soon  made, 
showed  that  the  route  from  Rock  Falls  was  not  only  eleven  miles  shorter  than 
from  Dixon,  but  that  numerous  expensive  items  could  be  avoided  by  adopting 
the  former.  Rock  Falls  therefore  secured  the  contract  in  1896,  and  two  years 
later  Congress  appropriated  more  than  $2,300,000  to  push  the  work  both  on 
the  feeder  and  the  canal  proper. 

As  the  undertaking  approached  completion  in  1907,  preparations  began 
months  ahead  to  celebrate  the  event.  Milan,  the  western  terminus,  inaugurated 
the  gala  days  on  October  21,  1907,  but  the  grand  celebration  was  held  at  Rock 
Falls,  on  the  24th,  when  the  water  from  Rock  River  was  turned  into  the  feeder 
and  poured  southward  to  maintain  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Hennepin  Canal. 
Sterling,  Rock  Falls,  Dixon  and  the  country  for  many  miles  around,  poured 
their  good  citizens  toward  the  center  of  attraction,  and  governors  and  con- 
gressmen, government  engineers  and  those  prominent  in  waterway  projects, 
as  well  as  leading  officials  of  railroads  and  commercial  and  industrial  organ- 
izations, lent  their  presence  to  make  the  occasion  lively  and  impressive.  Parades 
and  pageants,  both  by  land  and  water,  eloquent  orators  from  Minnesota,  Iowa 
and  Illinois,  and  an  enthusiastic  outpouring  of  people  from  the  Illinois  and 
Rock  River  valleys,  testified  to  the  satisfaction  experienced  in  the  successful 
culmination  of  ceaseless  and  w7ell-directed  efforts  toward  a  great  undertaking. 
No  personality  attracted  more  affectionate  admiration  than  that  of  General 
Thomas  J.  Henderson,  the  venerable  ex-congressman,  then  nearing  the  end  of 
his  long  and  faithful  life.  Said  a  spectator  of  the  canal  celebration  at  Rock 
Falls:  "When  General  Thomas  J.  Henderson  arose,  still  vigorous  at  eighty- 
two,  voice  little  impaired  by  time,  he  was  easily  the  most  impressive  and  his- 
toric figure  of  the  day.  He  reviewed  his  long  struggle  in  the  House  for  the 
Hennepin  project,  and  maintained  that  the  time  had  come  when  canals  were 
imperative  improvements,  and  that  the  Government  owed  their  construction  and 
support  to  the  people." 

Doubtless  both  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  and  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi 
canals  have  played  their  good  part  in  the  development  of  the  Illinois  and  Rock 
River  valleys,  but  waterways  have,  for  all-around  purposes,  been  replaced  by 
the  ways  of  iron,  just  as  the  plank  roads  have  disappeared  in  favor  of  the 
all-pervading  thoroughfares  of  cement.  In  this  connection,  the  story  of  the 
growth  of  the  great  systems  of  railroad  has  been  told  in  their  special  connec- 
tion with  the  Rock  River  Valley.  Of  late  years  other  systems  of  transporta- 
tion and  communication  have  been  introduced  to  benefit  the  restless,  enter- 
prising and  time-saving  people  of  Northern  Illinois  and  Southern  Wisconsin. 

The  past,  decade  covers  the  period  of  greatest  progress  in  the  construction 


236  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

of  paved  roads  throughout  the  middle  West.  It  corresponds  to  the  era  of 
plank  roads  following  substantially  the  year  1848.  But  plank  roads  were  too 
ephemeral  and  loosely  constructed  to  last  and,  although  they  answered  a  good 
temporary  purpose  and  helped  the  interior  districts  and  towns  before  the  rail- 
roads were  fairly  planted,  and  while  the  status  of  the  waterways  was  unsettled, 
they  did  little  to  permanently  develop  the  country.  The  rapidly  expanding 
systems  of  hard  paved  roads  are  of  immeasurable  value,  in  close  touch  with 
the  great  routes  of  railroads  and  interurban  travel. 

Illinois,  especially,  has  taken  the  lead  of  all  the  States  of  the  Union  in  the 
construction  of  high-type,  durable,  hard-surfaced  roads.  During  1922,  the 
State  broke  the  world's  record  for  the  amount  of  paved  roads  completed.  In 
that  year,  722  miles  of  such  thoroughfares  were  finished,  either  directly  by 
the  State,  or  under  the  immediate  jurisdiction  of  the  Department  of  Public 
Works  and  Buildings.  On  August  1,  1923,  when  the  records  for  the  biennial 
Blue  Book  were  closed,  500  miles  of  paved  roads  had  already  been  completed. 
At  that  time,  there  had  been  finished  2,100  miles  of  the  State  bond  issue  sys- 
tem. This  class  of  roads  has  been  financed  by  means  of  Federal  aid  appro- 
priations, surplus  automobile  fees  and  proceeds  from  the  $60,000,000  bond  issue 
which  was  voted  by  the  people  of  Illinois  in  November,  1918.  In  this  con- 
nection, it  is  important  to  note  that  not  a  bond  has  been  sold  nor  a  cent  of 
interest  paid  until  the  money  was  needed  for  actual  construction.  A  bill  for 
another  bond  issue  of  $100,000,000  was  signed  by  the  Governor  in  June,  1923, 
and  approved  by  the  people  at  the  general  election  of  1924.  Before  this  second 
issue  was  ratified  by  the  voters  of  the  State,  Frank  T.  Sheets,  State  superin- 
tendent of  highways,  said:  "The  wisdom  of  road  bonds  has  been  shown  by 
the  $60,000,000  bond  issue.  Had  this  proposition  not  been  passed,  Illinois  would 
still  be  floundering  in  the  mud,  with  no  hope  for  the  future  and  no  definite 
plan  of  procedure.  The  proposed  $100,000,000  bond  issue  will  set  up  a  definite 
system  of  highways,  it  will  ensure  their  early  completion,  and  it  will  ensure 
a  definite  and  continuous  constructive  policy  in  the  use  of  the  automobile 
license  fees.  These  roads,  as  outlined  in  this  law,  will  carry  95  per  cent  of 
the  traffic  of  the  State,  and  95  per  cent  of  the  people  will  be  within  five  miles 
of  this  system." 

For  the  information  of  automobilists  who  are  not  already  posted,  it  may 
be  added  that  under  the  act  providing  for  the  $100,000,000  issue  to  expand 
the  highway  system  of  the  State,  it  is  stipulated  that,  unless  engineering  prob- 
lems make  it  clearly  impracticable,  contracts  shall  first  be  awarded  for  the 
completion  of  routes  1  to  46,  inclusive,  provided  for  in  the  $60,000,000  bond 
issue  act,  and  after  that,  routes  47  to  185,  inclusive,  outlined  in  the  new  act 
shall  be  paved. 

A  comparison  of  the  official  construction  map  issued  by  the  State  Division 
of  Highways  in  January,  1921,  with  that  published  in  August,  1923,  is  a  tell- 
ing exhibit.  It  indicates,  as  in  the  olden  days  of  the  loosely  built  plank  roads, 
the  construction  of  numerous  trunk  systems  of  permanent  highways  from  Chi- 
cago westward  down  the  Illinois  Valley,  and  farther  north,  to  the  Mississippi 
River.  In  1921,  the  map  shows  the  Lincoln  Highway  as  passing  from  Chicago, 
through  Du  Page,  Kane  and  De  Kalb,  into  Lee  and  Whiteside,  by  way  of  Dixon, 
Sterling  and  Morrison,   Avith  a  section  of  the   Midland   Trail,   farther   north, 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  237 

built  from  Belvidere,  Boone  County,  to  Rockford,  Winnebago.  In  1923,  the 
Midland  Trail  had  been  built  from  Chicago,  through  Cook  County,  North- 
eastern Kane  and  Southwestern  McIIenry,  Boone,  Winnebago  and  Stephenson 
counties,  by  way  of  Belvidere,  Rockford  and  Freeport.  Jt  was  afterward  ex- 
tended to  the  .Mississippi,  through  Jo  Daviess,  via  Galena  and  East  Dubuque. 
What  is  known  as  the  Southwest  Trail  from  Chicago  had  also  been  built,  in 
L923,  from  Peru  to  Rock  Island,  through  Bureau,  Henry  and  Rock  Island 
counties,  substantially  along  the  line  of  the  Hennepin  Canal.  Subsequently, 
the  great  north  and  south  highway,  known  as  the  Meridian  Highway,  was 
projected  from  La  Salle,  in  the  Illinois  Valley,  into  Wisconsin,  by  way  of  the 
Bock  River  Valley,  through  Rochelle,  Rockford  and  Rockton.  It  followed  the 
Third  Principal  Meridian,  substantially  parallel  with  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road, to  La  Salle.  At  this  point,  where  the  railroad  swerves  to  the  northwest, 
the  Meridian  Highway  continues  its  course  due  north  and  a  short  distance 
easl  of  the  longitudinal  parallel  which  marks  its  general  route. 

Thus  the  means  of  transportation  and  communication  enjoyed  by  the  Rock 
River  Valley  are  enhanced  by  three  trunk  lines  of  hard-surfaced,  finely  built 
roads,  one  passing  through  it  from  north  to  south,  and  three  other  lines  from 
east  to  west.  The  Midland  Trail  is  the  northernmost  of  the  east  and  west 
routes;  the  Lincoln  Highway  passes  through  the  central  comities  of  the  valley, 
and  the  Southwest  Trail  is  routed  through  the  lower  valley. 

Wisconsin  also  has  a  remarkably  elastic  and  progressive  system  of  high- 
ways,  aided  by  the  National  government,  the  State  and  the  counties.  Their 
improvement  is  closely  cooperative.  The  county  systems  of  prospective  State 
highways  were  partly  selected  by  the  counties  operating  under  the  county  aid 
laws  of  1907  and  partly  under  the  State  aid  law  of  1911,  which  required  the 
counties  that  had  not  selected  their  systems  to  make  such  choice.  At  first 
these  systems  were  limited  to  fifteen  per  cent  of  the  road  mileage  of  the  county, 
and  required  to  begin  at  the  corporate  limits  of  the  county  seats  and  other 
market  towns  and  railroad  stations  and  include  the  main-traveled  roads  leading 
into  each  town.  Changes  and  additions  may  be  made  by  resolution  of  the 
county  board,  or  by  petition  of  one  hundred  freeholders.  In  either  case,  the 
change  must  be  approved  by  the  State  Highway  Commission. 

Improvements  with  State  aid  are  limited  to  roads  in  this  system  and,  after 
having  been  so  improved,  the  roads  must  be  maintained  by  the  county.  The 
county  may  also  adopt  other  roads  as  State  highways  provided  they  have  been 
improved  with  stone  or  gravel  and  are  in  good  repair.  The  total  mileage  of 
roads  included  in  the  county  systems  is  estimated  to  be  about  22,000  miles. 

The  State  Trunk  Highway  System  was  originally  laid  out  in  1917  to  con- 
nect all  county  seats  and  cities  with  a  population  of  5,000  or  more.  The  layout 
was  made  jointly  by  the  State  Highway  Commission  and  a  special  committee 
of  the  Legislature  appointed  by  the  governor.  Hearings  were  held  at  the  seat 
of  every  county  in  the  State  preliminary  to  the  layout.  The  system  was  in- 
creased to  7,500  miles  in  1919  and  10,000  miles  in  1923.  The  layout  com- 
mittee of  the  latter  year,  besides  selecting  additions  to  the  State  Trunk  System, 
laid  out  the  Federal  Aid  Highway  System,  to  which  improvements  with  Fed- 
eral aid  are  confined.  Through  the  7  per  cent  limitation  in  the  Federal  act, 
this  system  in  Wisconsin  is  limited  to  5,496  miles. 


238  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Substantially,  the  10,000  miles  of  the  most  important  roads  on  the  county 
systems  are  also  State  trunk  highways,  and  as  it  is  a  requirement  of  law  that 
the  Federal  Aid  highways  shall  be  portions  of  the  State  Trunk  Highway  Sys- 
tem, it  follows  that  nearly  5,500  miles  of  the  leading  State  Trunk  highways 
are  also  Federal  Aid  highways. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  law  which  forbids  a  Federal  Aid  highway  or  a 
State  Trunk  highway  from  being  improved  by  the  county,  or  by  the  local  unit, 
if  either  of  them  so  desire.  A  prospective  State  highway  is  eligible  to  im- 
provement by  the  county,  either  with  aid  from  the  county  or  State.  If  it 
happens  to  be  a  State  Trunk  highway  as  well,  it  is  in  addition  required  to 
be  maintained  by  the  county  and  eligible  to  receive  the  regular  allotment  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  State  Trunk  Highway  System;  and  if  it  happens  to 
be  a  portion  of  the  State  Trunk  Highway  System  which  is  also  a  Federal  Aid 
highway,  it  is  in  addition  eligible  to  improvement  with  Federal  aid. 

Many  of  the  counties  have  selected  what  is  known  as  County  Trunk  high- 
ways. This  has  been  done  under  the  broad,  general  power  of  the  county  to 
construct  or  improve  any  road  or  bridge  within  its  limits.  The  total  mileage 
of  this  class  of  highways  is  about  10,000. 

One  of  the  provisions  of  the  State  Trunk  Highway  law  of  1917  required 
the  State  Trunk  Highway  System  to  be  distinctly  marked  with  some  standard 
design  placed  on  convenient  objects  along  the  routes.  The  design  must  be 
uniform  on  all  parts  of  the  trunk  system  except  that  numbers  shall  occur 
therein  corresponding  with  the  numbers  given  the  various  routes,  which  num- 
bers shall  coincide  with  those  placed  on  the  official  map  or  maps  issued  by  the 
commission.  No  similar  design  is  permitted  for  marking  any  other  routes 
in  Wisconsin. 

Thus  was  inaugurated  in  Wisconsin,  during  1918,  the  system  of  marking 
and  signing  which  has  been  adopted  in  some  of  its  details  by  many  states  of 
the  Union  and  spread  to  some  of  the  foreign  countries.  At  the  time  of  the 
adoption  of  this  system  various  other  methods  of  marking  were  in  use  in  other 
parts  of  the  United  States,  but  none  of  them  was  considered  satisfactory,  as 
they  failed  to  indicate  a  certain  route  to  a  specific  destination. 

In  addition  to  the  number  marking,  there  are  guide  signs  indicating  distance 
and  direction  of  places  along  the  route;  warning  signs  indicating  dangerous 
curves,  steep  hills,  railroad  crossings  and  the  like.  More  recently,  signs 
have  been  placed  giving  the  names  and  population  of  cities  and  villages,  as 
well  as  the  names  of  lakes,  streams  and  other  landmarks,  so  that  automobiling 
is  becoming  not  only  a  pleasure  but  a  continuous  instruction. 

In  Wisconsin,  the  actual  number  of  miles  of  highways  maintained  is  7,500. 
The  State  Highway  Commission  divides  the  State  into  nine  divisions  for  pur- 
poses of  supervision,  of  which  Madison  is  the  headquarters  of  No.  1,  State 
aid  construction  since  1912,  the  year  of  its  inception,  to  January  1,  1924, 
amounted  to  $68,500,000,  and  the  Federal  Government  expended  $23,870,00J 
on  the  highways  of  the  State  from  1917,  the  first  year  of  Federal  aid,  to  the 
same  date. 

Today,  Wisconsin  has  a  State  Trunk  Highway  System  of  10,000  miles, 
of  which  more  than  7,000  miles  are  improved  with  surfacing  and  all  of  which 
are  marked,  signed  and  maintained  by  the  counties  under  the  supervision  of 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


239 


the  State.  An  additional  system  of  10,000  miles  is  maintained  along  similar 
lines  by  the  counties.  The  State  Trunk  Highway  System  is  continuous  over 
the  State  and  the  county  systems  are  coordinated  in  practically  all  instances. 
Trips  of  one  hundred  miles  and  return  are  common.  Three  hundred  mile 
trips  over  highways  in  a  single  day  are  not  unusual,  and  it  is  reported  that 
one  venturesome  spirit  drove  from  Superior  to  the  Illinois  line — a  distance  of 
492  miles,  including  detours — between  sun-up  and  sun-down. 

The  Rock  River  Valley  of  Southeastern  Wisconsin  is  specially  favored  with 
fine  trunks  of  the  State  and  National  highways.  They  branch  westward  from 
the  great  National  Parks  Highway  and  the  Yellowstone  Trail,  following  the 
shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  from  Milwaukee  to  Kenosha,  and  thickly  net  that 
section  of  the  State.  They  cross  the  valley  in  every  direction  and  follow  it 
longitudinally  into  Illinois  to  the  Mississippi.  The  trails  of  the  Indians  and 
the  trappers  were  never  so  numerous  as  the  finished  highways  of  today. 

The  building  of  smooth  and  durable  hard  roads  in  Illinois  and  Wisconsin 
has  brought  about  the  establishment  of  numerous  automobile  lines  connecting 
towns,  cities  and  rural  districts,  and  even  adding  to  the  facilities  previously 
afforded  by  the  interurban  electric  lines.  These  two  avenues  of  travel  and 
close  communication  are  real  domestic  institutions,  and  the  cities,  villages,  towns 
and  countrysides  from  Dane  and  Dodge  counties  on  the  north  to  Henry  and 
Rock  Island  counties,  on  the  south,  are  the  more  prosperous,  satisfied  and  friend- 
ly, because  of  their  activities  and  good  management. 

In  fact,  this  chapter  goes  to  show,  as  a  whole,  that  people  are  prosperous, 
contented  and  happy,  in  so  far  as  they  have  free  latitude  for  their  activities, 
can  periodically  change  their  surroundings,  and  enjoy  healthful  rest  and  recrea- 
tion; in  other  words,  are  provided  with  adequate  means  of  transportation  and 
communication — a  hackneyed  phrase,  but  vital  with  meaning. 


DAM    AND  POWKR  HOUSE,  DIXON 


CHAPTER  X 
THE  RICHES  OP  THE  SOIL 

THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY,  A  HORN  OF  PLENTY — DEVELOPMENTAL   AGENCIES WISCON- 
SIN'S  ENCOURAGEMENT   OF   STATE   FAIRS AGRICULTURAL  WEALTH    OF   THE  ROCK 

RIVER   VALLEY GREAT   CROPS   OF    CORN,    OATS   AND   FODDER THE  LIVE   STOCK   OF 

THE  ROCK  RrVER  VALLEY SOUTHERN   WISCONSIN   AS  THE  RICHEST   DAIRY   COUN- 
TRY   IN    THE    WORLD HISTORY    OF    THE    DAIRY     INDUSTRIES RECLAMATION    OF 

ILLINOIS    OVERFLOWED    LANDS — THE    INLET    SWAMP    PROJECT ATTEMPT    TO    RE- 
STORE HORICON  MARSH  TO  THE  WAYS  OF  NATURE. 

The  Rock  River  Valley  is  a  teeming  horn  of  plenty  throughout  its  entire 
length  and  breadth,  from  the  succulent  pastures  and  great  dairy  herds  of 
Southern  Wisconsin,  along  the  rich  fields  of  corn  and  other  cereals  and  past 
the  fat  beef  cattle  and  sturdy  horses  of  Northwestern  Illinois,  to  the  outpouring 
of  its  great  waters  into  the  mightier  floods  of  the  Mississippi.  It  ramifies  a 
picture  land  based  on  the  substantial  riches  which  have  given  life  and  power 
to  two  of  the  greatest  states  in  the  Union,  and  has  always  been  a  vital  factor 
in  the  development  of  the  basic  riches  of  the  land ;  how  great  and  how  vital 
will  be  told  through  the  medium  of  facts  and  figures,  sponsored  by  the  National 
Government  itself. 

DEVELOPMENTAL  AGENCIES 

The  economic  and  industrial  development  of  the  natural  riches  of  the  Rock 
River  Valley  is  the  result  not  only  of  individual  enterprise,  intelligence  and 
hardihood,  but  of  organized  propaganda  and  measures  devised  and  pushed 
through  the  coordinated  efforts  of  County,  State  and  General  Government. 
As  in  all  the  progressive  states,  the  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  Departments  of 
Agriculture  have  always  been  the  all-pervading  forces  which  have  advanced 
the  interests  of  the  farmer,  the  live  stock  man,  the  dairyman,  the  horticul- 
turist, and  all  others  who  draw  from  the  soil  and  pass  over  its  products  in 
their  many  forms  to  those  engaged  in  other  fields  of  endeavor. 

As  early  as  1839,  the  Illinois  Legislature  passed  an  act  for  the  incorpora- 
tion of  agricultural  societies,  and  one  of  the  first  to  be  organized  under  its 
provisions  was  the  Winnebago  County  Agricultural  Society,  which  was  formed 
in  April,  1841.  The  State  Agricultural  Society  was  organized  in  1853,  and 
in  1872  it  became  the  Illinois  State  Agricultural  Department.  No  one  or- 
ganization has  done  more  to  encourage  practical  education  among  the  farmers 

240 


OLD  TREMONT  HOUSE,  WATERTOWX 
Where  Wisconsin  state  Dairymen  's  Association  Was  Organized 


242  THE  EOCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

and  assist  in  developing-  the  agricultural  resources  of  the  State  than  the  Farmers' 
Institute.  It  was  created  by  an  act  approved  June  24,  1895,  and  its  member- 
ship consists  of  three  delegates  from  each  county  in  the  State  elected  annually 
by  the  Farmers'  Institute  in  such  county.  Its  affairs  are  managed  by  a  Board 
of  Directors  consisting  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  the  pro- 
fessor of  agriculture  in  the  University  of  Illinois  and  the  presidents  of  the 
State  Board  of  Agriculture,  Dairymen's  Association  and  Horticultural  Society, 
ex-officio,  with  one  member  from  each  congressional  district  chosen  by  the  dele- 
gates from  the  district  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  organization.  At  the 
annual  meetings  of  the  State  Institute  the  topics  for  discussion  include  the 
cultivation  of  crops,  the  care  and  breeding  of  domestic  animals,  dairy  hus- 
bandry, horticulture,  farm  drainage,  improvement  of  highways  and  general 
farm  management.  The  farmers'  institutes  of  the  various  counties,  cooperating 
with  the  State  organization,  as  well  as  the  granges,  are  strong,  active  and  educa- 
tional forces  throughout  the  Rock  River  Valley.  The  County  Farm  Improve- 
ment associations  collaborate  with  the  extension  work  of  the  National  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  the  State  Agricultural  College  and  experiment  stations 
for  the  diffusion  of  improved  agricultural  methods  and  practice.  The  Winne- 
bago County  Association,  formed  in  1913,  is  illustrative  of  the  most  advanced 
work  among  the  farmers  of  the  Valley.  It  was  originally  organized  by  leading 
farmers  of  the  county,  with  the  support  of  the  Rockford  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, that  body  financing  the  initial  steps. 

An  idea  of  the  scope  of  work  and  instruction  covered  by  these  organiza- 
tions may  be  given  by  condensing  the  announced  activities  of  the  Winnebago 
County  Farm  Improvement  Association.  They  have  been  devoted  to  soil  testing 
and  surveys,  to  determine  the  needs  and  treatment  required ;  to  combating  hog 
cholera,  which  has  become  much  less  prevalent;  to  encourage  the  pulveriza- 
tion and  application  of  local  lime  rock  to  correct  acidity  of  the  soil  and  aid 
the  growing  of  clover  and  alfalfa;  the  building  of  silos;  to  the  practice  of 
treating  oats  for  smut  and  testing  corn  for  seed;  to  better  conditions  in  farm 
leases;  to  organize  breeders  of  live  stock  and  dairymen  for  the  encouragement 
of  their  industries;  encouragement  of  community  betterment;  to  suggest  pro- 
visions for  the  more  equitable  handling  of  farm  credits,  both  in  the  purchase  of 
land  and  live  stock,  and  improved  equipment  for  operating  the  farms.  The 
foregoing  are  but  a  few  of  the  main  features  included  in  the  working  pro- 
gramme of  the  Farm  Improvement  associations,  but  are  enough  to  indicate 
that  the  agricultural  communities  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  are  much  indebted 
to  them  for  their  practical,  economical  and  industrial  advancement. 

The  work  accomplished  by  the  Wisconsin  Department  of  Agriculture  has 
made  the  state  famous.  It  was  reorganized  and  consolidated  in  1915,  the  leg- 
islative act  of  that  year  bringing  into  one  organization  all  the  activities  pre- 
viously exercised  by  the  commissioner  of  agriculture  and  all  other  officials  and 
agencies  whose  functions  were  directed  toward  the  promotion  of  agriculture. 
The  department  was  at  first  organized  into  seven  boards  and  two  divisions  have 
since  been  added.  The  live  stock  division  leads  the  country  in  accredited  herds 
and  pure  bred  stallions.  The  department  has  hog  cholera  under  safe  control; 
it  has  eradicated  scale  for  fruit  growers,  and  harmful  weeds  have  been  almost 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  243 

driven  from  its  soil.     In  fact,  the  war  against  insect   and  plant  diseases  has 
been  ceaseless  and  effective. 

Wisconsin's  i:\couragement  of  state  fairs 

Wisconsin  has  taken  a  commanding  lead  in  its  generous  aid  to  state  and 
county  fairs.  Its  State  Agricultural  Society,  which,  as  in  Illinois,  was  the 
father  of  the  Wisconsin  Department  of  Agriculture,  was  organized  in  March, 
1851,  and  the  first  State  Fair  was  held  in  Janesville,  during  October  of  that 
year.  County  fairs  had  been  held  in  Kenosha  and  Walworth  counties  during 
the  previous  year.  In  1850-55,  county  fairs  were  also  held  in  Jefferson  County, 
at  Fort  Atkinson.  The  pioneer  State  Fair  held  at  Janesville  in  1851  was 
operated  on  six  acres  of  ground,  devoid  of  buildings,  but  inclosed  by  a  high 
board  fence.  The  chief  feature  of  the  fair  was  a  ploughing  match,  won  on 
the  second  day  by  J.  M.  Hay,  of  Janesville,  who  plowed  three-quarters  of  an 
acre  in  twenty-six  minutes.  The  proceedings  covered  two  days,  with  an  at- 
tendance of  13,000.  The  entries  numbered  461;  receipts,  $570;  premiums, 
$140;  other  expenses,  $371.82;  leaving  a  balance  of  $58.18. 

For  thirty  years,  the  Wisconsin  State  Fair  was  held  at  Janesville,  Madison 
and  Watcrtown,  all  in  the  Rock  River  Valley,  the  Civil  war  only  interfering 
with  its  regular  sessions.  Since  1886,  it  has  been  held  at  Milwaukee ;  the  re- 
ceipts of  the  1922  fair  amounted  to  $177,000.  During  the  latter  year,  the 
Dane  County  fair  at  Madison  realized  over  $39,000;  the  Dodge  County  fair 
at  Beaver  Dam,  $40,000;  the  Jefferson  County  fair,  at  Watertown,  $16,000; 
and  the  Roek  County  fairs,  at  Janesville  and  Evansville,  $55,000  and  $16,000, 
respectively. 

The  state  and  county  fairs  in  Wisconsin  are  especially  attractive  and  pro- 
motional, and  its  agriculturists  have  the  same  educational  advantage  and  prac- 
tical assistance  as  their  brothers  of  Illinois,  in  the  operations  of  institutes, 
granges  and  the  agricultural  extension  work  of  the  State  University,  projected 
from  the  National  Department  of  Agriculture. 

The  agencies  enumerated  should  feel  proud  that  they  have  been  so  instru- 
mental in  placing  Illinois,  Wisconsin  and  their  included  cornucopia  of  riches, 
the  Rock  River  Valley,  in  the  front  rank  of  the  agricultural  commonwealths 
of  the  world. 

AGRICULTURAL    WEALTH    OF    THE    ROCK   RIVER   VALLEY 

The  Federal  Census  of  1920  is  very  complete  in  the  presentation  of  facts 
and  figures  relating  to  the  status  of  agricultural  matters  in  Illinois  and  Wis- 
consin. For  purposes  of  comparison  it  is  instructive  to  learn  the  value  of  farm 
property  in  the  two  states,  with  the  sevei'al  classifications  adopted  by  the 
Bureau  of  the  Census.     The  comparative  table  follows: 

State.  Value  of  Property.  Land.  Buildings.     Implements.    Live  Stock. 

Illinois   ..$6,666,767,235  $5,250,294,752  $747,698,814  $222,619,605  $446,154,064 
Wisconsin   2,677,282,997     1,618,913,059     568,968,914     167,088,909     322,312,115 

The  exhibit  in  these  items  of  the  twelve  counties  embraced  in  the  Rock  River 
Valley  of  this  work: 

Vol.  1—16 


244  THE  KOCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Value 
Counties.  of  Property.  Land.         Buildings.  Implements.    Live  Stock. 

Winnebago  ...$61,500,000  $43,460,000  $10,196,000  $2,338,000  $5,504,000 
Stephenson  ...     71,676,000      48,021,000       13,014,000      3,421,000        7,219,000 

Boone   39,618,000      28,229,000        3,335,000       1,581,000        3,493,000 

Ogle   101,206,000       76,545,000       12,954,000      3,626,000        8,080,000 

Lee    114,197,000       89,988,000      13,190,000       3,570,000        7,447,000 

Whiteside    ....     95,736,000      72,039,000       12,018,000       3,395,000        8,281,000 

Henry    127,092,000       96,623,000       15,325,000       4,362,000       10,782,000 

Rock  Island..  54,245,000  39,038,000  8,544,000  1,939,000  4,779,000 
Rock,  Wis.  .  . .  77,563,000  51,156,000  8,961,000  3,612,000  8,478,000 
Dane,  Wis.  . . .  128,789,000  83,042,000  24,573,000  6,826,000  14,316,000 
Dodge,  Wis.  . .  102,375,000  63,626,000  20,879,000  6,067,000  11,801,000 
Jefferson,  Wis.     55,675,000       31,227,000       13,042,000       3,526,000        7,879,000 

In  other  words,  the  value  of  all  property  devoted  to  agricultural  interests, 
including  that  of  live  stock  itself,  in  the  states  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  ap- 
proximates $9,400,000,000,  and  of  this  grand  total  the  twelve  counties  of  the 
Rock  River  Valley  contributed  $1,000,000,000. 

The  Valley  is  a  prosperous  live  stock  region,  and,  with  its  well  watered 
courses  raises  large  crops  of  hay  and  forage,  making  it  an  unexcelled  country  for 
dairying.  Dane,  Dodge  and  Jefferson  counties  are  banner  producers  of  dairy 
products  and  are  large  factors  in  the  development  of  those  industries  which  have 
made  Wisconsin  the  leader  in  this  field  in  the  United  States.  The  showing  by 
counties  is  as  follows: 

GREAT  CROPS  OF  CORN,  OATS  AND  FODDER 

Another  showing  of  the  agricultural  wealth  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  is 
made  by  the  Blue  Books  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin.  The  chief  crops  of  the 
seven  Illinois  counties  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  were  enumerated  as  corn,  winter 
and  spring  wheat,  oats,  rye,  barley,  white  and  sweet  potatoes,  and  tame  and 
wild  hay.    The  total  value  of  these  crops  by  counties  was  as  follows: 

Counties.  Value  of  Crops. 

Henry $7,757,253 

Lee    8,032,753 

Ogle 6,668,740 

Rock  Island 2,518,572 

Stephenson 4,603,348 

Whiteside 5,631,430 

Winnebago 3,764,939 

Corn,  oats  and  hay  are  the  chief  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  crops,  and  their 
acreage  and  production  in  the  Illinois  counties  for  the  year  1922  was  as  follows : 
Counties.  Corn.       Acres  Prod.     Oats.      Acres  Prod.      Hay.       Acres  Prod. 

Henry 166,000       6,972,000       77,000       2,849,000       68,700     130,000  tons 

Lee 175,000 

Ogle 131,000 

Rock  Island..  52,000 
Stephenson  ..  89,000 
Whiteside  ....123,500 
Winnebago  . . .   79,500 


8,225,000 

95,400 

3,434,400 

53,000 

79,500  tons 

5,240,000 

106,000 

3,848,400 

60,300 

90,450  tons 

2,080,000 

21,500 

628,000 

29,400 

44,100  tons 

3,204,000 

64,700 

2,199,800 

61,900 

92,850  toDS 

5,001,700 

65,500 

2,096,000 

44,500 

66,750  tons 

2,782,500 

50,500 

1,515,000 

37,500 

60,000  tons 

THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  245 

Of  the  cereals,  the  two  great  crops  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  are  corn  and 
oats,  with  wheal  ami  barley  in  the  second  class  and  rye  trailing  far  behind. 
The  hay  and  forage  crop,  in  its  connection  with  the  great  dairy  industries,  is 
of  untold  value,  aside  from  the  dollars  winch  it  represents  as  a  separate  agri- 
cultural item.  Prom  this  viewpoint  alone,  its  value  is  placed  by  the  census 
enumerators  at   nearly  $37,500,000. 

The  exhibit  of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  as  a  producer  of  cereals,  especially  of 
corn  and  oats,  and  a  raiser  of  hay  and  fodder,  is  illustrated  in  the  following 
table: 

Hay. 
Counties.  Val.  of  Cereals.  Corn  (bu.)    Oats  (bu.)    &  Fodder. 

Winnebago $  8,231,000       2,086,000       1,333,000     $2,317,000 

Stephenson 10,139,000       2,994,000       2,062,000       2,583,000 

Boone    5,516,000      1,135,000         789,000      1,805,000 

Ogle 13,585,000      4,298,000      3,016,000      2,705,000 

Lee 14,099,000      5,412,000      2,554,000       2,043,000 

Whiteside 13,519,000      4,796,000       1,869,000      2,330,000 

Henry 15,746,000       6,587,000       2,449,000       2,504,000 

Rock  Island  6,738,000       2,520,000       1,268,000 

Rock,  Wis 12,458,000       1,803,000       1,428,000      3,697,000 

I )ane.  Wis 20,978,000       2,826,000       2,893,000       6,852,000 

Dodge,  Wis 14,331,000       1,388,000       3,183,000       5,706,000 

Jefferson,  Wis 3,390,000         893,000      1,656,000      3,703,000 

As  would  be  expected,  the  prominence  of  the  counties  of  the  Rock  River 
Valley  in  the  number  and  value  of  their  dairy  cattle  closely  corresponds  to  that 
of  their  hay  and  fodder  crop.  The  Wisconsin  counties  of  Dane,  Dodge,  Jeffer- 
son and  Rock  take  the  lead  in  the  order  named. 

Whiteside,  Lee  and  Henry,  in  the  lower  Valley,  are  the  leading  producers  of 
wheat,  while  Rock,  Dane  and  Dodge,  the  Wisconsin  counties  of  the  upper  Valley 
again  step  to  the  agricultural  front  in  the  raising  of  barley. 

THE   LIVE  STOCK   OF   THE   BOCK    RIVER   VALLEY 

By  counties,  the  riches  of  the  Valley,  computed  in  live  stock,  present  the 
following  exhibit: 

Counties.  No.  Horses. 

Winnebago    12,100 

Stephenson   14, So:; 

Boone 7,973 

Ogle  19,205 

Lee  18,959 

Whiteside    19,213 

I  bury    22,155 

Rock  Island 10,954 

Hock.  Wis 17,537 

Dane,  Wis 27.711 

Dodge,  Wis 20,107 

Jefferson,  Wis.  ...12,217 


Xo.  Beef 

No.  Dairy 

Value. 

Cattle. 

Value. 

Cattle. 

Value. 

$1 ,038,000 

14,665 

$    902,000 

26,166 

.$1,968,000 

1,265,000 

15.045 

928,000 

38,094 

2,1)54,000 

660,944 

27,104 

2,043,000 

23,301 

1,758,677 

1,723,000 

39,656 

2,362,000 

23,898 

1,772,000 

1,793,000 

29,145 

1,963,000 

21,493 

1,659,000 

1 .582,000 

25,455 

1,731,000 

35,993 

2,497,000 

2,193,000 

55,637 

3.:.!)::, 000 

14,750 

1,025,000 

1,009,000 

15,756 

927,000 

15,354 

1,097,000 

1 .547,000 

7,846 

5::9,000 

57,352 

4.585,000 

-'.494,000 

9,144 

565,000 

108,667 

8,434,000 

1,901,000 

2,318 

160,000 

93,367 

8,317,000 

1,096,000 

558 

41,306 

65,057 

6,028,000 

246  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Southern  Wisconsin,  of  which  the  four  counties  last  named  in  the  foregoing 
table  embrace  a  very  important  agricultural  section,  is  one  of  the  richest  dairy 
regions  in  the  world,  and,  as  a  whole,  the  state  leads  the  nation  in  the  value  and 
quantities  of  such  products.  It  is  No.  1  of  the  States  in  the  production  of 
milk,  yielding  ten  per  cent  of  the  total.  Wisconsin  makes  two-thirds  of  the 
cheese  manufactured  in  the  United  States  and  leads  all  the  states  by  a  large 
margin  in  the  production  of  the  American,  Swiss,  brick  and  Muenster  grades ;  it 
stands  second  in  its  output  of  Limburger.  Altogether,  three-fourths  of  the 
American  cheese  produced  in  the  Union  comes  from  the  Badger  State.  It  is 
second  in  butter  production,  eleven  per  cent,  of  all  the  creamery  butter  turned 
out  in  the  United  States  being  credited  to  Wisconsin.  Its  standing  is  even 
more  pronounced  as  a  manufacturer  of  condensary  products.  The  State  has 
no  rival  in  this  class,  its  products  amounting  to  fully  one- fourth  of  the  total 
credited  to  the  United  States. 

The  dairy  section  of  Northwestern  Illinois  is  largely  covered  by  Stephenson, 
Whiteside,  Winnebago  and  Ogle  counties.  Two  of  the  most  magnificent  model 
farms  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  are  in  Ogle  County — the  Sinissippi  Farm,  near 
Oregon,  owned  and  operated  by  former  Governor  Frank  0.  Lowden,  and  the 
Rock  River  Farms,  at  Byron,  of  which  the  owner  is  Mrs.  Medill  McCormick, 
widow  of  the  late  senator. 

SOUTHERN  WISCONSIN,  RICHEST  DAIRY  COUNTRY  IN  THE  WORLD 

As  Wisconsin  is  the  premier  dairy  State  in  the  Union,  and  its  counties  in 
the  Rock  River  Valley  are  unrivaled  in  the  establishment  and  development  of 
the  great  dairy  interests  of  the  United  States,  the  writer  is  pleased  to  draw 
liberally  from  the  paper  prepared  by  J.  Q.  Emery,  dairy  and  food  commissioner 
of  that  State,  and  published  in  the  Blue  Book  of  1925.  "The  beginnings  of 
dairying  in  Wisconsin  were  individualistic  and  empirical,"  he  writes.  "The 
time  was  the  pioneer  stage  until  about  1872.  The  place  was  the  pioneer  farms. 
The  personalities  were  the  pioneer  farm  woman  and  her  husband.  The  cow 
was  the  ordinary  native.  The  dairy  barn  was  the  straw  stack.  The  feed  was 
straw  and  marsh  hay  in  winter  and  the  wild  grasses  in  summer.  The  dairy  house, 
creamery,  cheese  factory,  condensary  or  receiving  station,  was  the  pioneer  farm 
kitchen,  well  and  cellar.  The  butter  maker  or  cheese  maker  was  the  pioneer 
farmer's  wife.  Her  helpers  were  her  children.  Her  dairy  implements  were  tin 
milk  pans,  tin  skimmers,  the  old-fashioned  dasher  churn,  wooden  bowl  and 
ladle,  for  butter  making,  and  a  like  meager  primitive  outfit  for  cheese  making. 
The  market  was  the  grocery  store,  and  that  often  far  away  and  glutted.  There 
butter  was  swapped  for  groceries,  paying  twenty-five  cents  a  pound  for  sugar 
and  similar  prices  for  other  groceries.  The  transportation  was  by  foot  and 
Avalker's  line,  or  perchance  by  ox-team.  The  cows  freshened  in  March  or  April, 
ran  at  large  during  the  summer,  and  were  dried  off  in  November  and  Decem- 
ber. There  was  no  winter  dairying.  Indeed,  during  this  primitive  period, 
dairying  was  merely  incidental  to  the  great  paramount  industry  of  growing 
wheat." 


VIEWS   OF   THE   McCORMICK  ROCK   RIVER  FARMS 
Distant  view    (upper).      Main  Buildings  (lower). 


248  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

HISTORY  OF  THE  DAIRY  INDUSTRIES 

The  first  cheese  factory  in  the  State  probably  was  that  of  Chester  Hazen,  at 
Ladoga,  Fond  du  Lac  County,  1864.  The  first  cheese  factory  established  in 
Southwestern  Wisconsin  was  that  of  L.  G.  Thomas,  near  Lone  Rock,  Richland 
County,  in  1865.  By  1870,  there  were  probably  100  cheese  factories  scattered 
through  sixteen  different  counties  of  the  State.  The  development  of  the  cream- 
eries did  not  begin  until  later.  The  ravages  of  the  chinch  bug  in  the  wheat 
fields  of  Wisconsin  threw  the  farmers  into  a  panic  and  brought  to  their  atten- 
tion the  advantages  of  dairying.  In  1872,  therefore,  under  the  leadership  of 
W.  D.  Hoard,  of  Fort  Atkinson,  the  Wisconsin  Dairymen's  Association  was 
organized  at  Watertown.  It  proved  to  be  the  most  potent  single  force  in  the 
State  for  the  advancement  of  the  dairy  industry. 

W.  D.  Hoard,  Stephen  Favill,  W.  S.  Green,  Chester  Hazen,  H.  F.  Dousman, 
A.  D.  Favill  and  H.  C.  Drake,  the  organizers  of  the  Wisconsin  Dairymen's 
Association,  and  others  of  like  strong  personalities,  were  among  the  pioneer 
workers  and  promoters  of  the  dairy  industry  in  Wisconsin. 

In  the  words  of  Mr.  Emery:  "In  the  feeble  beginnings  of  the  Wisconsin 
dairy  industry,  the  adaptability  of  Wisconsin's  climate,  soils,  grasses,  water 
and  dairymen  to  the  production  of  high  class  dairy  products  was  yet  to  be 
determined.  Our  surplus  dairy  products  had  to  compete  in  the  Eastern  and 
European  markets  with  the  products  of  New  York  and  Canada,  which  had 
already  established  a  reputation  for  high  quality  in  the  markets  of  the  world. 
Speaking  of  conditions  as  they  were  at  the  time,  Hiram  Smith  once  said  that 
the  manufacturers  of  Wisconsin  cheese  had  to  leave  it  to  be  sold  at  the  country 
store,  one  or  two  at  a  place,  and  replenish  as  sold;  and  mail  carriers  and  ped- 
dlers disposed  of  all  they  could.  At  one  time  it  was  feared  that  the  lightning 
rod  man  and  the  insurance  agent  would  have  to  be  called  in  to  dispose  of  the 
accumulating  stock. 

"To  overcome  this  prejudice,  to  solve  the  market  problem  of  their  day, 
these  pioneers  sought,  first  to  produce  cheese  and  butter  honestly  worthy  of  the 
best  markets  of  the  world.  Having  done  this,  they  conceived  and  executed 
the  plan  of  making  exhibits  of  Wisconsin  cheese  and  butter  at  the  Centennial 
Exposition,  Philadelphia,  in  1876,  where  Wisconsin  received  a  larger  percentage 
of  the  medals  than  was  awarded  any  other  State  or  country.  With  these  vic- 
tories and  others  gained  at  the  great  International  Dairy  Show  in  New  York, 
Wisconsin  gained  recognition  in  home  and  English  markets  as  a  dairy  State. 
Like  victories  followed  at  the  Chicago  World's  Fair  and  at  the  New  Orleans 
Cotton  Centennial.  They  were  leading  the  way  from  the  making  of  cheese 
and  butter  exclusively  on  the  farms  and  were  erecting  cheese  factories  and 
creameries  where  they  manufactured  the  choicest  of  dairy  products,  attested 
by  their  having  gained  the  highest  awards  in  the  world's  competitive  contests." 

Then  came  better  transportation  facilities,  the  refrigerator  car  and  the 
Babcock  device  for  measuring  the  butter-fat  in  milk  and  cream,  with  the  organ- 
ization of  various  institutions  for  the  scientific  and  economic  development  of 
the  dairy  industries.  The  Wisconsin  College  of  Agriculture  and  the  Agricul- 
tural Experiment  Station  were  children  of  the  State  Dairymen's  Association 
and  its  founders,  and  in  3889  the  long-continued  efforts  of  that  organization 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  249 

culminated  in  the  promulgation  of  the  pure  food  law  by  the  Legislature  and 
the  creation  of  a  dairy  and  food  commissioner  to  enforce  its  provisions.  The 
great  personal  force  behind  all  such  legislation  was  Governor  W.  U.  Hoard, 
who  died  in  November,  1918.  In  1893,  the  Wisconsin  Cheese  Makers'  Associa- 
tion was  divided  from  the  original  "Wisconsin  Dairymen's  Association  and 
became  the  largest  organization  of  the  kind  in  the  world.  In  1900,  the  South- 
cm  Wisconsin  Cheese  Makers'  and  Dairymen's  Association  was  organized  with 
the  primary  aim  of  promoting  the  cheese  industry  of  the  foreign  type,  specified 
by  the  old-time  varieties  known  as  Swiss,  brick  and  Limburger.  The  success 
of  this  movement  has  given  Southern  Wisconsin,  as  a  cheese  country,  the  name 
of  the  Switzerland  of  America. 

The  supremacy  of  Wisconsin — especially  Southern  Wisconsin — as  a  dairy 
land  has  established  a  wonderful  source  of  income  in  the  sale  of  dairy  cattle. 
In  1923,  56,000  head  of  such  cattle  were  purchased  in  Wisconsin  by  dairymen 
from  other  states.  Foreign  shipments  also  went  to  Japan,  New  Zealand,  South 
America  and  Mexico;  yet,  in  1924,  Wisconsin  possessed  2,217,000  dairy  cows  to 
"carry  on"  her  dairying,  453,000  in  excess  of  her  nearest  competitor. 

For  the  year  1923,  the  dairy  products  of  the  State  were  valued  at  $244,800,- 
000,  of  which  the  output  of  the  cheese  factories  was  valued  at  $75,000,000,  the 
creameries  at  $66,000,000,  and  of  the  plants  for  evaporating  and  condensing 
milk  and  cream  at  $38,500,000. 

RECLAMATION   OF   ILLINOIS  OVERFLOWED   LANDS 

The  reclamation  of  overflowed  land  is  one  of  the  greatest  public  works  in 
which  the  State  of  Illinois  is  engaged.  For  over  half  a  century  it  has  been 
a  subject  of  interest  to  its  farmers  and  economists.  After  two  generations  of 
legislation,  judicial  decisions  and  engineering  experience,  in  1923  the  state  had 
organized  more  than  1,000  drainage,  levee  and  sanitary  districts  embracing 
4,608,880  acres,  or  12.8  per  cent  of  the  land  area  of  Illinois.  The  incompleted 
districts  represent  1.7  per  cent  of  the  land  of  the  State.  Approximately,  1,126,- 
000  acres  of  the  overflowed  land  still  lies  in  the  river  and  creek  bottoms.  A 
considerable  portion  of  this  land  is  in  timber,  as  the  present  condition  of  the 
land  has  not  warranted  its  removal.  The  State  experts  estimate  that,  on  an 
average,  crops  on  these  lands  are  lost  more  than  half  the  time,  and  over  large 
areas  crops  are  not  harvested  more  than  once  in  four  years. 

Naturally,  the  watersheds  containing  the  greatest  area  of  flat  lands,  like 
those  of  the  eastern  and  central  portions  of  the  State,  rank  higher  than  the 
rougher  ones  where  the  need  for  drainage  has  been  smaller.  The  lack  of  natural 
drainage  in  these  areas  made  artificial  drainage  imperative,  if  the  full  produc- 
tivity of  the  soil  was  to  be  realized,  and  the  fact  that  they  lay  in  the  corn  belt 
enhanced  their  agricultural  value  to  such  an  extent  as  to  give  a  special  incentive 
to  drainage  work. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  Geological  Survey  the  reclamation  of  the  overflowed 
lands  of  the  State  would  add  some  $50,000,000  annually  to  the  wealth  of  the 
commonwealth. 

Many  legal  difficulties  have  stood  in  the  way  of  drainage  reclamation  work 
in  this  State.    Up  to  1870,  all  drainage  ;iets  of  the  Legislature  were  declared 


250  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

unconstitutional  because  there  was  no  constitutional  provision  for  such  legisla- 
tion and  because  the  common  law  forbade  construction  of  drains  and  ditches 
across  lands  without  the  consent  of  their  owners.  In  1870  and  1878,  the  con- 
stitution was  revised  by  the  addition  of  a  drainage  provision.  Under  that 
amendment,  two  distinct  drainage  laws  were  passed  in  1879,  one  known  as  the 
Levee  Act  and  the  other  as  the  Farm  Drainage  Act.  Since  that  year  numerous 
amendments  have  been  made  to  the  acts  and  appeals  have  been  frequently  taken 
to  the  Supreme  Court,  on  account  of  confusion  having  arisen  over  these  two 
acts  in  litigation  and  decisions  of  the  lower  courts. 

Engineers  generally  group  the  drainage  districts  of  the  State  into  units 
corresponding  to  the  watersheds  in  which  they  are  located.  The  natural  drain- 
age basins  in  Illinois  are  the  Lake  Michigan  and  Mississippi  watersheds.  The 
drainage  districts  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  are  embraced  in  the  Mississippi 
Watershed. 

With  a  few  exceptions,  all  of  the  levee  districts,  those  protected  by  river 
dykes,  are  located  along  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois  rivers.  Nearly  all  of  the 
Illinois  River  districts  operate  pumping  plants  and  practically  all  the  land 
within  them  is  producing.  The  Mississippi  River  districts  are  protected  by 
levees,  but  few  of  them  operate  pumping  plants.  Plans  have  been  made  in 
the  last  few  years  to  remedy  this  condition,  and  it  is  probable  that  eventually 
all  will  operate  pumps  and  thus  fully  reclaim  their  areas. 

Throughout  Illinois,  with  its  36,000,000  acres,  4,600,000  are  covered  by  organ- 
ized drainage  districts  and  an  area  of  614,000  acres  is  now  enjoying  this  devel- 
opment in  full.  The  engineers  and  experts  estimate  that  an  area  of  1,700,000 
acres  is  in  need  of  drainage,  of  which  the  bottom  lands  cover  1,126,000  acres. 

ROCK  RIVER  DRAINAGE 

The  area  drained  in  Illinois  by  the  Rock  River  and  its  chief  tributaries, 
the  Pecatonica,  the  Kishwaukee  and  the  Green,  is  5,210  square  miles,  or  about 
3,300,000  acres.  The  Pecatonica  comes  from  Southwestern  Wisconsin  and  after 
an  irregular  course  of  fifty  miles  empties  from  the  west  into  the  Rock  River  at 
Rockton,  Illinois,  while  the  Kishwaukee  is  about  seventy-five  miles  in  length, 
and  joins  the  parent  stream  from  the  east,  having  its  rise  in  McHenry  County. 
The  longest  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Rock  River  is  Green  River,  which  rises 
in  the  Inlet  Marsh  of  Lee  County,  leaves  that  county  at  its  southwest  corner, 
and  joins  the  parent  stream  near  Rock  Island.    It  is  nearly  120  miles  long. 

In  the  Illinois  Rock  River  area,  the  drainage  districts  which  have  been 
organized  cover  145,000  acres,  and  it  is  estimated  that  45  per  cent  of  the  cul- 
tivable lands  are  yet  unreclaimed.  No  reclamation  or  drainage  districts  have 
been  established  in  the  Pecatonica  Valley.  On  the  other  hand,  much  work  has 
been  accomplished  in  the  Kishwaukee  region,  an  area  of  more  than  128,000 
acres  being  covered  by  drainage  districts. 

THE  INLET  SWAMP  PROJECT 

The  most  important  drainage  project  undertaken  and  accomplished  in  the 
Rock  River  Valley  of  Illinois  is  that  in  connection  with  the  reclamation  of 


A  MODEL  FARM  IX  THE   ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 
Frank  O.  Lowden 's  Sinnissippi  farm  and  residence  near  Oregon 


252  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Inlet  Swamp,  the  source  of  Green  River,  in  the  eastern  portion  of  Lee  County. 
The  Green  is  virtually  independent  of  Rock  River,  as,  after  rising  in  Inlet 
Swamp,  it  takes  a  generally  southwest  course  for  120  miles  through  Lee,  Bureau 
and  Henry  counties  and  does  not  join  Rock  River  until  it  reaches  a  point  about 
ten  miles  southeast  of  Rock  Island.  The  project  to  drain  Inlet  Swamp  and 
reclaim  about  30,000  acres  in  six  of  the  eastern  townships  of  Lee  County  which 
is  more  than  forty  years  old,  at  length  promises  realization.  The  great  natural 
obstacle  to  be  surmounted  was  the  dam  of  solid  rock  at  Inlet  known  as  the 
Dewey  dam.  The  dam  was  removed  largely  through  the  persistence  of  Ira 
Brewer  of  Bradford  Township  and  the  water  lowered  over  an  approximate 
tract  of  30,000  acres.  Although  the  area  was  redeemed  from  rank  wilds,  it  was 
not  reclaimed  for  agricultural  purposes,  but  various  plans  were  suggested  to 
utilize  it.  A  game  park  and  preserve  was  suggested  and  an  association  of  Chi- 
cago, New  York  and  local  men  formed  to  carry  out  the  project,  but  the  idea 
of  reclaiming  this  great  tract  of  overflowed  land  making  it  really  productive 
finally  gained  such  headway  that  it  could  not  be  stopped. 

In  August,  1887,  through  an  order  issued  by  the  county  judge,  was  created 
the  Inlet  Swamp  Drainage  District,  preliminary  work  having  already  been 
accomplished  in  the  laying  out  of  drainage  ditches.  Court  and  commissioners 
have  cooperated  and  the  drainage  of  the  old  Inlet  Swamp  has  slowly  but 
surely  progressed.  The  expenses  of  the  work  have  been  met  by  the  levying  of 
assessments  on  the  lands  to  be  benefited,  and  eventually  a  valuable  area  in  the 
Rock  River  Valley  will  be  transformed  from  swamp  into  farm  lands. 

ATTEMPT   TO   RESTORE   HORICON    MARSH 

On  the  other  hand,  the  drainage  of  an  area  covering  40,000  acres  where  the 
far  northeastern  waters  of  the  Rock  River  flow  into  the  marshes  of  Fond  du  Lac 
and  Dodge  counties  has  been  bitterly  opposed  for  years  by  lovers  of  nature  and 
outdoor  sports.  Among  the  most  prominent  of  those  who  are  still  fighting  the 
utilitarians  and  land  speculators  is  Louis  Radke,  of  Horicon.  In  June,  1925,  he 
contributed  an  article  to  "Outdoor  America,"  the  well  known  Chicago  maga- 
zine, which  stands  as  the  "defender  of  woods,  waters  and  wild  life,"  and  is 
owned  and  published  by  the  Izaak  Walton  League  of  America.  Mr.  Radke 
says :  ' '  Horicon  Marsh,  once  the  greatest  paradise  for  game  and  fish  in  the 
Northwest,  was  known  in  the  early  days  as  Winnebago  Marsh.  The  Winnebago 
Indians  made  it  their  hunting  and  fishing  grounds  long  before  the  paleface  ever 
pulled  a  trigger  or  cast  a  line  within  its  borders.  It  spread  its  40,000  or  more 
acres  of  land  over  an  area  four  to  six  miles  wide  and  eighteen  miles  long  in 
Southeastern  Wisconsin.  This  vast  region  is  known  as  the  headwaters  of  Rock 
River,  the  two  branches  of  which  make  their  junction  in  the  marsh. 

"Rock  River  was  meandered  by  the  United  States  Government  Survey  as 
far  north  as  the  north  line  of  Township  11  North,  Range  16  East,  and  by  the 
statutes  of  Wisconsin  declared  navigable  as  far  north  as  Township  14  North, 
Range  15  East,  the  latter  point  being  the  north  boundary  line  of  Dodge  County. 
Tlie  local  acts  of  Wisconsin  of  1839  provided  that  Rock  River  'is  hereby  declared 
to  be  a  public  highway  and  forever  free  for  the  passage  of  boats,  barges,  canoes, 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  253 

rafts  or  oilier  crafts  capable  of  navigating  said  river  as  high  up  said  Rock 
River  as  Township  14,  Range  15.' 

"In  1845,  with  the  approach  of  civilization,  the  old  pioneers  erected  a  large 
dam  across  Rock  River  at  Horicon,  causing  the  overflow  of  this  vast  area. 
Lake  Horicon,  picturesque  and  beautiful  in  the  «extreme,  with  its  peninsulas, 
islands  and  numberless  bays  and  coves,  sprang  into  existence.  Lake  Horicon 
had  the  distinction  of  being  not  only  the  largest  artificial  lake  in  the  world,  but 
was  known  as  a  haven  for  the  market  hunter,  commercial  fisher  and  trapper. 
Ducks  and  geese  abounded.  Muskrat  and  mink  throve  at  the  shores.  Fish 
of  all  kinds  were  caught  and  marketed  in  enormous  quantities.  In  the  winter 
of  1857,  fishermen  shipped  one  hundred  and  forty  tons  of  pickerel  and  pike 
to  eastern  markets.  Ice  fishing  became  a  popular  sport  and  a  profitable  busi- 
ness. This  beauty  spot  and  game  and  fish  paradise  was  destined,  however,  to 
delight  but  a  single  generation.  All  too  soon  promoters  planned  to  destroy 
the  dam  at  Horicon.  Long  and  vexatious  litigation  followed.  In  1867,  the 
promoters  practically  won  their  fight,  when  the  State  of  Wisconsin  for  some 
reason  saw  fit  to  sell  the  lands  beneath  the  waters  of  Lake  Horicon  at  five  cents 
per  acre.  A  law  was  passed  entitled  'An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Union  Mechan- 
ics Manufacturing  Company.'  This  act  permitted  the  removal  of  the  dam  in 
1868.  Lake  Horicon  slowly  but  surely  sagged  from  its  shores  into  Rock  River. 
Winnebago  Marsh,  later  known  as  Horicon  Marsh,  again  came  into  its  own. 
Scores  of  little  lakes  remained,  abundantly  rich  in  bird  and  other  animal  life." 

Then  came  a  period  from  1870  to  1904  when  sportsmen  not  only  from  every 
section  of*  Wisconsin,  but  from  many  other  states,  were  attracted  to  Horicon 
Marsh,  with  its  unrivaled  breeding  grounds  for  wild  duck  and  other  fowl. 
Shooting  clubs  were  formed  and  the  entire  area  of  the  marsh  was  leased  by 
Eastern  and  Wisconsin  sportsmen. 

In  1904,  a  petition  was  filed  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  Dodge  County  to  estab- 
lish a  drainage  district  including  within  its  scope  all  the  lands  within  the 
limits  of  Horicon  Marsh,  and  an  order  was  entered  to  organize  the  Horicon 
Drainage  District.  But  the  State  Supreme  Court  reversed  the  order  and  in 
1908  declared  the  action  of  the  Circuit  Court  unconstitutional  on  the  ground 
that  the  Rock  River  was  a  navigable  stream,  "and  that  no  authority  of  law 
was  delegated  to  the  commissioners  to  impair  it  or  appropriate  it  for  drainage 
purposes;  and  that  the  drainage  district  order  will  have  that  effect."  In  the 
following  year  an  effort  was  made  by  prominent  business  men  of  Horicon, 
Watertown,  Janesville  and  Beloit,  Wisconsin,  and  Rockford,  Illinois,  to  recon- 
st  ruct  the  dam  at  Horicon.  The  design  of  the  movement  was  not  only  to  recreate 
Lake  Horicon,  but  to  form  a  reservoir  which  might  hold  back  the  flood  waters 
that  rushed  down  upon  these  cities  each  spring,  doing  damage  in  untold  thou- 
sands. The  protests  of  drainage  promoters  and  engineers  caused  the  plan  to 
be  finally  abandoned,  and  within  the  following  decade  a  combination  of  private 
land  owners  and  speculators  constructed  a  huge  ditch  through  the  center  of 
Horicon  Marsh,  with  lateral  ditches,  laid  bare  many  bottom  lands,  destroyed 
the  channel  of  Rock  River  and  the  beautiful  and  prolific  grounds  of  aquatic 
game,  and  left  an  unproductive  waste.  During  this  period  of  active  drainage. 
the  engineers  contended  that  the  Hustisford  dam,  about  ten  miles  south  of 
Horicon,  was  the  key  to  the  successful  drainage  of  Horicon  Marsh.     The  dam 


254 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


had  created  beautiful  Lake  Sinnissippi,  the  back  waters  of  which  reach  as  far 
north  as  the  city  limits  of  Horicon;  for  the  State  Supreme  Court  laid  down 
its  mandate  that  "Hustisford  Dam  must  not  be  disturbed." 

This  is  all  that  is  left  of  the  old  glories  of  Horicon  Marsh,  about  which 
formerly  clustered  Horicon,  Beaver  Dam,  Mayville,  Fond  du  Lac,  Waupun, 
Burnett,  Juneau  and  Hustisford.  For  fifteen  years  the  marsh  has  been  in  a 
semi-drained  state,  no  benefits  to  farmers  or  land  owners  have  accrued,  and  a 
strong  public  sentiment  has  been  directed  to  its  restoration- as  a  picturesque  and 
productive  lake — a  beautiful  and  teeming  reservoir  for  the  headwaters  of  the 
Rock  River. 


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HORICON  MARSH  IN  A  STATE  OF  NATURE   (1908) 


CHAPTER  XI 
INDUSTRIES  AND  BANKS 

THE  INDUSTRIAL  STRENGTH  OF  THE  ROCK  RIVER  COUNTIES  AND  CITIES FIRST  EXTEN- 
SIVE WATER  POWER  DEVELOPMENT  AT  ROCKFORD THE  MANUFACTORIES  OF  ROCK- 
FORD  AND  DIXON — ROCK  ISLAND  AND  ITS  INDUSTRIAL  PLANTS — THE  FAMOUS  PLOW 
CITY THE  FIRST  WOOLEN,  PAPER  AND  COTTON  MILLS  ESTABLISHED  IN  SOUTH- 
ERN   WISCONSIN INDUSTRIES    OF    BELVIDERE,    STERLING    AND    ROCK    FALLS — KE- 

WANEE,  FREEPORT  AND  ROCHELLE — STATUS  OF  THE  BANKS  IN  ILLINOIS  AND  WIS- 
CONSIN— THE  PIONEER  INSTITUTIONS  OF  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY PRESENT  CON- 
DITION OF  NATIONAL  AND  STATE  BANKS  IN  DODGE,  ROCK,  DANE  AND  JEFFERSON 
COUNTIES,  WISCONSIN,  AND  WINNEBAGO,  STEPHENSON,  BOONE,  OGLE,  LEE,  WHITE- 
SIDE,  HENRY,   AND  ROCK  ISLAND  COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 

In  the  earlier  period  of  a  country's  development  which  promises  the  great- 
est prosperity  the  agricultural  industries  come  foremost ;  at  a  later  period,  man- 
ufactures based  on  the  products  of  the  soil  arise,  and,  with  more  pronounced 
and  intricate  growth,  the  raw  material  upon  which  the  industries  feed,  is 
drawn  from  many  distant  parts.  At  first,  the  domestic  waterways  are  the 
industrial  parents,  operating  the  mills  and  bringing  the  raw  material  to  them. 
Then  come  the  land  highways  of  travel  and  transportation,  with  the  railroads 
the  greatest  of  them  all,  and  to  thousands  of  manufactories  the  raw  grist  is 
brought  from  the  most  distant  parts  of  the  land.  This  status  of  industrial 
conditions  has  come  to  be  considered  a  measure  of  modern  prosperity  and  well 
describes  a  strong  feature  of  the  life  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  as  a  rapidly 
developing  section  of  the  great  empire  of  the  Middle  West. 

The  most  prolific  industrial  life  of  this  prosperous  and  wonderful  region 
is  found  in  the  upper  and  the  lower  reaches  of  the  valley,  and  centers  in  "Winne- 
bago and  Rock  Island  counties,  Illinois.  The  minor  manufacturing  centers  of 
Southern  Wisconsin  are  still  substantially  based  on  farming  and  live  stock 
products,  but  when  the  traveler  reaches  Rockford  the  industries  there  in  evi- 
dence are  divided  and  subdivided  in  metropolitan  confusion.  With  the  appli- 
cation of  hydraulics  to  the  generation  of  electricity  and  other  mechanical  power, 
the  waterways  of  the  country  are  reasserting  their  former  prominence,  and 
from  the  sources  of  the  Rock  River  in  Wisconsin  to  its  outpouring  into  the  Mis- 
sissippi  that  stream  has  become  the  creator  of  vast  energy  in  the  development  of 
industrial  enterprises.  The  fine  water  powers  at  Janesville,  Beloit,  Rockford, 
Dixon,  Sterling,  Rock  Falls,  Kewanee  and  Rock  Island,  first  marked  them  as  the 
favored  sites  for  future  cities  and  afterward  gave  them  their  decided  impetus 
along  their  forward  ways. 

Before  entering  into  the  narrative  descriptive  of  the  strong  features  in  the 
industrial  development  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  of  Wisconsin  and  Illinois,  it 

255 


256  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

is  well  to  keep  in  mind  the  comparative  importance  of  its  leading  counties  and 
cities,  judged  from  this  viewpoint  alone.  According  to  the  Federal  Census  of 
1920,  their  status  is  as  follows : 

No.  of  Value 

Counties  Wage  Earners  Wages  Paid  of  Product 

Winnebago 15,825        $19,216,000        $81,087,000 

Rock  Island   13,625  18,343,000  86,735,000 

. Rock  (Wis.)   8,000  9,200,000  42,900,000 

Henry    4,300  5,600,000  19,100,000 

Stephenson   3,200  3,400,000  19,580,000 

Whiteside    2,600  2,899,000  17,900,000 

Lee  1,550  1,500,000  4,500,000 

The  strength  of  the  industrial  classes  in  the  seven  leading  manufacturing 
centers  of  the  Valley  is:  Rockford,  14,900;  Moline,  5,400;  Beloit,  4,600;  Ke- 
wanee,  3,900;  Rock  Island,  3,200;  Freeport,  3,100.  In  Winnebago  County,  there 
are  few  industries  outside  of  Rockford,  which  represents  a  greater  variety  of 
manufactures  than  any  other  center  in  the  valley.  In  Rock  Island  city  the  out- 
standing industrial  plant  is  the  great  Government  Arsenal,  while  Moline  is 
stamped  as  a  leading  manufacturing  city  by  the  extensive  plow  works  which  have 
made  her  world-famous.  Kewanee  absorbs  the  bulk  of  the  industrials  accredited 
to  Henry  County  by  the  employees  necessary  to  operate  the  great  boiler  works 
at  that  place.  The  other  cities  and  counties  mentioned  have  developed  numerous 
manufacturing  plants,  some  of  commanding  position,  but  none  which  loomed 
so  far  above  the  others  as  to  completely  overshadow  them. 

The  first  extensive  and  systematic  development  of  the  water  power  of  the 
Rock  River  was  initiated  at  Rockford  in  1843.  In  that  year  the  Rockford 
Hydraulic  and  Manufacturing  Company  was  incorporated  to  dam  the  river 
there  and  overcome  the  rapids.  The  work  was  completed  in  the  autumn  of  1845, 
and  that  year  marked  the  transition  of  Rockford,  from  'a  hamlet  to  a  manufac- 
turing city.  Various  portions  of  the  old  dam  were  washed  out  and  repaired, 
sawmills  and  other  manufactories  were  erected.  Two  or  three  little  foundries 
and  machine  shops  were  built  by  the  Watsons  and  Orlando  Clark,  but  finally 
in  June,  1851,  the  entire  dam  went  out.  Soon  afterward,  the  Rockford  Water 
Power  Company  was  organized.  Two  years  afterward,  the  first  great  impetus 
was  given  to  the  manufacturing  interests  of  Rockford  by  the  advent  of  John 
H.  Manny,  largely  through  the  influence  of  Orlando  Clark,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  his  extensive  plant  for  the  manufacture  of  reapers  and  mowers.  After 
the  death  of  Mr.  Manny,  the  industry  was  expanded  under  several  ownerships 
and  managements  and  finally  emerged  as  the  great  agricultural  implement  plant 
of  the  Emerson-Brantingham  Company.  Others  followed  in  the  same  line. 
Iron  foundries  of  a  general  and  special  nature,  planing  and  flouring  mills,  and 
brass,  leather  and  wood  works,  planted  themselves  along  the  new  water  power 
and  made  Rockford  hum.  Then  in  1866,  John  Nelson  and  William  W.  Burson, 
founded  the  knitting  industry  which  has  made  the  city  one  of  the  leading 
hosiery  centers  in  the  United  States.  Since  the  Civil  war  the  furniture  industry 
has  also  been  developed  in  Rockford,  and  it  now  stands  in  the  same  class  with 
Chicago  and  Grand  Rapids.     Particular  mention  of  the  many  manufactories 


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258  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

which  have  brought  this  primal  industrial  center  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  to 
a  position  of  national  importance  is  made  in  the  history  of  Winnebago  County. 

Dixon,  farther  down  the  river,  was  also  coming  into  notice  for  its  manu- 
factures. A  dam,  for  the  development  of  power,  had  been  thrown  across  the 
river,  and  as  early  as  August,  1849,  the  commissioners  of  Lee  County  were 
hearing  petitions  from  land  owners  to  award  them  damages  on  account  of  over- 
flows. In  the  early  '50s,  Colonel  John  Dement  began  the  manufacture  of  plows 
at  Dixon  and  Major  0.  J.  Downing  commenced  to  make  flax  bagging.  Several 
flouring  mills  were  built,  but  were  finally  discontinued.  The  Grand  Detour  Plow 
Works,  which  had  passed  from  the  hands  of  John  Deere  when  he  started  the 
factory  at  Moline  in  1848,  had  been  burned,  passed  through  various  changes 
in  management,  and  in  1869  were  moved  to  Dixon,  chiefly  through  the  influence 
and  capital  of  Col.  H.  T.  Noble.  Afterward  and  for  many  years  the  Grand 
Detour  Plow  Company  conducted  a  large  manufactory  at  Dixon.  Of  late  years, 
perhaps  the  leading  industries  which  have  been  planted  at  Dixon  are  the 
Borden  Milk  Factory,  founded  in  1888  and  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
Anglo-Swiss  condensed  milk,  and  the  large  cement  plant  established  in  1907. 
The  development  of  the  low-head  hydro-electric  plant  since  the  summer  of  1924, 
will  bring  the  city  of  Dixon  even  more  to  the  front  as  a  manufacturing  center 
and  the  source  of  power  supply  to  other  places. 

Rock  Island  draws  for  its  industrial  power  from  a  variety  of  sources.  It 
is  supplied  by  what  is  known  as  the  Peoples  Power  Company.  The  steam  gen- 
erating station  is  in  the  extreme  eastern  portion  of  the  city;  the  two  hydraulic 
plants  are  located  on  the  Mississippi  River  at  Moline  and  on  the  Rock  River 
at  Milan.  Since  1867,  when  the  company  relinquished  all  its  rights  in  the  Rock 
Island  rapids  to  the  government,  the  city  has  also  received  the  free  use  of  one- 
fourth  the  power  derived  from  the  development  of  the  south  channel  of  the 
Mississippi  after  the  needs  of  the  arsenal  have  been  supplied.  The  industries 
of  Rock  Island  are  very  diversified.  A  mere  mention  of  their  classes  must 
suffice  at  this  place.  They  embrace  farm  lighting  plants,  agricultural  imple- 
ments, sash  and  doors,  millwork  of  all  kinds,  men's  clothing,  cabinet  work, 
pipe  organs,  fabricated  steel,  candies,  electrical  supplies,  oil  cloth  and  linoleums, 
castings,  hardware,  stoves,  registers  and  heating  plants  and  footwear  of  all 
kinds. 

The  city  of  Moline  is  situated  on  the  Illinois  shore  of  the  Mississippi  River, 
and  opposite  the  upper  part  of  the  government  island,  between  which  and 
Moline  flows  the  south  channel  of  the  Mississippi.  Since  its  development,  it 
has  been  called  the  Sylvan  Waters,  or  the  Water  Power  Pool,  and  supplies 
Moline,  the  Island  of  Rock  Island  and  a  portion  of  the  water  power  required 
by  the  city  of  Rock  Island.  The  factories  of  Moline  line  the  Water  Power 
pool.  Some  of  them,  especially  the  plow  works,  are  among  the  largest  of  their 
kind  in  the  world.  The  rapids  of  the  Mississippi  which  begin  twenty  miles 
above  Moline  are  the  sources  of  the  unrivaled  water  power  which  has  made 
the  city.  Its  founders  realized  the  advantages  of  the  site  from  the  first  and 
would  have  no  other  name  than  Moline,  or  Milltown.  The  coming  of  John 
Deere  from  Grand  Detour  in  1848  fixed  the  industrial  type  of  the  place,  despite 
the  founding  of  many  other  plants  than  plow  factories. 

In  the  upper  part  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  in  Wisconsin,  several  repre- 


JOHN   DEEEE 
Founder  of  Deere  Plow  Works,  Molinc 


Vol.  1—17 


260  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

sentative  and  early  industries  were  established.  In  1846,  the  old  Big  Mill  was 
built  at  Janesville  and  became  known  all  up  and  down  the  valley  for  the  excel- 
lence of  its  flour.  "Woolen  mills  were  also  established  at  Janesville  and  Water- 
town,  and  in  the  middle  '70s  the  first  cotton  mill  in  Wisconsin  commenced  oper- 
ations at  Janesville.  The  first  paper  mill  in  the  Badger  State  was  founded  at 
Beloit  in  1856,  and  capitalists  from  that  city  also  established  the  Northwestern 
Paper  Mills  at  Rockton,  at  which  were  made  pails  and  barrels  and  straw  board. 
Dams  had  been  thrown  across  Rock  River  and  power  developed  to  a  greater 
or  less  degree  at  all  these  points,  as  well  as  at  Horicon,  and  a  number  of  iron 
foundries  and  plants  for  the  manufacture  of  agricultural  implements  were 
founded.  Before  the  Civil  war,  the  seeder  factories  had  been  established  at 
Horicon,  which  subsequently  developed  into  the  Van  Brunt  and  Deere  plants. 
Beaver  Dam  also  had  both  woolen  mills  and  agricultural  works  in  operation 
in  the  early  '50s,  and  all  had  their  breweries  which  flourished  for  many  years. 
For  a  number  of  years  after  the  Civil  war,  the  raising  of  tobacco  in  Southern 
Wisconsin  was  struggling  for  a  profitable  foothold.  By  1869-70,  the  cigar- 
leaf  variety  was  being  cultivated  with  especial  success  in  the  Janesville  district, 
and  its  curing  for  the  market  had  become  a  large  and  still  growing  industry. 
The  center  of  the  industry  was  stabilized  at  Edgerton,  not  far  from  the  city 
of  Janesville,  and  it  is  still  a  town  of  tobacco  warehouses. 

Although  Boone  County,  Illinois,  is  more  agricultural  than  industrial,  the 
saw  and  grist  mills  erected  at  Belvidere  on  the  Kishwaukee  River  in  1836  were 
among  the  pioneer  manufactories  in  the  Rock  River  Valley.  Of  late  years  a 
number  of  large  industrial  plants  have  been  located  at  Belvidere.  The  National 
Sewing  Machine  Company  and  the  Keene-Belvidere  Canning  Company  are 
representative. 

Sterling  and  Rock  Falls  are  the  industrial  cities  of  Whiteside  County,  lying 
on  either  side  of  Rock  River,  which  is  here  tapped  by  the  Illinois  &  Mississippi 
(Hennepin)  Canal.  Two  power  dams  have  been  thrown  across  the  Rock  River, 
and  the  Sterling  River  front  has  had  a  remarkable  development.  A  massive 
concrete  bridge  connects  the  two  municipalities,  so  that  they  are  substantially 
one  industrial  community.  The  first  dam  was  built  as  early  as  1854,  and 
decisive  development  commenced  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  in  1867,  when 
A.  P.  Smith  purchased  of  the  Sterling  Hydraulic  Company  one-half  its  avail- 
able power  and  erected  a  mitten  factory  on  the  forty  acres  which  he  had  platted 
in  that  section.  In  1871  came  the  railroad  and  not  long  thereafter  the  Ke3'stone 
Company  was  organized,  the  predecessor  of  the  International  Harvester  Com- 
pany. Followed  plants  for  the  manufacture  of  barbed  wire,  straw  products 
and  other  articles  in  demand. 

In  the  meantime  the  rival  towns  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  had  settled 
their  differences  and  consolidated  as  Sterling.  Several  substantial  factories 
were  established,  as  well  as  two  strong  national  banks.  Sterling  also  received 
much  notice  as  the  home  of  the  first  maker  of  the  gasoline  engine  in  the  West,  if 
not  in  the  country.  John  Charter  had  solved  the  problem  of  operating  an  engine 
by  vaporized  gasoline ;  the  Charter  Gas  Engine  Company  and  its  plant  resulted, 
and  are  still  among  the  leading  industries  of  Sterling.  There  are  about  sixty 
industrial  plants  which  contribute  to  the  prosperity  of  Sterling  and  Rock  Falls, 
including  pattern  works,  wire  mills ;  store  fixture,  interior  finish,  furniture  and 


\ 


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WM^M 


FIRST   LOCATION    OF    L.   C.   HYDE    & 

BRITTAN,  BELOIT 

The    First    Bank    in    Southern    Wisconsin, 

Founded  by  L.  C.  Hyde  on  May  1,  1854 


ORIGINAL  BANK  BUILDING,  PEOPLE'S  TRUST  AND  SAVINGS  BANK 

Established  1857,  Moline 


262  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

carpet  and  rugs  plants ;  bakeries  and  ice  cream  and  flavoring  extracts  manu- 
factories, printing  establishments,  concerns  for  the  manufacture  of  builders 
hardware  and  everything  else  required  or  desired  by  American  communities, 
local  and  without. 

Kewanee,  Henry  County,  was  laid  out  as  a  railroad  town  several  years  before 
the  Civil  war  and  its  leading  industrial  plant  is  the  Kewanee  Boiler  Works,  an 
establishment  known  even  beyond  the  limits  of  the  United  States.  The  city  also 
numbers  among  its  manufactories,  plants  which  turn  out  pumps  and  heating 
apparatus  generally,  agricultural  implements  and  specialties  of  all  kinds. 

In  the  '50s,  Freeport  promised  to  become  quite  a  manufacturing  center  for 
agricultural  implements,  but  other  cities  of  the  Valley  eventually  occupied  the 
field  more  completely.  In  1851,  the  Williams  Threshing  Machine  Company;  in 
1856,  the  Mannys,  father  and  son,  and  in  1857,  the  De  Armit  Plow  Company, 
commenced  the  manufacture  of  various  agricultural  implements.  A  planing 
mill  was  erected  in  1853,  a  steam  sawmill  in  1856  and  a  planing  mill  in  1857. 
Naturally,  the  larger  enterprises  gravitated  to  those  centers  which  were  develop- 
ing the  best  water  powers,  and  most  of  the  electricity  now  used  for  domestic 
and  industrial  purposes  is  energized  from  Dixon.  Freeport  has  few  extensive 
manufactories  and  most  of  those  which  are  in  operation  supply  the  demands  of 
a  limited  territory.  Outside  of  the  shops  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  the 
largest  industry  is  that  operated  by  the  Stover  Manufacturing  and  Engine 
Company,  which  turns  out  engines,  windmills,  grinders  and  hardware  special- 
ties. Other  smaller  concerns  manufacture  windmills,  pumps  and  tanks  and 
drilling  machines.  Another  makes  a  specialty  of  bird  houses,  flower  pots  and 
rustic  conveniences  for  lawn  and  garden.  Scarcely  a  domestic  want  of  the 
household  can  be  named  which  cannot  be  supplied  by  local  manufactories. 

Rochelle,  a  progressive  little  city  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Ogle  Count}' 
on  Kyte  River,  a  branch  of  the  Rock,  is  in  the  midst  of  a  rich  agricultural  and 
live  stock  country,  and  has  become  quite  a  manufacturing  point.  Its  first  im- 
portant industry  was  established  in  1873  and  consisted  of  the  manufacture  of 
Vassar  Swiss  underwear,  and  in  1903  the  canning  of  vegetables  was  introduced. 
Rochelle  is  now  recognized  as  the  largest  pea  packing  town  in  the  United  States, 
the  great  industry  being  conducted  by  what  is  known  as  the  Rochelle  Can- 
neries, Inc.  Other  vegetables  are  canned,  and  it  is  estimated  that  the  two 
plants  thus  engaged  obtain  their  raw  material  from  6,000  acres,  or  about  eight 
square  miles  of  land.  One  of  the  oldest  and  most  extensive  industries  at  Rochelle 
is  conducted  by  the  George  D.  Whitcomb  Company,  founded  in  1878  to  manu- 
facture and  market  coal  mining  machinery,  and  thirty  years  afterward  com- 
mencing to  specialize  in  the  manufacture  of  gasoline  locomotives.  The  Caron 
Spinning  Company  manufactures  worsted  knitting  yarns,  which  are  sent  to 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  other  parts  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  to  Canada. 
Among  the  other  industries  which  have  given  Rochelle  standing  as  a  manufac- 
turing center  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  is  that  conducted  by  the  Kennedy  Cereal 
Mills,  founded  in  1882,  and  devoted  to  the  production  of  rolled  oats  and  feed. 

In  Ogle  County,  at  Mount  Morris,  are  also  a  creameiy  and  concrete  plant 
and  the  large  printing  and  publishing  house  conducted  by  the  Kable  Brothers, 
while  Oregon  is  the  headquarters  of  several  concerns  which  manufacture  player 
pianos. 


Charles  H.  Deere 


J.   M.   Gould 


J.  S.   Gilmorc 


MOLIXK'S  EARLY  FINANCIERS 


264  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

In  the  foregoing  pages  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  touch  upon  only  the 
main  features  of  the  development  of  manufactures  in  the  Rock  River  Valley, 
the  details  being  reserved  for  the  histories  of  the  separate  counties.  The  same 
plan  will  be  followed  in  sketching  the  progress  of  banking  in  the  section  under 
consideration. 

As  a  background  in  the  treatment  of  this  subject  is  the  financial  status  of 
the  banks  in  Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  in  January,  1925.  All  of  them  are  under 
State  supervision.  Illinois  has  501  National  and  1,406  State  banks,  with  a 
total  capital  of  $248,593,500,  a  surplus  of  $241,450,050,  and  deposits  of  $3,747,- 
640,065.  There  are  157  National  banks  in  Wisconsin  and  837  State;  capital, 
$62,224,000;  surplus,  $45,344,810;  deposits,  $854,525,020.  The  total  liabilities 
were  as  follows:  Illinois  banks,  $4,237,183,615;  Wisconsin,  $962,093,830.  The 
resources:     Illinois  banks,  $4,205,924,326;  Wisconsin,  $960,603,423. 

The  pioneer  banks  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  now  in  existence  were  founded 
prior  to  the  Civil  war.  In  1852,  two  banks  were  established  in  Rock  Island. 
They  were  organized  by  Cook,  Sargent  &  Parker  and  Isaac  Negus,  William 
L.  Lee  and  Marcus  B.  Osborn,  and  were  both  located  on  Second  Avenue.  The 
latter,  known  as  the  Rock  Island  Bank,  was  organized  under  the  State  banking 
laws  of  that  period,  which  were  very  liberal.  It  is  now  known  as  the  State  Bank 
of  Rock  Island. 

In  1854,  the  banking  house  of  Briggs  Spafford  &  Penfield  was  founded  in 
Rockford,  and  ten  years  later  its  affairs  were  taken  over  as  the  Third  National 
Bank.  The  first  bank  in  Rockford,  however,  was  opened  in  1848  by  Thomas 
D.  Robertson  and  John  A.  Holland.  The  Winnebago  National  Bank,  which 
has  since  gone  out  of  existence,  was  erected  on  the  pioneer  financial  institution 
in  1865. 

The  bank  of  L.  C.  Hyde  &  Brittan,  in  Beloit,  claims  to  be  the  oldest  institu- 
tion of  the  kind  in  Southern  Wisconsin.  Its  doors  were  opened  May  1,  1854, 
and  somewhat  later  in  the  same  year  were  established  what  are  now  known 
as  the  Bank  of  Watertown  and  the  Commercial  National  and  the  State  banks  of 
Madison.  The  City  National  Bank  of  Dixon  was  the  successor  of  an  institution 
founded  in  that  city  as  early  as  1855,  and  the  original  business  of  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Janesville,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Rock  County  National  and  the 
Jefferson  County  Bank,  was  also  commenced  in  the  year  named.  The  Peoples 
Savings  Bank  and  Trust  Company  of  Moline  was  founded  in  1857. 

Substantially  in  the  order  of  their  geographical  location,  passing  down  the 
Rock  River  Valley,  from  Dodge  County,  Wisconsin,  to  Rock  Island,  Illinois, 
inclusive,  the  condition  of  the  State  and  National  banks,  with  the  years  of  their 
establishment,  is  given  in  the  following  condensed  statements,  uniformly  cov- 
ering the  items  capital,  surplus  and  profits  and  deposits,  and  omitting  all 
figures  under  500  : — 

DODGE  COUNTY 

Surplus  and 
Capital       Profits       Deposits 

State  Bank,  Astico $  20,000    $  10,000    $    206,000       1920 

American  National,  Beaver  Dam 100,000       102,000      1,369,000       1891 


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266  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Surplus  and 

Capital  Profits  Deposits 

Farmers  State  Bank,  Beaver  Dam $  10,000  $  27,730  $    791,970  1911 

Old  National  Bank,  Beaver  Dam 80,000  104,930  1,252,000  1864 

Citizens  State  Bank,  Beaver  Dam ......     40,000  3,970  212,720  1920 

Farmers  Bank,  Brownsville 15,000  11,000  208,000  1908 

State  Bank,  Burnett 10,000  11,820  182,000  1910 

Farmers  State  Bank,  Clyman 10,000  19,000  180,000  1911 

State  Bank,  Fox  Lake 40,000  50,000  530,000  1891 

First  National,   Horicon 30,000  13,000  200,000  1918 

State  Bank,  Horicon 50,000  25,000  525,000  1896 

State  Bank,  Hustisford 30,000  13,620  289,760  1902 

Commercial  State,  Iron  Ridge 30,000  6,000  300,000  1905 

Citizens  Bank,   Juneau 40,000  34,000  959,000  1891 

State  Bank,  Knowles 15,000  6,000  163,000  1915 

State  Bank,  Lebanon 25,000  9,870  402,620  1914 

State  Bank,  Lomira 25,000  10,000  225,000  1903 

First  National  Bank,  Mayville 50,000  13,710  306,000  1914 

Ruedebusch  Mutual  Savings,  Mayville...     70,000  52,000  800,000  1892 

Farmers  Exchange  Bank,  Neosho 10,000  1,000  234,860  1905 

Peoples  State  Bank,  Reeseville 40,000  23,780  323,000  1911 

State  Bank,  Rubicon 10,000  7,000  77,000  1914 

State  Bank,  Theresa 25,000  7,000  304,000  1905 

State  Bank,  Woodland 10,000  5,000  147,000  1914 

ROCK    COUNTY 

Savings  Bank,  Beloit $360,000  $3,662,000  1881 

State  Bank,  Beloit $100,000  157,000  3,405,000  1892 

L.  C.  Hyde  &  Brittan,  Beloit 50,000  22,000  1,188,000  1854 

Second  National,  Beloit 50,000  126,000  1,953,000  1882 

Citizens  Bank,  Clinton 50,000  24,520  542,580  1882 

State  Bank,  Clinton 35,000  10,000  225,000  1912 

First  National,  Edgerton 50,000  17,820  552,660  1903 

Tobacco  Exchange,  Edgerton 50,000  83,000  820,900  1897 

Bank  of  Evansville,  Evansville 25,000  17,860  547,540  1870 

Farmers    and     Merchants     State     Bank, 

Evansville  25,000  15,950  566,000  1907 

State  Bank,  Footville 20,000  11,000  348,640  1909 

Bower  City  Bank,  Janesville 50,000  87,640  750,000  1895 

Merchants  &  Savings,  Janesville 300,000  277,510  2,596,000  1875 

First  National,  Janesville 200,000  304,900  2,770,000  1855 

Rock  County  National,  Janesville 100,000  114,700  1,136,000  1855 

Rock  County  Savings  &  Trust  Co.,  Janes- 
ville         50,000  43,000  597,000  1912 

Bank  of  Milton,  Milton 15,000  22,500  219,000  1884 

Farmers  Bank,  Milton  Junction 25,000  27,530  525,000  1911 

State  Bank,  Milton  Junction 15,000  15,000  107,000  1883 


J.  F.  Robinson 


Morris  Roscnfie'd 


P.  L.  Mitchell  T.  J.  Robinson 

ROCK    ISLAND    EARLY    DAY    BANKERS 


268 


THE  KOCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


DANE   COUNTY 

Capital 

State  Bank,  Belleville $  30,000 

Citizens  State,  Belleville 20,000 

State  Bank,  Black  Earth 25,000 

State  Bank,  Blue  Mounds 15,000 

Bank  of  Cambridge,  Cambridge 25,000 

State  Bank,  Cottage  Grove 25,000 

State  Bank,  Dane 12,000 

First  National  Bank,  Deerfield 30,000 

Bank  of  Deerfield,  Deerfield 50,000 

State  Bank,  De  Forest 50,000 

Bank  of  De  Forest,  De  Forest. 25,000 

American  Exchange,  Madison 75,000 

Bank  of  the  Commonwealth,  Madison . .  .  50,000 

Bank  of  Wisconsin,  Madison 500,000 

Capital  City  Bank,  Madison 200,000 

Central  Wis.  Trust  Co.,  Madison 300,000 

Commercial  National,  Madison 300,000 

First  National,  Madison 800,000 

Randall  State  Bank,  Madison 25,000 

Savings,  Loan  &  Trust  Co.,  Madison 250,000 

Security  State  Bank,  Madison 50,000 

South  Side  State  Bank,  Madison 25,000 

State  Bank,  Madison 100,000 

Bank  of  Marshall,  Marshall 15,000 

Peoples  State  Bank,  Mazomanie 25,000 

State  Bank,  McFarland 15,000 

Bank  of  Middleton,  Middleton 25,000 

State  Bank,  Morrisonville 20,000 

State  Bank,  Mount  Horeb 50,000 

Mount  Horeb  Bank,  Mount  Horeb 70,000 

Citizens  National,  Stoughton 50,000 

First  National,  Stoughton 50,000 

State  Bank,  Stoughton 25,000 

Bank  of  Sun  Prairie,  Sun  Prairie 25,000 

Farmers  &  Merchants,  Sun  Prairie 40,000 

State  Bank,  Waunakee 25,000 

Farmers  State  Bank,  Waunakee 15,000 

JEFFERSON  COUNTY 

Citizens  State,  Fort  Atkinson $  25,000 

First  National,  Fort  Atkinson 100,000 

Savings  Bank,  Fort  Atkinson 40,000 

Bank  of  Helenville,  Helenville 20,000 

Jefferson  County,  Jefferson 100,000 

Farmers  &  Merchants,  Jefferson 75,000 


Surplus  and 

Profits  Deposits 

$  18,000    $    352,000 

17,000  406,880 

11,770  311,680 

6,760  108,000 

10,000  400,000 

8,800  228,000 

1,000  215,000 

7,000  159,630 

17,000  328,000 

15,850  374,570 

3,000  90,000 

40,000  1,063,780 

15,770  486,000 

212,800  4,430,790 

200,930  2,077,000 

144,000  2,081,000 

65,750  222,840 

121,870  8,610,000 

7,000  177,860 

100,880  1,162,500 

23,000  800,000 

2,000  105,000 

105,000  1,804,750 

7,900  266,000 

10,000  304,500 

17,790  133,000 

14,850  442,000 

8,780  180,000 

24,000  640,960 

22,880  611,980 

58,000  629,940 

140,000  700,000 

60,000  450,000 

25,000  390,000 

17,980  740,810 

31,800  300,000 

6,000  275,000 


$  20,000 
94,000 
22,780 
14,900 
77,000 
86,620 


$ 


240,000 
960,940 
564,990 
232,000 
1,313,000 
1,253,000 


1903 
1903 
1904 
1910 
1899 
1914 
1911 
1920 
1887 
1902 
1922 
1871 
1915 
1893 
1883 
1906 
1908 
1854 
1914 
1890 
1912 
1923 
1854 
1903 
1891 
1905 
1903 
1902 
1901 
1891 
1906 
1899 
1877 
1897 
1893 
1902 
1912 


1884 
1910 
1910 
1914 
1855 
1873 


OLD  SECOND  NATIONAL  BANK 


ROCKFORD'S  FIRST  BANK,  OPENED  IX  1848 


270 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


Capital 
Mansfield  State  Bank,  Johnson  Creek... $  15,000 
Farmers  &  Merchants  State,  Waterloo .  .  .     50,000 

State  Bank,  Waterloo 30,000 

Farmers  &  Citizens,  Watertown 50,000 

Merchants  National,  Watertown 200,000 

Wisconsin  National,  Watertown 75,000 

Bank  of  Watertown,  Watertown 150,000 


Surplus  and 

Profits 

Deposits 

$  18,710 

$  247,590 

1901 

43,000 

783,700 

1897 

11,000 

251,000 

1913 

50,640 

674,000 

1912 

146,550 

1,182,000 

1892 

95,000 

840,000 

1865 

39,000 

1,604,000 

1854 

The  four  counties  preceding  are  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  of  Wisconsin; 
the  eight  which  follow,  in  Illinois. 


WINNEBAGO    COUNTY 

State  Bank,  Cherry  Valley .  .$  25,000 

Citizens  State,  Durand 30,000 

State  Bank,  Durand 50,000 

Farmers  State,  Pecatonica 75,000 

State  Bank,  Pecatonica 40,000 

Commercial   National,   Rockf ord 200,000 

Forest  City  Natl.,  Rockf  ord 300,000 

Manufacturers  Natl.,  Rockford 400,000 

Peoples  Bk.  &  Tr.  Co.,  Rockford 250,000 

Rockford  Natl.  Bank,  Rockford 750,000 

Rockford  Trust  Co.,  Rockford 100,000 

Security  Natl.  Bank,  Rockford 200,000 

Swedish-American  Natl.  Bk,  Rockford..  125,000 

Third  Natl.  Bank,  Rockford 500,000 

State  Bank,  Seward 40,000 

State  Bank,  Winnebago 25,000 

STEPHENSON   COUNTY 

State  Bank,  Dakota $  25,000 

Farmers  Bank,  Davis 25,000 

First  Natl.  Bank,  Freeport 150,000 

Tr.  &  Savgs.  Bk.,  Freeport 100,000 

Guaranty  T.  &  Sav.,  Freeport 100,000 

Knowlton  State  Bk.,  Freeport 125,000 

Second  Natl.  Bk.,  Freeport 150,000 

Security  Tr.  Co.,  Freeport 100,000 

State  Bank,  Freeport 150,000 

Stephenson  Co.  Bank,  Freeport 150,000 

German- American  State,  German  Vallej^.  25,000 

State  Bank,  Kent 30,000 

Citizens  State,  Lena 50,000 

State  Bank,  Lena 50,000 

State  Bank,  Orangeville 25,000 


$  33,900    $    265,570       1910 


13,630 

184,000 

1913 

49,000 

347,000 

1904 

58,000 

485,000 

1908 

30,000 

390,000 

1873 

67,790 

807,000 

1920 

300,920 

3,215,940 

1890 

507,000 

3,637,810 

1888 

213,000 

2,838,890 

1869 

329,000 

8,153,510 

1871 

131,510 

167,000 

1918 

73,700 

1,171,510 

1920 

237,600 

2,911,000 

1910 

358,940 

4,072,000 

1854 

5,000 

130,000 

1921 

28,520 

306,000 

1912 

$  25,590    $    253,730      1911 


27,000 

390,000 

1895 

449,530 

2,294,000 

1864 

21,610 

539,820 

1911 

16,000 

240,550 

1923 

6,000 

461,700 

1869 

102,520 

1,084,770 

1864 

13,000 

224,000 

1915 

417,560 

1,864,740 

1891 

270,000 

1,379,000 

1876 

9,000 

102,000 

1907 

5,810 

130,000 

1923 

32,000 

619,000 

1880 

24,000 

417,790 

1867 

1,000 

180,000 

1909 

THOMAS  D.  ROBERTSOX 
One  of  Etockford's  Master  Financiers 


272 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


Surplus  and 

Capital  Profits  Deposits 

State  Bank,  Rock  City $  25,000  $  34,000  $    358,000  1911 

State  Bank,  Rock  Grove 30,000  9,000  110,000  1920 

State  Bank,  Winslow 25,000  20,000  251,000  1915 

BOONE    COUNTY 

Farmers  State,  Belvidere $  75,000  $  86,000  $    779,530  1908 

First  National,  Belvidere 75,000  40,560  623,000  1885 

Peoples  Bank,  Belvidere 100,000  140,610  1,052,000  1889 

Second  National,   Belvidere 100,000  93,000  685,000  1884 

National  Bank,  Caledonia 25,000  9,000  99,600  1914 

Capron  Bank,  Capron 35,000  25,930  215,660  1881 

Poplar  Grove  Bank,  Poplar  Grove 25,000  22,520  254,730  1903 

OGLE   COUNTY 

Byron  State  Bk.,  Byron $  60,000  $     6,000  $    400,000  1921 

Chana  Banking  Co.,  Chana 25,000  3,570  81,000  1913 

Farmers  Bank,  Creston 30,000  23,000  203,540  1913 

Commercial  State,  Foreston 35,000  35,000  350,000  1913 

State  Bank,  Foreston 75,000  54,000  676,940  1887 

State  Bank,  Holcomb 100,000  18,000  330,000  1892 

Farmers  Bank,  Kings 30,000  19,500  200,000  1887 

State  Bank,  Leaf  River 25,000  8,000  268,000  1907 

State  Bank,  Monroe  Center 50,000  46,000  383,790  1903 

Citizens  State,  Mt  Morris 80,000  45,000  500,000  1893 

Ogle  County  State,  Oregon 100,000  26,000  1,107,800  1884 

State  Savings,  Oregon 30,000  35,000  483,680  1907 

Peoples  L.  &  Tr.  Co.,  Rochelle 100,000  41,550  812,000  1899 

National  Bank,  Rochelle 50,000  30,000  410,000  1871 

Tr.  &  Savgs.  Bk.,  Rochelle 150,000  89,000  987,000  1881 

Stillman  Valley  Bank,  Stillman  Valley..     50,000  30,930  476,000  1882 

LEE    COUNTY 

State  Bank,  Amboy $  50,000  $     5,000  $   275,000  1912 

First  National,  Amboy 100,000  137,000  1,167,000  1868 

Farmers  State,  Ashton 35,000  14,000  210,000  1907 

Ashton  Bank,  Ashton 50,000  128,000  715,000  1869 

First  National,  Compton 25,000  18,900  211,780  1903 

City  National,  Dixon 100,000  214,000  2,201,600  1855 

Dixon  National,  Dixon 100,000  175,000  1,953,850  1871 

Dixon  Tr.  &  Savgs.  Bk.,  Dixon 100,000  32,740  443,240  1919 

State  Bank,  Harmon 15,000  660  47,000  1921 

First  National,  Steward 50,000  20,000  140,000  1902 

Farmers  State,  Sublette 50,000  12,500  119,000  1899 

H.  F.  Gehant  Bk.  Co.,  West  Brooklyn. .  .     50,000  20,000  320,000  1897 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


273 


WHITESIDE    COUNTY 


Capital 

First  Tr.  &  Savgs.,  Albany $  25,000 

State  Bank,  Albany 25,000 

State  Bank,  Fenton 25,000 

Fulton  Bank,  Fulton , 75,000 

W.  Co.  State  Bank,  Fulton 50,000 

First  State  Bank,  Lyndon 25,000 

First  Natl.,  Morrison 100,000 

State  Bank,  Morrison 25,000 

Smith  Tr.  &  Savgs.,  Morrison 100,000 

( 'itizens  State,  Prophetstown 50,000 

Farmers  National,   Prophetstown 60,000 

First  National,  Rock  Falls 50,000 

Farmers  &  Merch.,  Sterling 100,000 

First  National,  Sterling 200,000 

First  Tr.  &  Savgs.,  Sterling 50,000 

state  Bank,  Sterling 100,000 

Sterling  National,  Sterling 100,000 

First  National,  Tampico 25,000 

HENRY   COUNTY 

Farmers  State,  Alpha $  30,000 

Farmers  State,  Annawan 25,000 

state  Bank,  Annawan 30,000 

Tr.  &  Savgs.,  Atkinson 50,000 

Farmers  State,  Atkinson 25,000 

Bank  of  Bishop  Hill 20,000 

Farmers  National,  Cambridge 50,000 

First  National,  Cambridge 50,000 

Farmers  Coop.  State,  Galva 100,000 

First  National,  Galva 60,000 

L.  M.  Yofum  &  Co.,  Galva 100,000 

Central  Tr.  &  Savgs.,  Geneseo 100,000 

Farmers  National,   Geneseo 50,000 

First  National,  Geneseo 200,000 

Farmers  State,  Hooppole 25,000 

First  National,  Kewanee 75,000 

State  Savings,  Kewanee 100,000 

Union  State  Savings,  Kewanee 150,000 

Savings  Bank  of  Kewanee,  Kewanee.  .  . .  200,000 

Opheim  State  Bank,  Opheim 10,000 

Farmers  State  Bank,  Orion 30,000 

State  Bank,  Orion 50,000 

First  Natl.  Bank,  Woodhull 25,000 

State  Bank,  Woodhull 40,000 


Surplus  and 

Profits 

Deposits 

$  29,000 

$  304,000 

1902 

17,000 

211,000 

1904 

2,500 

53,000 

1921 

60,680 

1,023,000 

1902 

13,000 

460,000 

1914 

1,570 

74,760 

1914 

95,000 

464,590 

1865 

37,000 

462,000 

1911 

200,760 

1,221,790 

1878 

21,650 

420,000 

1899 

30,690 

525,000 

1902 

30,000 

765,000 

1902 

4,000 

281,000 

1922 

153,710 

1,698,890 

1870 

61,670 

839,000 

1916 

30,000 

425,000 

1906 

240,000 

1,639,910 

1882 

16,660 

148,000 

1908 

$  10,000    $    143,000       1910 


9,970 

311,790 

1916 

2,540 

225,770 

1898 

36,000 

496,000 

1881 

12,000 

300,000 

1913 

10,000 

188,000 

1921 

121,000 

905,000 

1881 

138,000 

790,000 

1881 

60,780 

635,990 

1911 

54,600 

915,000 

1882 

63,000 

821,840 

1865 

98,000 

936,650 

1907 

137,000 

820,000 

1876 

200,000 

1,360,000 

1864 

4,000 

100,000 

1917 

204,720 

1,902,880 

1871 

144,000 

690,680 

1912 

63,540 

1,144,920 

1882 

28,000 

1,221,580 

1902 

52,560 

1920 

62,000 

449,000 

1908 

64,000 

498,000 

1890 

16,640 

137,000 

1924 

40,000 

439,840 

1911 

274 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


ROCK  ISLAND   COUNTY 


Capital 

State  Bank,  Cordova $  15,000 

State  Bank,  Hillsdale 25,000 

Commercial  Savgs.,  Moline 100,000 

Fifth  Ave.  Tr.  &  Savgs.,  Moline 150,000 

Mechanics  &  Merch.,  Moline 200,000 

Trust  &  Savgs.,  Moline 300,000 

Peoples  Sav.  Bk.  &  Tr.  Co.,  Moline 250,000 

State  Sav.  Bk.  &  Tr.  Co.,  Moline 300,000 

State  Bank,  Port  Byron 75,000 

Farmers  State  Bank,  Reynolds 25,000 

State  Bank,  Reynolds 40,000 

American  Tr.  &  Savgs.,  Rock  Island.  . . .  200,000 

Central  Tr.  &  Savgs.,  Rock  Island 200,000 

First  Tr.  &  Savgs.,  Rock  Island 200,000 

Peoples  National,  Rock  Island 100,000 

State  Bank,  Rock  Island 200,000 

Rock  Island  Savings  Bank,  Rock  Island.  200,000 

State  Bank,  Taylor  Ridge 35,000 


Surplus  and 

Profits 

Deposits 

$  5,000 

$  110,000 

1916 

4,000 

112,000 

1917 

21,700 

1,442,690 

1912 

25,000 

435,000 

1920 

65,000 

1,900,000 

1910 

243,710 

4,581,520 

1869 

625,000 

6,811,870 

1857 

270,000 

4,586,570 

1869 

35,000 

-  900,000 

1863 

18,850 

385,590 

1903 

17,380 

467,000 

1888 

57,000 

1,249,000 

1912 

446,660 

5,697,840 

1899 

65,000 

1,223,710 

1920 

49,000 

809,000 

1874 

220,000 

2,469,650 

1852 

464,760 

4,715,510 

1890 

9,000 

227,000 

1905 

THE  OLD  MILL,  MOEKISON 


CHAPTER  XII 
BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  THE  VALLEY 

THE    JUDICIARY    OP    ILLINOIS MEMBERS   OF    THE   SUPREME   COURT    FROM    THE    ROCK 

RIVER  VALLEY FLOYD  E.  THOMPSON,  JAMES  II.  CARTWRIGHT  AND  THOMAS  FORD 

THE  CIRCUIT  COURTS  AND  JUDGES — ALLEN  C.  FULLER  AND  CHARLES  E.  FULLER  OF 

BELVIDERE — THE  WISCONSIN    JUDICIARY EDWARD   V.   WHITON,    OF   JANESVILLE 

HARLOW  S.  ORTON  AND  SILAS  U.  PINNEY,  OF  MADISON JOHN  B.   CASSODAY,  ALSO 

OF  JANESVILLE — BIRR  W.  JONES,  OF  DANE  COUNTY HERMAN  L.  EKERN,  ATTOR- 
NEY GENERAL,  OF  MADISON — THE  LATE  ROBERT  M.  LA  FOLLETTE,  THE  WISCONSIN 

SENATOR WILLIAM    F.    VILAS,   ALSO   A   NATIONAL   CHARACTER MATTHEW    H.    CAR- 

PENTER — JAXLSYILLE  AND  ROCKFORD,  THE  HOME  TOWNS  OF  FOUR  PIONEER  WOM- 
EN  LAWYERS OTHER  NOTED  FIGURES  OF  ROCK  COUNTY  AND  THE  TWELFTH  CIR- 
CUIT— JUDGE    GEORGE    GRIMM    ON    "JUDICIAL    CONCILIATION" CIRCUIT     JUDGES 

OF  WINNEBAGO  COUNTY THOMAS  C.  BROWNE,  BENJAMIN  R.  SHELDON  AND  WIL- 
LIAM   BROWN — JOSEPH    M.    BAILEY,    OF    FREEPORT,    JOHN    V.    EUSTACE,    OF    DIXON, 

JAMES  H.   CARTWRIGHT,  OF  OREGON,  AND  OTHERS SELDEN   M.   CHURCH,   PIONEER 

AND   FIRST    COUNTY   JUDGE,    OF    ROCKFORD THE   BAR   OF    WINNEBAGO    COUNTY 

CHRISTOPHER  M.  BRAZEE,  WILLIAM  LATHROP,  JAMES  L.  LOOP  AND  OTLIERS GEN- 
ERAL  STEPHEN  A.   HURLBUT,   WAR   ATTORNEY  GENERAL,    OF   BELVIDERE — THE   BAR 

OF  OGLE  COUNTY — THOMAS   FORD  AND   EDWARD   S.   LELAND,    PIONEER  LAWYERS 

FAMOUS    TRIAL    AT    DIXON    OF    THE    BANDITTI    OF    THE    PRAIRIES — JUDGE    THOMAS 

FORD  PRESIDES  OVER  THE  COURT ONE  OF  THE  STRANGE  TRIALS  OF  HISTORY — LEE 

COUNTY  JUDGES  AND  LAWYERS — EDWARD  SOUTIIW1CK  AND  OTHER  PIONEER  ATTOR- 
NEYS— PROMINENCE  OF  COUNTY  IN  FURNISHING  CIRCUIT  JUDGES — SHERWOOD 
DIXON,  THE  FOUNDER  OF  FAMOUS  LAW  FIRMS — JAMES  M 'COY,  LONG  NESTOR  OF 
WHITESIDE  BAR — FRANK  E.   ANDREWS,  FATHER  OF  THE  HENNEPIN  CANAL  FEEDER 

HENRY  COUNTY  BENCH  AND  BAR GENERAL  JOHN  II.  HOWE — THE  NOTED  BISHOP 

HILL  MURDER ROCK  ISLAND  COUNTY — ITS  CIRCUIT  JUDGES  AND  LEADING  ATTOR- 
NEYS— J.    W'lLSON    DRURY    AND    WILLIAM    A.    MEESE — THE    MURDER    OF    COLONEL 

GEORGE   DAVENPORT — THREE   OF   THE   OUTLAWS  PUBLICLY    HUNG FIRST   PRIVATE 

LXECUTION  IN  ROCK  ISLAND  COUNTY — OTHER  CASES  AND  CRIMES TRIALS  OF  ROCK 

ISLAND  VICE  GANG. 

The  Rock  River  Valley  has  been  represented  in  the  personnel  of  the  judiciary 
and  bar  of  Wisconsin  and  Illinois  by  many  able  and  even  distinguished  men  and 
women.  After  describing  generally  the  composition  of  the  courts  in  these  states, 
the  remainder  of  the  chapter  will  be  substantially  devoted  to  a  list  of  those  from 
the  Valley  who  have  been  identified  with  the  various  bodies  of  the  judiciary 
and  with  the  practice  of  their  profession,  as  wyell  as  a  mention  of  some  of  the 
cases  which  have  become  noted  in  legal  annals. 

Vol.  1—18 

275 


276  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


THE   JUDICIARY   OF   ILLINOIS 


The  judicial  department  of  the  Illinois  State  Government  is  defined  in  the 
constitution  of  1870,  with  the  various  amendments  incorporated  with  that  instru- 
ment. The  Supreme  Court  consists  of  seven  justices,  one  from  each  district  and 
elected  for  a  term  of  nine  years.  That  body  chooses  one  of  its  members  as  chief 
justice.  The  counties  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  of  Illinois  are  in  three  of  the 
Supreme  Court  districts — Rock  Island  County,  in  the  Fourth;  Henry  County, 
in  the  Fifth,  and  Stephenson,  Whiteside,  Winnebago,  Boone,  Lee  and  Ogle,  in 
the  Sixth. 

MEMBERS  OP   THE  SUPREME  COURT    FROM   THE  VALLEY 

Floyd  E.  Thompson,  of  Rock  Island,  chief  justice  and  representing  the 
Fourth  District,  is  a  native  of  Greene  County,  Illinois,  and  is  but  thirty-eight 
years  of  age.  In  1911,  soon  after  his  admission  to  the  bar,  he  located  at  East 
Moline  and  practiced  law  in  Rock  Island  County  until  his  election  to  the  State 
Supreme  bench  in  1919  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of  Justice 
George  A.  Cooke.  He  was  reelected  for  the  full  term  in  June,  1921,  running 
60,000  ahead  of  his  party  vote.  Justice  Thompson  had  served  as  state's  attor- 
ney of  Rock  Island  County  in  1912  and  1919. 

Justice  James  H.  Cartwright,  of  the  Sixth  District,  is  a  veteran  and  honored 
judge  of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  and  has  long  claimed  Oregon  as  his  home  town. 
He  was  born  in  Iowa  before  it  became  a  State  and  received  his  education  at 
Mount  Morris  Seminary  and  the  University  of  Michigan.  His  father  was  one 
of  the  most  widely  known  Baptist  missionaries  of  Iowa  and  Illinois.  Judge 
Cartwright  served  in  the  Civil  war  and  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  with 
the  rank  of  captain.  He  was  elected  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  in  1888,  re- 
elected in  1891  and  assigned  to  the  Appellate  bench  of  the  Second  District.  In 
1895,  he  was  elected  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by 
the  death  of  Justice  Joseph  M.  Bailey,  and  was  reelected  in  1897,  1906,  1915 
and  1924. 

In  this  connection  it  is  well  to  remember  that  Thomas  Ford  was  elevated  from 
the  Circuit  to  the  Supreme  bench  in  February,  1843,  and  resigned  in  August, 
1842,  to  accept  the  nomination  for  governor. 

The  Appellate  courts,  four  in  number,  are  provided  for  the  appeal  from  the 
Circuit  courts  of  certain  cases  designated  by  the  General  Assembly.  Residents 
in  the  Rock  River  Valley  who  have  served  on  this  bench  from  the  Second  Dis- 
trict are  as  follows :  G.  W.  Pleasants,  Rock  Island,  assigned  in  1879  and  1882 ; 
James  H.  Cartwright,  Oregon,  1891,  1894 ;  John  D.  Crabtree,  Dixon,  1897,  1900. 
Assignments  from  the  Third  District :  G.  W.  Pleasants,  Rock  Island,  1885,  1888, 
1891,  1894 ;  W.  H.  Gest,  Rock  Island,  1904 ;  Frank  D.  Ramsay,  Morrison,  1905 ; 
Arthur  H.  Frost,  Rockford,  1911;  Emery  C.  Graves,  Geneseo,  1915,  1918;  Oscar 
E.  Heard,  Freeport,  1921.  From  the  Fourth  District:  Hiram  Bigelow,  1897, 
1900. 

THE  CIRCUIT  COURTS  AND   JUDGES 

The  Circuit  courts  have  original  jurisdiction  of  all  causes  in  law  and  equity, 
the  General  Assembly  dividing  the  State  into  circuits  for  that  purpose  and  spe- 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  277 

cial  provision  being  made  lor  Cook  County.  Outside  of  Cook  County,  there  are 
now  seventeen  circuits.  Under  the  constitution  of  1818,  nine  judieial  circuits 
were  created.  In  1835  and  is:}!),  while  a  resident  of  Oregon,  Thomas  Ford  was 
c missioned  to  serve  both  in  the  Sixth  and  Ninth  Circuits.  Under  the  consti- 
tution of  1848,  the  State  was  divided  at  different  periods,  as  its  population  in- 
creased, into  thirty  circuits.  George  W.  Pleasants,  of  Rock  Island,  was  commis- 
sioned as  judge  of  the  Sixth  Circuit,  in  1867,  and  Allen  C.  Fuller,  of  Belvidere, 
of  the  Thirteenth  Circuit,  in  1861. 

Judge  Fuller  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  public  men  in  the  State.  He 
was  a  Connecticut  man,  educated  in  the  law  and  admitted  to  practice  in  New 
York,  and  in  1846  located  at  Belvidere,  Boone  County.  About  a  year  after  he 
was  elected  circuit  judge,  Governor  Yates  appointed  him  adjutant  general  and 
he  resigned  from  the  bench  to  enter  upon  his  duties.  He  continued  to  hold  that 
important  office  until  January,  1865,  and  during  the  following  decade  served 
ably  in  both  houses  of  the  General  Assembly.  Judge  Fuller  earned  leadershi]  • 
as  one  of  the  prominent  republicans  of  Illinois  and  was  twice  sent  to  Washing- 
ton by  his  party  as  presidential  elector.  He  died  in  December,  1901.  It  i; 
believed  that,  with  the  exception  of  Governor  Yates,  no  name  is  mentioned  so 
frequently  and  laudably  in  the  state  military  affairs  of  the  Civil  war  as  that  of 
General  Fuller.  The  War  Governor  himself  thus  refers  to  his  services:  "1 
acknowledge  myself  deeply  indebted  to  General  Fuller  in  the  management  of 
the  militar>-  affairs  of  the  State.  He  has  been  a  most  able,  faithful  and  energetic 
officer,  and  is  entitled  to  the  gratitude  of  the  State." 

In  1876,  under  the  constitution  of  1870,  the  State  was  divided  into  twenty- 
six  circuits.  William  Brown,  of  Rockford,  was  elected  from  the  First;  William 
W.  Heaton,  of  Dixon,  from  the  Third,  and  G.  W.  Pleasants,  of  Rock  Island, 
from  the  Fifth.  Then,  in  1877,  the  number  was  decreased  to  thirteen,  the  elec- 
tion to  provide  judges  for  the  circuits  having  occurred  in  June,  1873.  The  Thir- 
teenth was  the  one  which  especially  concerned  the  Rock  River  Valley.  W.  W. 
Heaton,  of  Dixon,  who  had  been  elected  June  16,  1873,  died  March  1,  1878,  and 
was  succeeded  by  John  V.  Eustace,  who  was  elected  for  the  six-year  term  in 
June,  1879.  He  was  reelected  in  1885,  but  died  in  1888  and  was  succeeded  by 
James  II.  Cartwright,  of  Oregon.  Judge  Cartwright  was  elected  in  June,  1891, 
and  J.  G.  Carver,  of  Rockford,  finished  his  ( Cartwright 's)  uncompleted  term 
caused  by  resignation  and  died  in  June,  1897.  William  Brown  of  Rockford  was 
elected  for  three  successive  terms  in  1873,  1879  and  1885. 

Joseph  M.  Bailey,  of  Freeport,  was  a  leading  member  of  the  bench  and  bar 
of  Illinois  for  nearly  forty  years.  He  received  a  university  education  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  of  New  York  the  year  before  he  located  at  Freeport  (1856). 
After  a  decade  of  profitable  and  laudable  practice  in  that  city  he  served  two 
terms  in  the  General  Assembly,  in  which  he  was  especially  prominent  in  secur- 
ing restrictive  legislation  concerning  railroads.  He  was  first  elected  to  the  bench 
of  the  Thirteenth  Circuit  in  1877,  and  was  reelected  in  1879  and  1885.  At  his 
resignation  in  1888  he  was  succeeded  by  John  D.  Crabtree,  who  was  elected  in 
1891. 

Under  the  judicial  apportionment  of  1897,  the  number  of  circuits  was  in- 
creased from  thirteen  to  seventeen,  outside  of  Cook  County.  By  the  new  divi- 
sion, the  Rock  River  Valley  of  Illinois  was  included  in  the  Fourteenth,  Fifteenth 


278  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

and  Seventeenth  Circuits.  The  judicial  term  remained  at  six  years.  Hiram 
Bigelow,  of  Galva,  Henry  County,  was  elected  to  the  new  Fourteenth  Circuit  in 
June,  1897,  and  William  H.  Gest,  of  Rock  Island,  and  Frank  D.  Ramsay,  of 
Morrison,  were  chosen  as  his  associates  at  the  same  time.  Messrs,  Gest  and  Ram- 
say were  reelected  in  1903,  and  the  third  judge  of  the  Fourteenth  Circuit  bench 
returned  in  that  year  was  Emery  C.  Graves,  of  Geneseo.  They  were  all  chosen 
to  another  term  and  commissioned  in  June,  1909.  Robert  W.  Olmstead,  of  Rock 
Island,  succeeded  Judge  Gest  in  November,  1912.  Judges  Ramsay  and  Graves 
commenced  another  term  in  June,  1915,  and  Emery  Graves,  of  Geneseo,  was 
reelected  in  June,  1921.  Nels  A.  Larson,  of  Moline,  also  commenced  his  term  at 
that  time,  and  Charles  J.  Searle,  of  Rock  Island,  first  ascended  the  Circuit  bench 
in  December,  1922. 

Judge  John  D.  Crabtree,  who  had  served  for  a  number  of  years  on  the  Thir- 
teenth Circuit  bench  was  a  member  of  the  new  Fifteenth  Circuit  at  the  time  of 
his  death  in  1902.  Richard  S.  Farrand,  also  of  Dixon,  who  succeeded  him  was 
elected  to  that  bench  in  June,  1903,  reelected  in  1909  and  1915,  and  died  in 
judicial  service  in  August,  1920.  Oscar  E.  Heard,  of  Freeport,  was  elected  t 
the  Fifteenth  Circuit  Court  in  June,  1915,  and  reelected  in  1921;  Harry  Ed- 
wards, of  Dixon,  also  ascended  it  at  the  same  time. 

In  June,  1897,  Charles  E.  Fuller,  of  Belvidere,  succeeded  John  C.  Carver, 
deceased,  who  had  been  a  judge  of  the  old  Thirteenth  Circuit  and  had  been 
carried  over  to  the  new  Seventeenth.  He  resigned  in  1902  to  push  his  congres- 
sional aspirations,  and  served  in  the  House  of  Representatives  from  1903  to 
1913,  1915  to  1921,  and  1923  to  1925.  Mr.  Fuller  represents  the  Twelfth  Con- 
gressional District,  which  includes  Boone  and  Winnebago  counties  as  its  northern 
section.  He  is  the  only  congressman  in  Illinois  who  resides  in  the  Rock  River 
Valley.  Prior  to  his  service  as  congressman,  he  had  been  city  and  state's  attor- 
ney and  concluded  three  terms  in  the  lower  house  of  the  Illinois  Legislature  and 
two  terms  in  the  State  Senate.  He  was  a  colonel  in  the  Spanish-American  war 
and  is  altogether  a  public  man  of  high  standing. 

Arthur  H.  Frost,  of  Rockford,  succeeded  Judge  Fuller  in  the  Seventeenth 
Circuit  in  March,  1902,  was  elected  in  June,  1903,  and  died  on  the  bench  in 
November,  1917.  Robert  W.  Wright,  of  Belvidere,  was  elected  to  the  Seven- 
teenth Circuit  bench  in  June,  1903,  was  reelected  at  the  expiration  of  his  term 
and  was  succeeded  by  Charles  Whitney,  of  Waukegan,  in  April,  1911.  Robert 
K.  Welsh,  of  Rockford,  who  succeeded  Judge  Frost  in  1917,  was  elected  to  the 
full  term  in  June,  1921.  Earl  D.  Reynolds,  of  Rockford,  ascended  the  bench 
in  October,  1923. 

The  constitution  provides  for  the  election  of  a  judge  and  clerk  of  each 
county,  with  a  four-years'  term  of  office,  although  the  General  Assembly  is 
empowered  to  create  judicial  districts  of  two  or  more  contiguous  counties.  The 
Legislature  may  also  provide  for  the  establishment  of  a  Probate  Court  in  each 
county  having  a  population  of  over  50,000.  Otherwise  the  county  courts  have 
jurisdiction  in  all  matters  of  probate  and  the  settlement  of  estates  of  deceased 
persons,  They  are  also  courts  of  record  and  have  original  jurisdiction  in  mat- 
ters relating  to  apprentices,  the  collection  of  taxes  and  assessments  and  such 
other  jurisdiction  as  may  be  provided  by  general  law.  In  addition  to  the  courts 
mentioned,  there  are  those  presided  over  by  justices  of  the  peace  and  police  mag- 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  279 

istrates,  special  consideration  of  which  is  reserved  for  the  separate  histories  of 
the  counties. 

THE    WISCONSIN    JUDICIARY 

The  courts  of  Wisconsin,  as  the  other  institutions  of  the  commonwealth,  came 
into  being  by  authority  of  the  constitution  of  1848,  which  is  noteworthy  for  the 
few  amendments  which  have  been  added  to  the  original  instrument.  By  it,  the 
judicial  power  of  the  State,  both  as  to  matters  of  law  and  equity,  is  vested  in 
the  Supreme,  County  and  Circuit  courts,  and  in  justices  of  the  peace.  The 
office  of  justice  of  the  peace  is  one  of  great  antiquity  in  the  English  system  of 
jurisprudence  and  in  American  communities  has  always  been  a  very  important 
agency  in  the  administration  of  local  government.  Under  the  power  to  estab- 
lish other  inferior  courts,  the  Legislature  has  from  time  to  time  created  municipal 
and  police  courts.  In  counties  of  the  first  class  (Milwaukee  County),  there  has 
also  been  created  a  civil  court,  which  is  intended  to  supplant  justices  courts  and 
to  provide  for  the  trial  of  controversies  of  minor  importance.  Milwaukee  County 
has  also  a  District  Court  and  a  Municipal  Court. 

As  early  as  1849,  the  office  of  judge  of  probate  was  abolished,  its  functions 
being  assumed  by  the  County  Court  which  was  given  jurisdiction  over  all  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  the  estates  of  deceased  persons.  It  has  jurisdiction  of  these 
matters,  as  well  as  the  guardianship  of  minors  and  incompetents  and  has  certain 
other  powers  conferred  upon  it  by  the  Legislature. 

It  has  been  said  by  students  of  legal  and  judicial  matters  that  the  Wisconsin 
constitution  vested  the  Circuit  Court  with  greater  powers  than  were  probably 
ever  before,  in  a  free  government,  delegated  to  any  one  tribunal.  "At  the  time 
of  the  adoption  of  the  constitution,"  says  Marvin  B.  Eosenberry,  justice  of  the 
Wisconsin  Supreme  Court,  "the  question  of  whether  or  not  judges  should  be 
elected  by  the  people,  or  appointed  by  the  governor,  was  a  very  important  one. 
Xo  doubt  the  framers  of  the  constitution  more  readily  provided  for  the  delega- 
tion of  such  great  power  because  of  the  fact  that  the  constitution  provided  that 
the  judges  of  the  Circuit  Court  should  be  elected  by  the  people  for  the  term  of 
six  years.  The  merits  of  the  appointive  and  elective,  systems  for  the  judiciary 
are  still  matters  of  public  debate.  It  is  provided  by  the  constitution  that:  the 
circuit  courts  shall  have  original  jurisdiction  in  all  matters  civil  and  criminal 
within  this  State,  not  excepted  in  this  constitution  and  not  hereafter  prohibited 
by  law ;  and  appellate  jurisdiction  from  all  inferior  courts  and  tribunals,  and  a 
supervisory  control  over  the  same.  They  shall  also  have  the  power  to  issue  writs 
of  habeas  corpus,  mandamus,  injunction,  quo  warranto,  certiorari,  and  all  other 
writs  necessary  to  carry  into  effect  their  orders,  judgments  and  decrees,  and 
give  them  a  general  control  over  inferior  courts  and  jurisdictions." 

Borrowing  again  from  the  paper  on  "Wisconsin  Courts,"  contributed  to  the 
Blue  Book  of  1925,  byWistice  Rosenberry :  "The  Supreme  Court  under  the  con- 
stitution is  vested  with  the  power  to  hear  appeals  from  Circuit  Courts  and  other 
courts  as  may  be  provided  from  time  to  time  by  the  Legislature.  It  may,  also, 
in  a  certain  class  of  cases,  exercise  what  is  called  original  jurisdiction,  and  may 
from  time  to  time  issue  writs  or  processes  described  in  the  constitution.  *  *  * 
The  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  cases  before  it  upon  appeal,  or  brought 


280  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

before  it  in  the  exercise  of  its  original  jurisdiction,  are  conclusive  and  final  ex- 
cept in  those  cases  where  questions  arising  under  the  United  States  Constitu- 
tion, or  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  are  involved.  In  the  Supreme  Court  all 
cases  are  heard  upon  the  record ;  no  witnesses  are  sworn,  no  juries  are  impaneled. 
When  it  becomes  necessary  for  the  court  to  ascertain  the  facts  in  a  controversy 
pending  before  it,  it  is  usually  done  by  referring  the  matter  to  a  referee  or  com- 
missioner to  ascertain  the  facts." 

There  are  also  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  courts  of  the  United  States  known 
as  the  District  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  and  the  District  Court  for  the 
Western  District  of  Wisconsin.  These  courts  hear,  try  and  determine  contro- 
versies arising  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States  and  they  proceed  in  a  gen- 
eral way  as  do  the  Circuit  Courts  of  the  State. 

The  judiciary  of  the  State  is  thus  sketched  in  its  sharp  outlines,  and  the  step 
now  to  be  taken  is  to  indicate  how  the  legal  personnel  of  the  Rock  River  Valley 
of  Wisconsin  are  identified  with  the  higher  courts  of  the  Badger  State ;  the 
lower,  will  receive  mention  in  the  histories  of  the  counties. 

Since  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  has  become  a  separate  organization,  the 
justices  of  that  body  who  were  residents  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  have  been 
as  follows : 

EDWARD  V.   WHITON,   CHIEF   JUSTICE 

Edward  V.  Whiton,  chief  justice,  died  at  his  home  in  Janesville,  on  April  12, 
1859.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  had  been  serving  as  head  of  the  Supreme 
Court  since  June  1,  1853.  Justice  Whiton  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts  and 
of  a  distinguished  Revolutionary  family.  He  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1837, 
settled  on  the  site  of  Janesville,  began  practice  and  in  1838  commenced  his  long 
and  distinguished  connection  with  the  legislation  and  laws  of  Wisconsin.  His 
first  service  was  in  the  lower  house  of  the  Legislature  as  representative  for  Rock 
and  Walworth  counties.  For  a  number  of  years  thereafter,  he  was  in  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature,  a  portion  of  this  period  as  speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives.  In  1847,  he  was  sent  as  a  delegate  to  the  convention  which 
devised  and  promulgated  the  constitution  of  the  State.  In  the  following  year 
he  became  a  member  of  the  first  Supreme  Court  of  Wisconsin  and  in  1853  was 
chosen  its  chief.  While  on  the  bench,  Chief  Justice  Whiton  decided  some  of 
the  most  important  cases  in  the  jurisprudence  of  early  Wisconsin,  especially  in 
connection  with  the  Fugitive  Slave  law,  while  his  revision  of  the  State  laws  is 
standard. 

HARLOW  S.   ORTON 

Harlow  S.  Orton  was  a  resident  of  Madison  for  more  than  forty  years  and 
during  most  of  that  long  period  was  on  the  bench  of  the  higher  courts.  He  was 
born  in  New  York,  read  law  in  Kentucky,  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  State 
of  Indiana,  and  was  therefore  of  broad  and  impartial  mind.  Judge  Orton  served 
on  the  Probate  bench  while  residing  in  the  Hoosier  State.  He  practiced  in 
Milwaukee  about  four  years  before  locating  in  Madison  (1851).  Several  terms 
in  the  General  Assembly  of  Wisconsin  preceded  his  selection  to  the  bench  of  tlie 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  281 

Ninth  Circuit,  which  occurred  in  1859  and  carried  him  through  the  Civil  war 
period.  He  then  returned  to  practice  for  a  time,  but  in  April,  1878,  ascended 
the  Supreme  bench  and  continued  a  distinguished  service  in  that  court  until 
his  death,  July  4,  1895.    He  had  been  chief  justice  ex  officio  since  January,  1894. 

SILAS   U.    PINNEY 

Silas  U.  Pinney,  after  having  been  identified  with  the  bench  and  bar  of 
Dane  County  for  a  period  of  forty-five  years,  resigned  as  an  associate  justice  of 
the  State  Supreme  Court  in  November,  1898.  He  had  settled  in  Windsor,  then 
a  part  of  Madison,  as  early  as  1853,  studied  law  with  Levi  B.  Vilas  and  com- 
menced practice  in  the  capital  city  during  the  following  year.  He  had  become 
a  leader  in  both  local  and  State  affairs,  having  served  twice  as  mayor  of  Madi- 
son, when,  in  1870,  the  State  Supreme  Court  appointed  him  a  special  reporter 
to  codify  the  decisions  of  the  Territorial  Supreme  Court  and  the  first  State  Su- 
preme Court,  covering  the  period  from  1836  to  1853.  The  result,  known  as 
Finney's  Wisconsin  Reports,  are  invaluable  to  the  profession. 

JOHN  B.   CASSODAY 

John  B.  Cassoday,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  substantial  of  Wisconsin 
lawyers,  legislators  and  judges,  was  for  many  years  a  citizen  whom  Janesville 
most  delighted  to  honor.  After  enjoying  a  thorough  general  and  legal  education 
in  New  York  and  Michigan,  he  located  in  that  city  in  1857,  and  for  a  decade 
added  his  strength  to  the  well  known  legal  firm  of  Bennett,  Cassoday  &  Gibbs. 
In  1864,  Mr.  Cassoday  was  sent  as  a  delegate  to  the  Baltimore  convention  which 
renominated  Lincoln.  From  1865  to  1877  he  served  as  a  member  of  the  Wis- 
consin House  of  Representatives,  for  several  terms  as  speaker,  and  in  1880  was 
selected  as  a  delegate  to  the  National  Republican  Convention,  being  chairman  of 
the  Wisconsin  body.  In  November  of  that  year,  Mr.  Cassoday  was  appointed  an 
associate  justice  of  the  State  Supreme  Court  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the 
resignation  of  Justice  Orsamus  Cole,  and  in  April,  1881,  was  elected  for  the 
unexpired  term  ending  January,  1890.  He  was  reelected  for  three  successive 
terms,  became  chief  justice  ex  officio,  following  the  death  of  Harlow  S.  Orton, 
in  July,  1895,  and  himself  passed  away  December  30,  1907. 

Robert  M.  Bashford,  who  served  on  the  Supreme  bench  a  few  months  in 
1908  after  the  death  of  Justice  Cassoday,  was  a  native  of  Wisconsin,  a  graduate 
of  the  law  department  of  the  State  University,  served  several  terms  in  the  Legis 
lature  and  revised  the  statutes  of  the  State.  He  was  also  editor  and  proprietor 
of  the  Madison  Democrat  for  a  time  and  compiled  the  Legislative  Manual  for 
a  number  of  years. 

Burr  W.  Jones,  one  of  the  seven  justices  of  the  State  Supreme  Court,  now 
on  the  bench,  is  a  native  of  the  town  of  Union,  near  Evansville,  Rock  County. 
He  was  educated  at  Evansville  Seminary  and  the  State  University,  graduating 
from  the  Law  School  of  the  latter  in  1871.  Most  of  his  professional  practice  was 
pursued  in  Dane  County,  in  which  he  was  district  attorney  for  four  years  and  a 
member  of  the  Forty-eighth  Congress.  He  was  a  prominent  Democrat  and  from 
1885  to  1915  served  as  a  professor  in  the  Wisconsin  University  Law  School,  lie 


282  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

degree  of  LL.  D.  being  conferred  upon  him  in  1916.  For  some  time  he  was  chair- 
man of  the  Dane  County  Bar  Association  and  in  1908  was  president  of  the  Stat 
Bar  Association.  He  is  the  author  of  a  treatise  on  the  Law  of  Evidence,  pub- 
lished in  1896  and  followed  by  several  editions.  Judge  Jones  was  appointed  asso- 
ciate justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  by  Governor  Emanuel  Philipp,  September  3, 
1920,  and  elected  in  April,  1922,  for  the  term  ending  January,  1926. 

E.  Ray  Stevens,  of  Madison,  whose  judicial  term  expires  in  January  1,  1927, 
presides  over  the  Ninth  Circuit ;  George  Grimm,  of  Jefferson,  whose  term  expires 
in  January,  1931,  over  the  Twelfth,  and  Charles  M.  Davison,  of  Juneau,  whose 
term  ends  in  January,  1930,  over  the  Thirteenth. 

Of  the  attorney  generals,  who  are  at  the  head  of  the  legal  department  of  the 
State,  the  following  have  been  residents  of  the  Rock  River  Valley :  George  B. 
Smith,  Madison,  from  January  2,  1854,  to  January  7,  1856;  Charles  R.  Gill, 
Watertown,  January  1,  1866-January  3,  1870;  A.  Scott  Sloan,  Beaver  Dam,  Jan- 
uary 5,  1874-January  7,  1878;  James  L.  O'Connor,  Madison,  January  5,  1891- 
January  7,  1895 ;  Frank  L.  Gilbert,  Madison,  January  7,  1907-January  2,  1911 ; 
Herman  L.  Ekern,  Madison,  January  1,  1923. 

GEORGE  B.   SMITH 

George  B.  Smith,  of  Madison,  who  was  attorney  general  in  1854-56,  was  a 
New  Yorker,  who  settled  at  Kenosha,  Wis.,  for  practice  in  1843  and  two  years 
afterward  located  at  Madison,  the  territorial  capital.  After  he  had  been  chosen 
as  district  attorney  of  Dane  County,  in  1846,  he  was  sent  to  the  convention 
which  framed  the  constitution  under  which  Wisconsin  was  admitted  to  the  Union. 
He  was  the  youngest  delegate  to  participate  in  its  proceedings.  He  afterward 
served  as  mayor  of  Madison,  was  prominent  in  the  General  Assembly  and  in 
State  politics,  as  a  democrat,  and  died  in  1879. 

James  C.  Hopkins,  a  New  York  lawyer  who  settled  at  Madison  in  1856,  was 
associated  in  practice  with  Harlow  S.  Orton,  and  in  1870  became  judge  of  the 
newly  created  Western  District  circuit.    He  died  in  1877. 

Herman  L.  Ekern,  present  attorney  general,  is  a  native  of  Trempealeau 
County,  Wisconsin,  and  a  graduate  from  the  Law  School  of  the  University  of 
Wisconsin.  For  a  dozen  years  or  more  he  practiced  law,  served  as  district  attor- 
ney and  was  several  terms  in  the  Legislature.  In  1906,  General  Ekern  was  a 
member  of  the  legislative  committee  which  investigated  the  life  insurance  busi- 
ness of  the  State  and  in  1909-10  was  deputy  commissioner  of  insurance,  after- 
ward, for  several  years,  serving  as  head  of  the  department.  Since  1915,  he  has 
specialized  in  insurance  law,  both  in  Madison  and  Chicago.  In  this  practice  he 
has  been  employed  as  general  counsel  for  associations  of  farmers,  and  other 
mutual  fire,  automobile  and  casualty  insurance  companies  throughout  the  United 
States.  In  1922,  Mr.  Ekern  was  elected  attorney  general  of  Wisconsin  as  a 
progressive  republican.  He  participated  in  the  Republican  National  Conven- 
tions of  1908,  1920  and  1924,  and  served  as  chairman  of  the  National  Finance 
Committee  of  the  La  Follette-Wheeler  campaign  in  1924.  He  was  reelected  at- 
torney general  of  Wisconsin,  with  a  majority  of  267,446. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  283 

ROBERT  M.  LA   FOLLETTE 

The  late  senior  United  States  senator  from  Wisconsin,  Robert  M.  La  Follette, 
was  so  many  years  in  the  eyes  of  his  countrymen  as  a  public  man  that  his  repu- 
tation and  ability  as  a  lawyer  were  overshadowed  by  the  more  prominent  phases 
of  his  career.  But  he  was  preeminently  a  man  of  the  Rock  River  Valley.  He 
was  born  at  Primrose,  Dane  County,  on  June  14,  1855;  was  graduated  from  the 
University  of  Wisconsin  with  the  class  of  1879;  admitted  to  the  bar  in  February, 
L880,  and  during  the  fall  was  elected  district  attorney  of  Dane  County 
and  reelected  in  1882.  From  1884,  until  his  death  June  18,  1925,  he  was  per- 
haps the  most  discussed  man  in  the  public  life  of  the  nation.  He  served  three 
terms  in  Congress,  nearly  three  terms  as  governor  and  four,  in  the  United  States 
Senate.  Three  times  a  candidate  for  the  republican  presidential  nomination  and 
finally,  in  the  fall  of  1924,  an  independent  candidate  for  the  presidency,  he  went 
down  in  defeat,  still  the  versatile  and  virile  character  over  which  the  men  and 
women  of  the  nation  were  earnestly  divided. 

WILLIAM  F.  VILAS 

William  F.  Vilas,  son  of  the  distinguished  lawyer,  Levi  B.  Vilas,  achieved  a 
fame  which  made  him  a  national  character.  He  was  of  a  Vermont  family,  which 
was  planted  in  Madison  in  1851,  when  William  F.  was  in  his  twelfth  year.  Grad- 
uating from  the  Albany  Law  School  in  1860,  he  entered  practice  at  Madison  in 
June,  but  in  1862  recruited  a  company  and  entered  the  Union  service.  After 
reaching  the  grade  of  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  Twenty-third  Illinois  Infantry, 
he  resigned  and  reentered  practice.  While  thus  actively  engaged,  he  served  on 
the  faculty  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  and  also  engaged  in  a  revision  of  the 
statutes  of  the  State.  While  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  in  1885,  President 
Grover  Cleveland  appointed  Mr.  Vilas  postmaster  general.  He  succeeded  the 
able  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar,  of  Mississippi,  as  secretary  of  the  interior  and  held  that 
office  in  1888-89.  Acting  as  a  delegate  from  Wisconsin  to  the  democratic  national 
conventions  of  1876,  1880,  1884,  1892  and  1896,  his  pronounced  leadership  in 
the  democracy  of  the  United  States  was  strengthened  by  his  service  in  the  Na- 
tional Senate  during  1891-97.  The  State  University  is  much  indebted  to  former 
Senator  Vilas  for  his  steadfast  work  and  consistent  influence  in  its  behalf.  He 
served  on  its  Board  of  Regents  in  1881-85  (being  honored  with  his  LL.  D.  dur- 
ing the  latter  year)  ;  was  also  a  member  of  that  body  in  1898-1903.  Another 
work  by  which  Mr.  Vilas  will  be  remembered  is  his  editorship  of  the  Wisconsin 
Supreme  Court  Reports  in  association  with  Ed.  E.  Bryant.  His  death  occurred 
August  27,  1908. 

MATTHEW   II.  CARPENTER 

Matthew  II.  Carpenter,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  eloquent  lawyers  and 
public  men  ever  identified  with  Wisconsin's  history  was  a  son  of  Vermont,  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1845  and  moved  to  Wisconsin  in  1848.  In  the  early 
years  of  his  career  he  resided  at  Beloit  and  had  a  large  practice  in  Janesville. 
During  that  period,  it  is  said  that  the  clashes  of  wit  and  learning  between  Car- 


284  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

penter  and  David  Nogle,  that  sturdy  and  alert  lawyer  of  Janesville,  were  events 
in  the  legal  annals  of  the  day  long  remembered  and  discussed.  Mr.  Carpenter 
afterward  moved  to  Milwaukee,  served  in  the  United  States  Senate  from  1869 
to  1881,  and  until  his  death  in  February  of  that  year  was  a  lawyer,  orator  and 
public  character  of  national  fame. 

Janesville  has  been  the  home  of  many  brilliant  men  and  women.  One  of 
the  able  members  of  the  Wisconsin  bar  and  a  highly  honored  citizen  of  that 
place  was  the  late  John  M.  Whitehead.  He  stood  high  in  his  profession,  having 
served  in  1921  as  president  of  the  State  Bar  Association,  but  had  a  record  of 
four  terms  in  the  State  Senate  (1896-1912).  The  deceased  was  prominent  in 
religious  and  philanthropic  work,  and  from  1894  to  1916  was  president  of  the 
State  Y.  M.  C.  A.  He  was  also  identified  with  educational  matters  and  with 
the  development  of  the  Janesville  Public  Library. 

PIONEER  WOMEN  LAWYERS 

Janesville  was  also  the  home  town  of  two  of  the  pioneer  women  lawyers  of 
Wisconsin — Lavinia  Goodell  and  Kate  Kane.  Miss  Goodell  passed  the  examina- 
tion entitling  her  to  practice  in  1874.  She  was  refused  admission  to  the  bar, 
however,  on  the  ground  that  the  statute  provided  for  the  admission  of  ' '  persons, ' ' 
which  the  court  construed  as  applying  only  to  men.  But  Miss  Goodell  went  to 
Madison  in  1876  and  was  the  means  of  having  the  Legislature  pass  a  bill  to 
the  effect  that  no  "person"  should  be  denied  admission  to  the  bar,  or  license 
to  practice  law,  on  account  of  sex.  She  afterward  formed  a  partnership  with 
Angie  King  for  the  practice  of  her  profession.  Miss  Kane,  who  passed  the 
examination  in  1878,  afterward  went  to  Milwaukee,  where  she  became  an  ag- 
gressive and  well  known  criminal  lawyer. 

OTHER   NOTED  FIGURES  OF  ROCK  COUNTY  AND   THE   12TH    CIRCUIT 

Among  the  prominent  railroad  attorneys  may  be  mentioned  George  R.  Peck, 
afterward  general  counsel  for  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Railroad  for 
many  years,  and  Edward  Hyzer,  subsequently  general  counsel  for  the  Chicago 
&  North  Western  Railway.  Hon.  I.  C.  Sloan  was  for  many  years  dean  of  the 
University  of  Wisconsin  Law  School  and  A.  Scott  Sloan,  of  Beaver  Dam,  attor- 
ney general  of  the  State  and  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court.  John  R.  Bennett,  an 
able  Janesville  lawyer,  and  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court,  was  at  one  time  asso- 
ciated in  practice  with  John  B.  Cassoday,  so  long  identified  with  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Wisconsin.  B.  F.  Dunwiddie,  of  Janesville,  also  served  on  that  bench, 
as  well  as  John  Winans,  who  went  to  Congress. 

JUDGE  GEORGE  GRIMM   ON  JUDICIAL  CONCILIATION 

Year  by  year,  judicial  conciliation,  commonly  referred  to  as  "settling  cases 
out  of  court,"  has  been  steadily  gaining  favor  with  both  the  bench  and  the  peo- 
ple; and  many  of  the  higher-grade  lawyers  are  coming  over  to  the  plan. 
There  is  no  more  earnest  advocate  of  "Judicial  Conciliation"  than  George 
Grimm,  judge  of  the  Twelfth  Circuit,  embracing  Rock  and  Jefferson  counties. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  285 

At  the  1915  session  of  the  Board  of  Circuit  Judges  of  Wisconsin  he  read  a 
thoughtful  and  suggestive  paper  on  the  subject  from  which  the  following  ex- 
tracts arc  taken : 

As  Long  as  our  State  Constitution  has  existed  there  has  been  in  it  a  par- 
agraph authorizing  the  creation  of  courts  of  conciliation.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  this  constitutional  provision  has,  up  to  the  present  time,  been  ignored  by 
the  legislature.  The  only  attempt  to  respond  to  its  spirit  was  an  effort  to  pro- 
vide for  the  settlement  of  disputes  by  arbitration.  But  arbitration  has  proven 
to  be  a  decided  failure.  It  partakes  of  the  elements  of  a  judicial  trial  and  deter- 
mination, and  not  of  conciliation.  It  does  not  meet  the  popular  need,  and  is 
rarely  resorted  to  except  in  instances  where  the  sentiment  of  conciliation  already 
exists  and  the  parties  mutually  concede  to  each  other  an  honest  difference  in 
opinion.  Wherever  any  one  or  more  of  the  long  gamut  of  human  passions  impels 
or  enters  into  the  dispute — as  is  nearly  always  the  case — arbitration  is  foreign  to 
the  desire. 

"Courts  of  conciliation  we  know  only  as  they  exist  in  European  countries. 
While  they  have  to  their  credit  a  large  measure  of  success,  their  limitations  are 
such  that  they  do  not  appeal  to  us  with  the  force  their  title  suggests.  So  far 
as  I  am  able  to  learn  they  all  bar  advocacy  of  either  party's  claims  by  those 
learned  in  the  art.  While  this  is  heralded  as  their  crowning  virtue,  it  is  to  my 
mind  their  greatest  handicap  to  success  in  administering  equal  justice.  The  only 
thing  it  has  to  recommend  it  is  the  saving  of  expense  to  the  parties,  while  on 
the  other  hand  it  must  in  many  cases  result  in  inadequate  presentation  of  the 
facts  out  of  which  the  issue  arises.  If  disputants  must  present  their  claims 
themselves  as  best  they  can,  the  shrewder  of  the  two,  the  one  best  able  to  mar- 
shal and  present  his  facts  and  weigh  the  force  and  bearing  of  each,  may  gain 
a  great  advantage  over  a  less  competent  opponent.  The  importance  of  equality 
in  ability  and  skill  in  the  presentation  of  the  facts  is  apparent  when  we  remem- 
ber that  so  long  as  conciliators  are  subject  to  human  limitations,  just  so  long 
must  they  resort  to  human  means  to  learn  the  facts  and  cannot  get  them  by 
intuition,  nor  by  discerning  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  hearts  of  litigants, 
nor  yet  by  revelation  or  inspiration.  And  if  the  conciliator  is  not  fully  and 
truly  advised  of  the  facts  how  can  he  be  certain  that  his  decision  is  just? 

"There  is,  however,  another  limitation  to  the  efficiency  and  usefulness  of 
these  European  so-called  courts  of  conciliation  by  reason  of  which  they  do  not 
appeal  very  strongly  or  favorably  to  Americans.  I  refer  to  the  fact  that  they 
are  too  largely  based  upon  the  principle  of  compulsory  arbitration,  and  are 
without  appeal  in  all  cases  where  the  amount  involved  is  small.  If  the  concilia- 
tor fails  to  conciliate  he  enters  judgment,  which  is  final.  The  inherent  danger 
of  such  a  system  depending  upon  the  ability  of  the  parties  to  present  their  own 
cases  as  much  as  upon  the  intelligence,  perspicacity  and  integrity  of  the  con- 
ciliator, docs  not  commend  such  courts  to  the  American  mind.  Compulsory  arbi- 
tration under  such  circumstances  is  even  more  distasteful  to  the  average  citizen 
than  voluntary  arbitration  as  it  is  now  offered. 

"Is  there  then  no  way  in  which  a  nearer  approach  to  the  accomplishment  of 
the  higher  ideal  of  courts,  that  of  ending  strife  and  promoting  peace,  may  be 
attained  .'  Surely  there  is;  and  many  are  finding  it.  There  are  many  upon 
whom  the  light  has  broken  and  in  following  its  lead  they  are  achieving  a  meas- 


286  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

ure  of  good  they  had  hardly  dared  to  hope  for.  I  firmly  believe  that  the  time  is 
swiftly  passing  when  trial  judges  will  consider  their  sole  duty  to  be  to  hear,  try 
and  determine  issues,  referee  forensic  battles,  announce  their  decisions  or  pass 
sentence ;  when  courts  will  cease  in  ever-increasing  measure  to  be  merely  forums 
for  the  clash  of  opposing  arms;  where  victory  goes  to  the  one  who  wields  the 
sword  of  legal  lore  with  the  greatest  skill.  I  believe  the  hour  has  struck  and  that 
the  public  hails  it  with  joy  when  trial  judges,  appreciative  of  their  opportunity, 
will  make  an  effort  to  aid  litigants  to  adjust  their  disputes  without  trial  upon 
a  basis  that  shall  be  equitable,  and  mutually  acceptable. 

"None  realize  better  than  trial  judges  what  bitterness,  what  hatred  and  angry 
passions  are  often  aroused  during  the  trial  of  a  case  and  how  its  blighting  in- 
fluence infects  at  times  whole  neighborhoods,  ready  to  break  out  again  and  again 
for  years  and  generations  to  come  at  the  first  opportunity  that  presents  itself ; 
and  surely  none  wish  more  heartily  than  they  do  to  aid  in  adjusting  disputes 
without  a  trial.  Unmindful,  perhaps,  heretofore  of  the  splendid  opportunities  of 
their  position,  or  underestimating  the  trust  and  confidence  imposed  in  them  by 
their  fellow-citizens,  there  are  indications  now  that  judges  are  beginning  to  feel 
that  they  have  followed  all  too  long  the  narrow  and  laborious  footsteps  of  genera- 
tions of  predecessors,  and  that  they  intend  to  strike  out  along  a  better  path. 
Yielding  to  the  mutations  in  human  desires  tending  toward  higher  ideals  and 
achievements,  judges  are  beginning  to  break  the  fetters  of  stubborn  precedent, 
and  in  doing  so  they  are  making  a  discovery.  They  find  that  by  sound  advice 
based  upon  the  wisdom  garnered  in  years  of  experience,  mindful  of  the  char- 
acteristics of  men,  their  foibles  and  weaknesses  as  well  as  their  sterling  quali- 
ties, and  backed  by  a  knowledge  of  law  and  principles  of  equity,  the  judge  can 
heal  the  turbulent  emotions  and  make  sober  sense  again  to  prevail  when  the 
advice  is  given  with  gentleness  and  kindness  and  a  fellow-feeling  that  holds  no 
sense  of  condemnation  for  anyone ;  that  he  can  bring  about  the  settlement  of  dis- 
putes upon  lines  of  fairness  and  right;  that  very  often  he  can  do  much  more, 
namely,  establish  friendship  between  the  individuals  and  their  sympathizers  and 
reap  their  everlasting  gratitude. 

"If  I  may  allude  to  my  own  limited  personal  experience  I  can  truly  say 
that  during  all  my  days  upon  the  bench — now  nearly  twenty  years — I  have 
never  been  as  happy  in  my  work  or  felt  that  I  had  done  as  much  good  to  my 
fellows,  or  reaped  as  many  thanks  from  individuals  and  expressions  of  approval 
from  the  public  as  I  have  in  the  last  three  years — during  which  time  I  abandoned 
the  old  rut  of  trying  every  case  that  was  called  and  made  a  deliberate  effort  to 
bring  about  a  settlement  that  was  either  entirely  fair  and  just  or  was  at  least 
the  most  reasonable  and  sensible  thing  to  be  done  under  the  existing  circum- 
stances of  each  case.  You  may  well  believe  that  practice  had  many  a  valuable 
lesson  in  store  for  me.  The  first  and  more  important  I  had  to  learn  was  never 
to  let  a  refusal  by  either  side  to  accept  my  suggestions  or  advice  arouse  in  me 
the  slightest  sense  of  ill-feeling  which  might  influence  my  judgment  if  I  were 
finally  obliged  to  try  the  case  upon  the  merits.  It  was  fortunate  that  I  had  an 
early  demonstration  of  the  necessity  of  holding  myself  well  in  hand  in  that 
regard,  and  I  shall  tell  you  briefly  what  it  was.  A  woman  past  middle  age  had 
sued  her  son  for  a  considerable  sum  of  money  alleged  to  be  owing  upon  a  con 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  287 

tract  involving  either  the  lease  or  purelia.se  of  some  land — I  have  forgotten 
which.  The  son  claimed  that  he  had  paid  it.  Now  if  there  are  cases  which 
above  all  others  I  desire  to  see  adjusted  it  is  those  involving  families.  I  there- 
fore urged  the  son  to  offer  his  mother  such  reasonable  sum  in  settlement  as  she 
mighl  probably  accept.  He  positively  declined  to  offer  any  compromise  whatever, 
claiming  that  his  mother's  second  husband  was  at  the  bottom  of  it  all,  and  that 
his  mother  was  but  a  willing  tool  in  her  husband's  hands.  Assuming  that  there 
might  be  some  measure  of  truth  in  his  assertion,  I  nevertheless  felt  there  must 
be  some  reasonable  basis  for  the  suit,  if  only  because  of  the  well-known  ability 
and  integrity  of  plaintiff's  counsel;  and  when  the  son  persisted  in  his  refusal 
I  confess  I  felt  edgeways  toward  him,  and  began  the  trial  in  hardly  that  strictly 
impartial  frame  of  mind  a  judge  should  have.  And  here  began  my  lesson.  It 
developed  upon  the  trial  that  all  the  son  had  claimed  was  true, — and  more. 
( 'nnfronted  with  positive  proof  of  the  falsity  of  her  claim,  the  mother  cut  a  sorry 
figure  in  her  attempt  to  squirm  out  of  her  predicament.  It  developed  that  in 
league  with  her  second  husband  she  had  deceived  her  lawyer  and  attempted  to 
use  the  machinery  of  the  court  to  perpetrate  a  deliberate  fraud  upon  her  son. 
When  the  trial  was  finished  the  son  had  won  his  case,  and — I  had  learned  a 
valuable  lesson.  Again,  experience  has  taught  me  that  my  primary  and  con- 
trolling purpose  must  always  be  to  bring  about  friendly  relations  as  far  as 
possible,  and  with  that  end  in  view  it  is  imperative  that  the  settlement  when 
accomplished  be  fair  and  just  to  both  parties  wdienever  such  a  thing  is  humanly 
possible;  it  must  at  least  be  the  wisest  and  most  expedient  thing  to  do  so  as  to 
commend  itself  to  sound  judgment.  Also,  I  have  learned  that  it  is  unwise  to 
resort  to  pressure  upon  litigants  to  induce  them  to  settle.  Indeed,  I  have  found 
my  best  success  in  uniform  kindness  and  appeal  to  reason  and  in  approving, 
encouraging  and  countenancing  only  such  settlements  as  were  satisfactory  and 
voluntary  when  finally  consummated. 

"Perhaps  the  most  surprising  thing  to  the  uninitiated  in  connection  with 
this  practice  of  conciliation  is  the  support  granted  it  by  the  members  of  the  bar, 
and  the  fact  that  they  often  render  invaluable  assistance;  but  that  is  easily 
explained.  Knowing  that  to  be  of  the  greatest  benefit,  settlements  must  be  such 
as  will  appeal  to  one's  sense  of  justice  and  wisdom,  it  becomes  of  prime  im- 
portance that  the  judge  be  fully  advised  of  the  claims  and  contentions  of  the 
parties,  and  none  is  as  capable  of  doing  this  as  efficiently  as  the  skilled  advocate. 
I  therefore  first  invite  the  attorneys  to  a  conference  and  depend  upon  them  to 
advise  me  reasonably  of  the  facts.  I  listen  patiently  to  their  representation  of 
the  situation.  I  perhaps  ask  for  an  offer  of  terms  and  counter-offer — conditioned, 
of  course,  upon  the  clients'  subsequent  approval.  Parenthetically  let  me  say, 
that  I  never  hurry  a  settlement.  After  a  full  discussion  a  fair  basis  of  adjust- 
ment is  tentatively  agreed  upon.  The  attorneys  then  talk  it  over  with  their 
clients,  or  invite  them  into  the  conference  where  everything  is  made  plain  to 
them.  The  upshot  almost  invariably  is  that  the  case  is  settled  with  a  minimum 
of  expense,  and  all  worry  on  part  of  the  litigants  over  the  possible  outcome  is 
eliminated.  The  attorney's  compensation  is  usually  liberal;  and,  best  of  all,  it  is 
gladly  paid  by  the  parties,  who  naturally  feel  relieved  to  have  the  trouble  over 
with.     Except  in  cases  where  settlements  seem  out  of  place — and  there  are  such 


288  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

cases — I  have  always  had  the  hearty  assistance  of  the  attorneys  on  both  sides, 
not  only  in  my  own  circuit  but  in  others  where  I  have  been  called  upon  to  tem- 
porarily preside.  Indeed,  whenever  I  have  found  any  real  opposition  to  a  settle- 
ment on  the  part  of  an  attorney  for  either  side,  it  generally  turned  out  in  the 
end  that  there  was  some  valid  reason  for  it,  and  I  soon  learned  not  to  interfere 
where  this  situation  presented  itself.  We  all  know  that  there  are  cases  which 
ought  not  to  be  settled;  where  one  of  the  parties  deserves  the  best  whipping 
he  can  get  in  a  lawsuit — cases  brought  only  to  gratify  spite,  hate  or  revenge, 
and  others  brought  to  perpetrate  fraud  or  legal  robbery.  In  such  cases  the 
truth  may  be  known  to  the  opposing  attorney,  but  it  may  seem  to  him  inex- 
pedient or  impossible  to  explain  or  expose  it  before  trial.  It  is  well,  therefore, 
to  trust  the  attorneys,  feeling  sure  that  they  will  favor  settlement  whenever 
proper  as  soon  as  they  learn  that  their  personal  interests  are  not  going  to  be 
sacrificed,  but  rather  protected  by  the  court.  Broadly  speaking,  attorneys  are 
perhaps  the  most  useful  and  necessary  members  of  any  community,  as  society  if? 
now  constituted.  Without  their  labors  many  injuries  would  remain  unredressed 
and  many  individual  rights  would  be  violated.  The  value  of  their  services,  there- 
fore, never  should  be  underestimated,  and  the  court  should  see  to  it  when 
settlements  are  made  that  their  allowance  is  not  cut  short.  If  the  judge  wishes 
to  achieve  the  greatest  success  in  the  trial  of  cases,  but  especially  in  healing 
up  the  differences  between  litigants  he  should  consistently  strive  to  win  the 
trust  and  confidence  and  even  the  friendship  of  the  members  of  his  bar ;  and  if 
he  does  this  he  will  not  only  contribute  to  the  peaceful  relations  of  the  com- 
munity, elevate  the  bar  in  the  confidence  and  estimation  of  the  public,  make 
his  own  labors  less  and  more  agreeable,  but  he  will  save  the  public  unnecessary 
and  often  great  expense,  and  gain  the  unqualified  approval  of  his  fellow-cit- 
izens." 

CIRCUIT  JUDGES  OF   WINNEBAGO  COUNTY 

Over  in  Winnebago  County,  Illinois,  the  bench  and  bar  were  also  crowded 
with  able  and  good  men  and  women.  In  1841,  the  judiciary  of  the  State  was 
reorganized  and  divided  among  nine  circuits.  Additional  justices  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  were  appointed,  who  were  required  to  do  circuit  duty.  The  judi- 
ciary, as  thus  organized,  was  continued  until  the  entire  appointive  system  was 
abolished  by  the  constitution  of  1848.  Under  the  new  system  the  first  judge 
assigned  to  circuit  duty  in  Rockford  was  Thomas  C.  Browne,  who  had  served 
continuously  as  one  of  the  judges  of  the  State  Supreme  Court  from  October  9, 
1818,  until  December  4,  1848,  or  from  the  adoption  of  the  first  constitution  to 
the  reorganization  of  the  judiciary  under  the  constitution  of  1848. 

The  first  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  to  become  identified  with  Rockford  as  a 
citizen  was  Benjamin  R.  Sheldon,  who  was  elected  judge  of  the  Sixth  Circuit 
in  1848,  and  afterward  was  assigned  to  the  Fourteenth  Circuit  a  judicial  divi- 
sion of  the  former.  He  remained  on  the  Circuit  bench  until  1870,  when  he  was 
elected  a  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  presiding  as  chief  justice  in  1877.  He 
was  reelected  in  1879,  but  retired  in  1888.  Judge  Sheldon  then  became  a  resi- 
dent of  Rockford,  where  he  died  in  April,  1897.     He  left  an  estate  valued  at 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  289 

$2,000,000.     He  bequeathed  $10,000  to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
of  Rockford  and  $10,000  to  Rockford  College. 

William  Brown  was  the  first  judge  to  be  elected  to  the  Circuit  bench  while 
a  citizen  of  Rockford.  lie  was  chosen  in  1870  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned 
by  the  promotion  of  Judge  Sheldon  to  the  Supreme  Court.  Under  the  judicial 
apportionment  of  1873,  Jo  Daviess,  Stephenson  and  Winnebago  counties  formed 
the  First  Circuit,  and  in  the  following  June  Judge  Brown  was  elected  to  preside 
over  it.  lie  presided  over  that  circuit  for  three  terms  of  six  years  each,  making 
the  total  period  of  his  judicial  service  more  than  twenty  years. 

Judge  Joseph  M.  Bailey,  of  Freeport,  was  Circuit  judge  for  about  fourteen 
years,  was  several  times  assigned  to  duty  on  the  Appellate  bench,  was  elected 
to  the  Supreme  bench  in  1888  and  died  in  office  in  October,  1895. 

John   V.    Eustace  settled  in  Dixon   in  1842,  and  while  in  practice  and  in 
judicial  service  made  that  place  his  home  until  his  death  in  1888.     He  was  first 
elected  circuit  judge  in  1857,  and  during  the  last  decade  of  his  life  served  als 
on  the  bench. 

John  D.  Crabtree  was  an  Englishman  who  emigrated  to  America  in  the  early 
'4<>s,  spent  a  number  of  years  on  a  farm  near  Pecatonica,  Winnebago  County, 
and  then  located  in  Lee  County,  where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life.  In 
1888,  he  was  elected  judge  of  the  Thirteenth  Circuit  to  succeed  Judge  Bailey  and 
in  1891  was  reelected  for  the  full  term.  Judge  Crabtree  died  suddenly  at  Ottawa, 
while  attending  a  session  of  the  Appellate  Court. 

James  H.  Cartwright,  who  succeeded  Joseph  M.  Bailey  to  the  Supreme  bench 
in  1895  and  is  still  in  service,  although  more  than  eighty  years  of  age,  is  a  son 
of  Rev.  Barton  H.  Cartwright,  a  pioneer  Methodist  minister,  and  a  kinsman  of 
Peter  Cartwright,  the  famous  missionary.  In  1888,  he  was  elected  circuit  judge 
to  succeed  Judge  Eustace  and  in  1891  was  assigned  to  appellate  duty. 

John  C.  Garver  was  born  on  a  farm  near  Pecatonica,  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1871  and  began  practice  at,  Rockford.  He  served  two  terms  as  state's 
attorney  of  Winnebago  County  previous  to  his  election  to  the  Circuit  bench,  in 
1895,  to  succeed  Judge  Cartwright  upon  the  elevation  of  the  latter  to  the  Su- 
preme bench.  Judge  Garver  was  elected  to  the  Seventeenth  Circuit  under  the 
apportionment  of  1897  and  died  in  November,  1901. 

Arthur  H.  Frost,  of  Rockford,  filled  out  the  unexpired  term  of  John  C. 
Garver,  as  judge  of  the  Seventeenth  Circuit.  At  an  early  age  he  came  to  Rock- 
ford from  Vermont,  wras  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1879,  served  Rockford  as  a 
police  magistrate,  and  Winnebago  County,  as  state's  attorney,  for  a  number  of 
terms  before  he  ascended  the  Circuit  bench.  He  served  for  fifteen  years,  or 
until  his  death  in  1917. 

Robert  W.  Wright,  of  Belvidere,  was  elected  to  the  bench  in  1903  to  succeed 
Charles  E.  Fuller,  who  had  resigned  to  run  for  Congress.  He  was  the  elder  son 
of  the  late  O.  II.  Wright,  of  Belvidere,  who  once  represented  the  Rockford  dis- 
trict in  the  Legislature.  Judge  Wright  had  been  state's  attorney  of  Boone 
County  for  four  terms  and  served  as  circuit  judge  for  nearly  eight  years,  or 
until  his  death  in  November,  1910. 

Charles  II.  Whitney  succeeded  Judge  Wright,  as  the  result  of  a  special  elec- 
tion, and  was  commissioned  in  April,  1911.  He  dropped  dead  while  conversing 
with  a  client  in  the  courthouse  chambers  at  Waukegan  July  18,  1914. 


290  THE  EOCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

SELDEN  M.  CHURCH 

Previous  to  1837  a  judge  of  probate  was  appointed  for  each  county  by  the 
Legislature.  In  that  year,  the  office  was  made  elective,  with  the  title  of  probate 
justice  of  the  peace.  The  constitution  of  1848  abolished  this  court  and  trans- 
ferred its  powers  to  the  judge  of  the  County  Court.  Milton  Kilburn  was  the 
first  judge  of  probate.  Selden  M.  Church  was  the  first  county  judge  under  the 
constitution  of  1848  and  served  from  1849  to  1857. 

Judge  Church  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  Rock  River  Valley.  He  came 
west  from  New  York  in  his  thirty-second  year,  and  after  investigating  Chicago 
and  Geneva,  for  about  a  year,  settled  at  Rockford  in  the  autumn  of  1836.  Dur- 
ing his  early  residence  in  the  township,  he  was  on  intimate  and  friendly  terms 
with  the  Winnebago  Indians,  and  secured  the  confidence  of  red  and  white  men 
alike.  He  filled  the  offices  of  postmaster,  county  clerk  and  county  judge.  In 
1847,  he  was  a  delegate  from  Winnebago  County  to  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion, and,  as  stated,  served  eight  years  as  the  first  county  judge  under  the  instru- 
ment adopted  by  that  body.  Judge  Church  was  sent  to  the  General  Assembly  in 
1862 ;  became  a  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities  in  1868  and  was  one 
of  the  commissioners  chosen  by  the  Government  to  locate  the  bridge  at  Rock 
Island  which  was  completed  in  1872.  The  death  of  Judge  Church  occurred  Feb- 
ruary 9,  1908,  and  was  widely  and  deeply  regretted. 

The  bar  of  Winnebago  County  has  always  been  distinguished  for  its  sub- 
stantial and  elevated  character.  John  C.  Kemble,  the  first  lawyer  to  practice 
in  Winnebago  County,  was  a  gentleman  of  ability,  and  had  been  a  member 
of  the  New  York  General  Assembly  previous  to  locating  at  Rockford  in  1837. 
Mr.  Kemble 's  practice  amounted  to  little,  as  he  became  insane  in  1840  and 
he  was  taken  to  an  eastern  asylum,  where  he  died  soon  afterward. 

The  '50s  witnessed  the  advent  of  numerous  lawyers  to  Rockford,  and  not 
a  few  of  them  earned  high  standing  in  their  profession.  James  G.  Manlove 
began  the  practice  in  1851,  but  became  better  known  for  his  local  public 
service  than  for  his  legal  abilities.  From  1864  to  1890  he  served  almost  con- 
tinuously as  town  clerk,  and  died  in  November  of  the  latter  year.  Elijah 
W.  Blaisdell  was  a  journalist  and  an  organizer  of  the  new  republican  party 
when  he  first  settled  in  Rockford;  was  later  a  member  of  the  Legislature  and 
a  strong  supporter  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  finally  a  lawyer  of  many  years 
practice.     He  died  in  1901. 

Christopher  M.  Brazee  is  characterized  as  "one  of  the  most  aggressive  ad- 
vocates who  ever  practiced  at  the  bar  of  Winnebago  County."  He  first  came 
to  Rockford  in  1855  from  New  York,  his  native  state.  A  few  years  later  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  was  city  attorney  from  1860  to  1872.  He  served 
for  a  time  in  the  Civil  war  and  for  ten  years  preceding  his  death  in  1886 
was  colonel  of  the  Third  Regiment  Illinois  National  Guard.  He  was  a  man 
and  a  lawyer  of  energy  and  ability. 

WILLIAM  LATHROP 

William  Lathrop  was  considered  for  many  years  one  of  the  State's  most 
distinguished   men   and  the  Rock  River  Valley  is  honored  by  his  work  and 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  291 

character,  as  well  as  by  the  abilities  and  moral  character  of  his  daughter,  Miss 
Julia  Lathrop.  The  father  was  a  native  of  Genesee  County,  N.  Y.,  and  after- 
being  admitted  to  the  bar  of  that  State  turned  his  attention  to  the  West.  In 
January  of  the  following  year  (1851)  he  came  to  Rockford  and  immediately 
took  his  place  among  the  men  who  count  in  its  development.  He  was  its 
first  city  clerk,  being  chosen  in  1852,  and  in  the  following  year  was  appointed 
city  attorney.  From  1853  to  1857  he  was  a  partner  of  James  L.  Loop,  one 
of  the  ablest  lawyers  of  Winnebago  County.  During  that  period  he  was  a 
member  of  the  State  Assembly,  and  twenty  years  afterward  succeeded  Stephen 
A.  Hurlbut  as  member  of  Congress  from  the  Fourth  District.  Despite  the 
fact  that  he  was  a  stanch  republican  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  party 
in  Illinois,  Mr.  Lathrop  was  essentially  a  lawyer  and  a  man  of  public  service, 
rather  than  a  place-seeking  politician.  For  many  years  he  was  a  trustee  of 
Rockford  College  and  a  promoter  of  the  local  public  parks.  During  his  long 
residence  at  Rockford,  he  served  as  counsel  for  many  of  the  large  industrial 
firms  of  the  city  and  probably  had  personal  charge  of  the  settlement  of  more 
estates  than  any  other  attorney  in  the  city.  He  owned  one  of  the  finest  law 
libraries  in  the  Valley  and  was  always  a  close  student.  His  death  resulted 
from  an  accident  at  the  Fair  Grounds  Park,  on  November  17,  1907,  that  at- 
tractive area  being  largely  a  monument  to  his  energy  and  forethought. 

JAMES   L.    LOOP 

James  L.  Loop,  noted  in  the  foregoing  sketch,  settled  in  Belvidere  in  1838, 
and  some  years  later  formed  a  partnership  with  his  brother-in-law,  Stephen 
A.  Hurlbut.  In  1843-45  he  was  prosecuting  attorney  for  the  Northern  Dis- 
trict of  Illinois,  and  secretary  of  the  Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal  in  1846-50. 
In  1856  Mr.  Loop  was  elected  mayor  of  Rockford  and  served  one  term.  His 
death  occurred  February  8,  1865,  when  he  was  only  fifty  years  of  age.  The 
remains  were  taken  to  Belvidere  for  burial.  It  is  said,  by  the  common  con- 
sent of  the  Rockford  bar,  that  James  L.  Loop  possessed  the  finest  legal  ability 
of  any  man  who  had  ever  practiced  therein. 

STEPHEN  A.   HURLBUT 

General  Stephen  A.  Hurlbut,  whom  Mr.  Lathrop  succeeded  in  Congress, 
was  also  a  resident  of  Belvidere  for  many  years  and  one  of  the  notables  of  the 
Rock  River  Valley.  He  was  an  able  lawyer,  as  well  as  a  distinguished  general 
in  the  Civil  war.  A  native  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  he  received  a  liberal  educa- 
tion and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1837,  shortly  before  he  made  his  home 
in  Belvidere.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1847, 
was  a  prominent  whig,  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  republican  party  in 
1856,  and  in  1858  and  1860  was  elected  to  the  lower  house  of  the  Illinois  General 
Assembly.  During  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  he  served  with  distinction  from 
May,  1861,  to  July,  1865.  He  entered  the  service  as  brigadier  general  com- 
manding the  Fourth  Division  of  Grant's  army  at  Pittsburg  Landing;  was 
made  a  major  general  in  September,  1862,  and  later  assigned  to  the  command 
of  the  Sixteenth  Army  Corps,  at  Memphis,  and  subsequently  to  the  command 

Vol.  1—19 


292  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf  (1864-65).  After  the  war  he  served  another 
term  in  the  General  Assembly,  was  chosen  presidential  elector  for  the  State- 
at-large,  and  in  1869-72  was  minister  resident  to  the  United  States  of  Colombia. 
General  Hurlbut  then  served  two  terms  in  Congress  as  a  republican,  and  in 
1876  was  defeated  for  reelection  by  William  Lathrop  while  running  as  an  inde- 
pendent. In  1881,  he  was  appointed  minister  resident  to  Peru,  and  died  at  Lima 
on  March  27th  of  the  following  year. 

ROCKFORD   WOMEN   LAWYERS 

Rock  River  Valley,  and  Rockford  in  particular,  has  the  distinction  of  mother- 
ing two  of  the  pioneer  women  lawyers  of  the  world.  Miss  Alta  M.  Hulett 
was  the  first  woman  to  apply  for  admission  to  the  legal  fraternity  in  "Winne- 
bago County  and  was  only  preceded  by  one  pioneer  lawyer  of  her  sex  in  Illinois 
— Mrs.  Myra  Bradwell,  of  Chicago.  Miss  Hulett  was  the  daughter  of  a  farmer 
living  a  few  miles  north  of  Rockford,  and  after  graduating  from  the  East 
Side  High  School  of  that  city  began  the  study  of  law.  Although  C.  M.  Brazee. 
A.  S.  Miller  and  J.  M.  Wight  recommended  her  to  the  State  Supreme  Court 
for  admission  to  the  bar  that  body  refused  to  grant  her  a  license  to  practice. 
Through  her  persistence,  supported  by  the  local  attorneys  and  her  friends, 
an  act  finally  passed  the  Legislature  enabling  women  to  practice  at  the  Illinois 
bar,  and  Miss  Hulett  went  to  Chicago  to  take  up  her  professional  work.  Finally 
her  health  failed  and  she  went  to  California,  where  she  died. 

Catherine  Waugh  McCulloch  was  the  second  woman  of  Rockford  to  be  ad- 
mitted to  practice,  and  she  is  one  of  the  best  known  women  in  public  life 
today.  She  is  of  New  York  birth  and  graduated  from  Rockford  Seminary 
in  1882,  after  which  she  took  a  course  in  the  Union  College  of  Law,  Chicago, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1886. 

THOMAS   FORD    AND   EDWARD    S.    LELAND 

Ogle  County  has  had  a  number  of  prominent  lawyers  and  judges  identified 
with  its  history.  Thomas  Ford  and  Edward  S.  Leland  were  its  pioneer  lawyers, 
residing  in  what  was  then  Florence,  afterward  Oregon.  Ford  was  prosecuting 
attorney  for  the  old  Galena  district  when  it  included  virtually  northern  Illinois. 
From  1835  to  1841,  while  circuit  judge  of  the  Sixth  and  Ninth  Circuits  he 
resided  in  Oregon,  but  afterward,  while  serving  as  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  and  governor,  his  official  home  was  at  Springfield. 

Edward  S.  Leland  was  of  Maine  birth  and  Massachusetts  education,  moved 
to  Ottawa,  111.,  as  a  young  lawyer  in  1835,  and  located  at  Oregon  in  1839. 
He  practiced  in  that  place  for  four  years.  Returning  to  Ottawa  in  1843,  for 
more  than  forty-five  years  he  was  a  leading  practitioner,  circuit  judge  and 
public  man  of  that  city. 

Both  Judge  Ford  and  Mr.  Leland  were  leading  figures  in  bringing  to  justice 
the  lawless  characters  which  for  a  number  of  years  terrorized  Ogle,  Lee,  White- 
side, Winnebago  and  other  counties  of  Northwestern  Illinois,  even  extending 
their  depredations  into  adjoining  States  and  territories.  They  were  called 
"Banditti  of  the  Prairies,"  and  extended  their  operations  from  Wisconsin  to 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  293 

St.  Louis  and  from  the  Wabash  to  the  Mississippi.  Horse  thieving  was  their 
specialty;  and  in  those  times  the  theft  of  a  horse  often  meant  disaster,  if  not 
death,  to  the  pioneer.  In  the  early  days  of  the  Ogle  County  region,  before 
Lee  County  was  taken  from  it,  a  great  number  of  horses  were  bred  and  herded 
on  the  prairies.  Every  full-grown  mare  would  have  a  colt  running  by  her 
side.  Most  of  the  thefts  were  committed  in  the  spring  or  autumn.  In  the 
former  season  the  horses  were  turned  to  feed  upon  the  green  grass  that  grew 
luxuriantly,  and  in  autumn  they  would  be  in  the  finest  condition  when  they 
were  fed  on  corn.  The  best  of  the  droves  were  usually  taken  and  passed 
from  one  station  to  another  until  they  were  sold  in  some  distant  market. 

FAMOUS   TRIAL  OP   THE  BANDITTI    OF   THE   PRAIRIES 

William  Cullen  Bryant,  the  poet,  who  was  visiting  this  western  country 
in  the  summer  of  1841,  writing  of  these  desperadoes,  says:  "In  Ogle  County. 
they  seemed  to  have  been  bolder  than  elsewhere,  and  more  successful,  not- 
withstanding the  notoriety  of  their  crimes,  in  avoiding  punishment.  The  im- 
possibility of  punishing  them,  the  burning  of  the  court  house  at  Oregon  City 
last  April,  and  the  threats  of  deadly  vengeance  thrown  out  by  them  against 
such  as  should  attempt  to  bring  them  to  justice,  led  to  the  formation  of  a 
company  of  citizens — Regulators  they  called  themselves — who  determined  to 
take  the  law  into  their  own  hands  and  drive  the  felons  from  the  country.  This 
extended  over  Ogle,  De  Kalb  and  Winnebago.  The  resistance  to  these  des- 
peradoes resulted  in  the  death  of  some  of  their  number,  who  had  been  dea't 
with  summarily,  and  some  good  citizens  were  assassinated  by  a  band  of  thieves. 

"When  I  arrived  in  Dixon  (June  21,  1841),  I  was  told  that  the  day  before 
a  man  named  Bridge,  living  at  Washington  Grove,  Ogle  County,  came  to  town 
and  complained  that  he  had  received  notice  from  a  certain  association  that  he 
must  leave  the  county  before  the  17th  day  of  the  month,  or  that  he  would  be 
looked  upon  as  a  popular  subject  of  lynch  law.  He  asked  for  assistance  to 
defend  himself  and  dwelling  against  the  lawless  violence  of  these  men.  The 
people  of  Dixon  came  together  and  passed  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  they 
approved  fully  of  what  the  inhabitants  of  Ogle  County  had  done,  and  that 
they  allowed  Mr.  Bridge  the  term  of  four  hours  to  depart  from  the  town  of 
Dixon.  He  went  away  immediately  and  in  great  trepidation.  This  Bridge  is 
a  notorious  confederate  and  harborer  of  horse  thieves  and  counterfeiters.  The 
thinly  settled  population  of  Illinois  was  much  exposed  to  the  depredations 
of  horse  thieves,  who  have  a  kind  of  center  of  operation  in  Ogle  County,  where 
it  is  said  that  they  have  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  constable  among  their  own 
associates,  and  where  they  contrive  to  secure  a  friend  on  the  jury  whenever 
any  one  of  their  number  is  tried.  Trial  after  trial  had  been  held,  and  it  was 
impossible  to  obtain  conviction  on  the  clearest  evidence  until  April,  1841,  when 
two  horse  thieves  being  on  trial,  eleven  of  the  jury  threatened  the  twelfth 
with  a  taste  of  the  cowskin  unless  he  would  bring  in  a  verdict  of  guilty.  He 
did  so,  and  the  men  were  condemned.  Before  they  were  removed  to  the  State 
Prison  the  court  house  burned  down  and  the  jail  was  in  flames,  but  luckily  they 
were  extinguished  without  the  liberation  of  the  prisoners."     The  man,  William 


294  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

K.  Bridge,  who  was  compelled  to  flee  from  Dixon,  had  his  family   removed 
and  house  demolished  on  the  27th  of  the  same  month  by  the  regulators. 

When  Bryant  reached  the  center  of  criminal  disturbances  in  1841  the  climax 
of  the  fight  between  the  banditti  and  the  regulators  had  been  reached.  All 
of  Northwestern  Illinois  was  in  a  ferment  and  its  respectable  citizens  were 
determined  that  justice  should  be  done,  that  their  rights  should  be  protected 
even  outside  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts.  The  bandits  had  their  passwords, 
grips  and  signs  of  recognition,  and  they  were  otherwise  closely  organized  for 
the  common  purpose  of  plunder  and  rapine.  The  organization  was  so  strong 
as  to  set  public  justice  at  defiance,  and,  as  intimated  by  Bryant,  controlled 
trial  juries  and  public  officials.  To  meet  this  portentous  combination,  the 
law-abiding  citizens  met  organization  with  organization.  For  instance,  at  Inlet, 
then  part  of  Ogle  County,  was  formed  an  Association  for  the  Furtherance 
of  the  Cause  of  Justice.  It  had  a  cast-iron  constitution  and  provision  was 
made  for  a  Committee  of  Vigilants.  Another  organization  had  its  headquarters 
about  White  Rock,  where  a  Mr.  Long  was  elected  captain  in  1841.  Shortly 
afterward,  his  mill  was  burned,  and  he  resigned,  being  succeeded  by  John 
Campbell. 

The  White  Rock  organization  was  at  first  composed  of  only  fifteen  men, 
and  its  first  business  in  dealing  with  the  criminal  classes  was  to  serve  notice 
on  several  of  the  undesirable  citizens  of  the  county  to  depart  at  once,  with 
the  admonition  that  if  they  failed  to  heed  the  request  the  lash  would  be  used. 
The  first  victim  was  a  man  named  Hurl,  who  doubted  the  sincerity  of  this 
request,  but,  after  taking  the  whipping  joined  the  organization  of  honorable 
citizens  and  behaved  himself  thereafter  beyond  reproach.  The  regulating  or- 
ganization rapidly  grew  until  it  embraced  practically  all  the  best  men  of  the 
county. 

Among  those  notified  to  leave  the  country  was  the  Driscoll  family  then 
living  in  the  eastern  part  of  Ogle  County.  Its  members  promised  to  depart, 
but  instead  called  together  a  band  of  their  outlaw  friends,  who  met  at  the  log 
house  of  Bridge  (afterward  driven  away)  near  Washington  Grove.  It  is  be- 
lieved that  the  murder  of  Captain  Campbell,  energetic  head  of  the  regulators, 
was  planned  at  that  time  and  David  and  Taylor  Driscoll  selected  to  perform 
the  dastardly  act.  At  all  events,  on  Sunday,  June  27,  1841,  the  Driscolls  went 
to  Campbell's  house  at  White  Rock  Grove,  secreted  themselves  in  some  hazel 
brush,  and  when  Campbell  appeared  at  the  door  he  was  shot  to  death.  Those  who 
are  believed  to  have  assassinated  Mr.  Campbell  escaped  the  regulators,  but  Taylor 
Driscoll  returned  to  the  county  some  years  afterward  and  was  acquitted  of 
the  charge.  John  Driscoll,  their  father,  and  two  brothers,  William  and  Pierce, 
were  captured  and  brought  to  Stevenson's  Mill,  where,  under  a  large  oak  tree, 
they  were  tried  by  a  jury  of  111  citizens.  A  court  was  organized,  and  counsel 
was  appointed  for  prisoners  and  prosecution.  A  jury  of  120  persons  was 
suggested  and  called,  nine  of  whom  were  rejected  as  a  result  of  challenges. 
During  the  trial,  which  consumed  the  greater  portion  of  the  day,  it  is  said 
that  both  John  and  William  Driscoll  made  damaging  statements,  showing  com- 
plicity in  other  crimes. 

As  the  trial  was  probably  one  of  the  most  remarkable  in  the  history  of 
criminology,  the  details  are  quoted  from  the  history  of  Ogle  County,  by  Horace 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  295 

G.  and  Rebecca  II.  Kauffman,  as  follows:  "The  verdict  of  this,  the  largest 
jury  known  in  the  criminal  history  of  the  world,  was  guilty  as  to  John  and 
William  Driscoll,  and  not  guilty  as  to  Pierce  Driscoll,  and  the  sentence  of  the 
court  was  that  the  two  guilty  should  be  hanged,  but  afterward,  on  their  re- 
quest, it  was  changed  to  death  by  shooting.  Fifty-six  men  were  detailed  by 
this  jury  to  execute  one  defendant,  and  fifty-five,  the  other;  one  gun  placed 
in  the  hands  of  each  of  the  two  sets  of  executioners,  it  is  said,  not  being  loaded. 
The  trims  were  handled  by  the  committee  and  passed  out  to  the  executioners, 
so  that  no  one  might  know  who  held  the  empty  pieces.  This  afforded  an 
opportunity  for  each  and  every  one  of  them  to  feel  and  believe  that  it  was 
not  his  rifle  that  contributed  to  the  death  of  either  of  the  victims. 

"Afterward,  at  the  September  term,  1841,  of  our  Circuit  Court,  presided 
over  by  Judge  Thomas  Ford,  then  an  associate  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  State,  a  grand  jury  was  empanelled,  evidence  heard,  and  two  indict- 
ments returned  against  111  persons,  one  charging  the  murder  of  William 
Driscoll,  and  the  other,  of  John  Driscoll.  Part  of  the  men  indicted  were  members 
of  this  grand  jury,  and  in  a  way  contributed  to  present  true  bills  of  indict- 
ment against  themselves.  It  is  apparent,  however,  from  an  inspection  of  the 
record,  that  it  was  the  desire  of  the  regulators  to  have  indictments  returned 
so  that  there  could  be  a  trial  and  acquittal  of  those  accused  when  the  sur- 
roundings were  favorable  to  that  end.  It  is  said  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
Jonathan  W.  Jenkins,  the  person  first  named  in  each  of  these  indictments,  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  execution  of  the  Driscolls,  but  was  regarded  as  friendly 
to  them,  and  it  was  feared  he  might  furnish  some  damaging  evidence.  Under 
the  law,  as  it  then  existed,  a  person  indicted  for  a  crime  could  not  testify, 
and  his  mouth  was  closed  by  the  returning  of  this  indictment  against  him. 

"The  indictments,  framed  in  the  peculiar  phraseology  of  the  time,  were 
returned  on  Friday,  September  24,  1841,  and  on  the  same  day  all  but  ten 
of  the  defendants  were  placed  upon  trial.  Under  the  law  then  existing,  each 
of  the  defendants  had  a  right  to  the  peremptory  challenge  of  twenty  men, 
and  this  would  have  disposed  of  2,040  (2,020)  jurors,  a  much  larger  number 
of  men  than  were  then  in  the  county ;  but,  as  I  take  it,  no  challenges  were 
used  by  the  defense.  When  the  first  case  was  called,  an  attorney  named  Knowl- 
ton  asked  leave  to  assist  the  People  in  the  prosecution  of  the  case,  but  his 
request  was  denied  at  the  suggestion  of  the  prosecuting  attorney.  It  is  said 
that  the  jury  did  not  leave  their  seats  before  returning  a  verdict  of  not  guilty. 
The  same  jurors  were  then  accepted  upon  the  trial  of  the  other  indictment 
and  the  same  verdict  was  rendered.  On  the  following  day  the  states  attorney, 
Seth  Farwell,  dismissed  the  indictment  as  to  Jonathan  W.  Jenkins  and  the 
other  nine  who  did  not  receive  the  benefit  of  an  acquittal.  Thus  was  ended 
a  criminal  litigation  that  was  not  only  remarkable  for  the  number  of  the  ac- 
cused, but  unique  in  the  finding  of  the  indictments. 

"Judge  Ford,  the  presiding  judge  at  the  hearing  of  the  lynchers  cases  in 
1841.  was  then  a  resident  of  Oregon,  and  afterwards  was  elected  governor 
of  the  State.  It  is  said  of  him  that  he  publicly  from  the  bench  admonished 
the  banditti  that  he  was  about  to  leave  his  home,  and  that  if  they  dared  to 
disturb  his  family  or  property,  he  would  gather  a  posse  and  take  summary 
measures  against  them.     It  is  also  said  of  him  that  during  the  time  when  so 


296  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

many  guiltj^  men  were  escaping  by  verdicts  of  acquittal,  a  lawyer  defending 
on  a  criminal  charge,  when  speaking  on  the  policy  of  the  law  that  it  better 
that  ninety  and  nine  guilty  men  escape  than  that  one  innocent  man  be  con- 
victed, Judge  Ford  took  a  shot  at  him  by  remarking :  '  That  is  the  maxim 
of  the  law  all  right,  but  the  trouble  here  is  that  the  ninety-nine  guilty  have 
already  escaped.'  " 

The  lynching,  or  rather,  shooting  of  the  Driscolls,  demonstrating  the  strength 
of  a  thoroughly  aroused  public  sentiment  against  the  continued  reign  of  law- 
lessness, proved  the  death-knell  of  the  Banditti  of  the  Prairies. 

The  first  term  of  the  Sixth  Circuit  Court  held  in  Ogle  County  was  con- 
vened at  Dixon  and  presided  over  by  Judge  Daniel  Stone,  who  had  been 
appointed  in  March.  Father  John  Dixon  was  the  foreman  of  the  grand  jury 
which  returned  seven  true  bills  of  indictment.  The  first  conviction  secured 
was  in  June,  1839,  when  John  Porter  was  found  guilty  of  counterfeiting  and 
sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  two  years.  At  the  same  term  was  found  the  first 
bill  of  indictment  for  a  violation  of  the  duelling  act. 

Upon  the  advice  of  Judge  Ford,  W.  W.  Fuller,  a  graduate  of  the  Harvard 
Law  School,  located  in  Oregon  in  1838  and  until  his  death  in  1849  was  a 
prominent  practitioner.  Joseph  Sears  was  also  a  leader  of  the  bar,  county 
clerk  and  master  in  chancery,  and  for  forty  years  from  1852  was  widely  known 
at  Oregon  and  elseAvhere  in  Northwestern  Illinois.  H.  D.  Hathaway  was  for 
a  like  period  a  prominent  lawyer  at  Rochelle,  and  John  D.  Campbell  was  long 
the  veteran  lawyer  of  the  county,  with  his  residence  at  Polo.  He  served  both 
as  state's  attorney  and  county  judge. 

EDWARD   SOUTHWICK 

Lee  County  was  set  off  from  Ogle  in  1839  and  in  January  of  the  follow- 
ing year  was  attached  to  the  Sixth  Judicial  Circuit.  The  first  term  of  court 
began  at  Dixon  on  the  third  Monday  of  April,  1840.  Edward  Southwick, 
the  pioneer  lawyer  of  Lee  County,  who  had  located  at  Dixon  about  three  years 
before,  was  associated  in  one  of  the  cases  with  W.  W.  Fuller,  of  Oregon. 
From  the  first,  Southwick  was  considered  the  leader  of  the  local  bar,  and  his 
reputation  spread  far  to  the  southward.  As  an  illustration,  when  William 
Smith,  brother  of  the  Mormon  prophet,  resided  in  Lee  County  he  formed  such 
a  high  opinion  of  Mr.  Southwick 's  abilities  that,  in  1844,  when  the  life  of 
Joseph  Smith  was  threatened  in  Carthage  jail  the  Dixon  attorney  was  sent 
for,  post  haste,  to  defend  him.  But  his  aid  was  sought  at  too  late  a  day.  The 
records  show  that  the  first  case  on  the  docket  was  that  of  John  M.  Kinzie, 
the  famous  Chicago  pioneer,  against  William  Wilkinson,  appealed  from  Smith 
Gilbraith,  a  justice  of  the  peace.  But  as  Kinzie  failed  to  appear  in  court, 
his  case  was  dismissed  and  the  costs — $4.171/£ — taxed  against  him. 

In  November,  1840,  Mr.  Southwick  appeared  in  court,  and  on  his  motion, 
William  W.  Heaton  was  admitted  to  practice.  Shepard  G.  Patrick,  afterward 
a  noted  criminal  lawyer,  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1842,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing year  John  V.  Eustace,  who  succeeded  Heaton  as  judge  of  the  Thirteenth 
Circuit,  also  became  a  member  of  the  Lee  County  bar.  John  Stevens,  father 
of  Frank  K:   Stevens,  the  historian,   was  at  one  time    a  partner  of   Edward 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  297 

Southwick.  The  son  tells  the  story  that  his  father  was  compelled  to  go  to 
Springfield  on  a  case  pending  before  the  Supreme  Court.  "Edward  South- 
wick was  of  the  party.  Southwick  was  very  dark.  Southwick  and  Stevens 
were  partners  al  the  time,  too,  but  when  Mendota  had  been  reached  and  the 
passengers  had  gone  into  the  dining  room  for  dinner,  Stevens  whispered  in 
the  car  of  the  landlord  that  a  separate  table  should  be  provided  for  Southwick. 
No  specific  reason  was  given,  more  than  to  nod  and  make  a  remark  about  his 
complexion.  When  Southwick  attempted  to  take  a  chair  with  his  companions, 
the  landlord  took  him  by  the  arm  and  very  gently  hinted  that  he  had  pro- 
vided a  separate  table  for  his  colored  guests.  How  the  profanity  did  fly 
from  Lawyer  Southwick!" 

The  biot hers  Trucsdcll.  B.  H.  and  Abram  K.,  were  among  the  old-time 
lawyers  of  Lee  County,  of  whom  the  younger  generations  could  learn  much 
as  to  thoroughness,  soundness  of  logic,  solidity  of  facts,  brilliancy  and  force- 
fulness.  It  was  a  red-letter  day  for  bench  and  bar  when  they  were  arrayed 
against  each  other. 

In  1856,  James  K.  Edsall,  who  subsequently  became  attorney  general  of 
the  State,  came  to  Dixon  from  Kansas,  where  he  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Legislature. 

LEE    COUNTY    AS    A    SUPPLY    OF    CIRCUIT    JUDGES 

It  was  in  the  judicial  annals  of  the  State,  however,  that  Lee  County  has 
been  unusually  prominent.  John  V.  Eustace  became  a  member  of  the  Legis- 
lature in  1856  and  introduced  a  bill  making  a  new  judicial  circuit,  of  which 
he  became  judge  in  the  following  year.  He  served  until  1861,  when  Judge 
W.  W.  Ileaton  was  elected.  When  the  law  establishing  Appellate  Courts  was 
passed  Judge  Heaton  was  appointed  to  that  bench  and  became  the  first  pre- 
siding judge  of  the  Chicago  district.  He  died  in  1878,  while  in  office,  and 
John  V.  Eustace  was  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy.  Judge  Eustace  died  in  office 
and  John  D.  Crabtree,  who  succeeded  him,  was  soon  elevated  to  the  Appellate 
bench  of  the  Second  district.  He,  too  died  on  the  bench  in  1902,  and  Richard 
S.  Ferrand,  who  also  died  while  in  judicial  service,  was  succeeded  by  Harry 
Edwards,  the  incumbent.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  Lee  County  has  furnished 
a  circuit  judge  since  the  year  1856. 

From  the  Lee  County  bar  Solomon  Hicks  Bethea  was  made  a  judge  of  the 
United  States  District  Court  in  Chicago.  Sherwood  Dixon,  S.  H.  Bethea,  Charles 
B.  Morrison  and  William  B.  Sterling,  all  occupied  the  position  of  United  States 
district  attorney,  the  first  three  for  the  Northern  District  of  Illinois,  and 
the  last  named  for  the  State  of  South  Dakota. 

SHERWOOD  DIXON,  FOUNDER  OF  PROMINENT   LAW   FIRMS 

Sherwood  Dixon,  the  grandson  of  John  (Father)  Dixon,  and  the  son  of 
James  P.  Dixon,  was  born  in  the  town  which  retains  the  family  name,  and 
was  long  one  of  the  leading  lawyers  of  Northern  Illinois.  He  and  the  firms 
with  which  he  was  identified  were  legal  representatives  of  such  corporations 
as  the  Illinois  Central  and  North  Western  Railroad  companies  and  the  Illinois 


298  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Northern  Utilities  Company.  Sherwood  Dixon  commenced  the  study  of  law 
with  William  Barge,  one  of  the  strongest  members  of  the  bar  in  Northern  Illi- 
nois, and  entered  practice  in  1869  as  junior  member  of  the  firm  Eustace, 
Barge  &  Dixon.  For  three  years,  1874-77,  the  firm  practiced  in  Chicago,  and 
in  March,  1878,  Mr.  Dixon  dissolved  his  connection  with  Barge  &  Dixon  and 
formed  a  partnership  with  S.  H.  Bethea.  The  firm  of  Dixon  &  Bethea  was 
succeeded  by  Morrison  (Charles  B.)  &  Bethea,  Morrison,  Bethea  &  Dixon  (Henry 
S.,  the  elder  son)  and  Dixon  &  Dixon  (George  C,  the  younger  son).  There  are 
few  firms  in  the  State  which  have  supplied  so  much  judicial  and  legal  talent 
devoted  to  official  public  purposes  as  those  which  have  had  their  origin  in  the 
activities  of  Sherwood  Dixon. 

JOHN  V.  EUSTACE   AND  WILLIAM   W.   HEATON 

By  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  passed  in  1839,  the  Sixth  Circuit  in- 
cluded the  counties  of  Whiteside,  Rock  Island,  Carroll,  Stephenson,  Winne- 
bago, Boone  and  Jo  Daviess.  In  1877,  Whiteside  was  placed  in  the  Thirteenth 
Circuit,  but  for  twenty  years  was  not  represented  on  the  judiciary.  Two  of 
the  judges  were  especial  favorites  with  the  people  of  the  lower  Valley — John 
V.  Eustace  and  William  W.  Heaton.  Under  the  constitution  of  1848,  they 
were  on  the  Twenty-second  Circuit,  Judge  Eustace  commissioned  in  1857  and 
Judge  Heaton  in  1861.  They  were  taken  from  the  Dixon  bar.  Judge  Heaton 
is  described  as  having  sat  so  regularly  on  the  bench,  year  after  year,  that  he 
seemed  a  judicial  fixture.  Heaton  was  "quiet,  easy,  genial,  approachaWe. 
Judge  Eustace  was  somewhat  sterner,  and  carried  to  his  position  much  of  that 
military  dignity  which  he  found  necessary  as  provost  marshal  at  Dixon  during 
the  Civil  war."  Under  the  apportionment  of  1897,  the  counties  of  Rock  Island, 
Mercer,  Whiteside  and  Henry  composed  the  Fourteenth  Judicial  Circuit,  with 
Emery  C.  Graves,  of  Geneseo,  William  H.  Gest,  of  Rock  Island,  and  Frank 
R.  Ramsay,  of  Morrison,  as  judges.  Judge  Graves  was  elected  for  his  last 
term  in  1921,  Gest,  in  1909,  and  Ramsay  in  1915.  In  Whiteside  County,  two 
of  the  most  conspicuous  state's  attorneys  have  been  David  McCartney,  formerly 
of  Fulton,  later  of  Sterling,  and  Walter  Stager,  of  Sterling. 

LAWYERS   OF    WHITESIDE   AND    HENRY    COUNTIES 

The  first  lawyer  of  Whiteside  County  was  Hugh  Wallace,  who  came  from 
Pennsylvania  in  1837,  and,  although  he  had  graduated  in  law,  was  obliged 
to  farm  the  land  which  he  had  acquired  in  what  is  now  West  Sterling.  He 
served  several  terms  in  the  Legislature  and  for  four  years  was  register  of  the 
land  office  at  Dixon.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  Wallacetown,  or  Sterling. 
One  of  Wallace's  friends  and  fellow  practitioners  was  B.  C.  Coblentz,  popular 
and  prominent  in  the  early  days.  General  Kirk  was  another  pioneer  lawyer 
and  a  Civil  war  officer  of  high  standing.  Miles  S.  Henry,  a  schoolmate  of  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,  a  leading  banker,  railroad  official  and  lawyer,  was  paymaster  in  the 
Union  army.  David  McCartney  first  resided  in  Fulton,  came  to  Sterling  in 
1865,  and  was  state's  attorney  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1888.  James  McCoy, 
who  began  the  practice  of  the  law  at  Fulton  in  1840  was  long  the  Nestor  of 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  299 

the  Whiteside  bar.  He  afterward  moved  to  Sterling.  Mr.  McCoy  was  a  presi- 
dential elector  in  1868,  a  delegate  to  the  constitutional  convention  in  1869,  a 
trustee  of  the  Illinois  Soldiers'  College,  a  public-spirited  man  and  a  good  lawyer. 
Frank  E.  Andrews,  who  died  at  Rock  Falls  in  1907,  passed  most  of  his  profes- 
sional life  at  Sterling,  and  was  widely  known  as  the  chief  promoter  of  the  Hen- 
nepin Canal  feeder  as  it  was  finally  located.  He  was  strong  and  clean  in  every 
sense  of  the  word,  and  a  great  credit  to  the  bar  of  Whiteside  County.  And  there 
are  others  of  like  caliber  and  character,  whose  records  mast  fall  in  other  pages. 

Henry  County,  in  the  lower  reaches  of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  has  produced 
several  widely  known  lawyers,  as  well  as  judges.  The  first  attorney  to  practice 
in  the  county  was  Samuel  P.  Brainard,  who  opened  his  office  at  Cambridge  about. 
1840.  For  several  years  he  made  "both  ends  meet"  by  splicing  his  meager 
legal  income  with  whatever  he  could  draw  from  his  office  as  clerk  of  the  Circuit 
Court.  Jonas  W.  Olson,  son  of  Rev.  Olaf  Olson,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Bishop 
Hill  Colony,  also  practiced  at  Galva  at  an  early  day,  and  long  afterward  served 
as  postmaster  under  Cleveland.  George  E.  Waite  came  to  Geneseo  in  1856,  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  a  few  years  afterward,  served  two  terms  as  county  judge, 
was  the  city's  first  mayor,  was  a  soldier  of  the  Civil  war  and  a  delegate  to  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1870. 

General  John  H.  Howe  came  to  Kewanee  from  New  York  and  in  1855-60 
served  as  judge  of  the  Sixth  Circuit.  He  went  from  Henry  County  in  the  Civil 
war  as  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  120th  Regiment  and  was  twice  promoted.  In 
1869  he  was  appointed  chief  justice  of  Wyoming  Territory  and  is  said  to  have 
presided  over  the  first  female  jury  ever  impaneled  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
In  1872  he  returned  to  Kewanee  and  soon  afterward  was  appointed  a  commis- 
sioner to  assist  in  adjusting  the  Mexican  border  troubles,  and  died  at  Laredo, 
Texas,  in  April,  1873,  en  route  to  the  scene  of  the  negotiations. 

THE  NOTED  BISHOP  HILL   MURDER 

A  crime  which  created  much  commotion  in  the  Lower  Rock  River  Valley  was 
the  murder  of  Eric  Janson,  the  founder  of  the  Bishop  Hill  Colony  of  religion- 
ists, in  Henry  County.  One  John  Root  had  fallen  in  love  with  a  maiden  of  the 
colony.  He  married  her,  with  the  proviso  that  if  he  should  desire  to  sever  his 
connection  with  the  colony  he  should  not  take  his  wife  with  him  without  her 
consent  Root,  however,  determined  to  leave,  and  forced  his  wife  to  accompany 
him.  When  the  flight  was  discovered  by  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Root,  several  of  the 
colonists  took  their  fleetest  horses,  and  overtook  the  fleeing  couple  on  the  prairie. 

Although  Root  surrendered  his  wife  temporarily,  he  soon  spirited  her  away  to 
t'hicago,  but  she  was  again  brought  back  to  Bishop  Hill  through  the  agency  of 
some  of  her  friends.  Thoroughly  incensed,  the  husband  raised  a  mob  to  destroy 
the  village,  and  the  danger  from  that  source  was  narrowly  averted.  But  Root 
was  determined  to  have  his  revenge,  and  on  May  13,  1850,  as  Eric  Janson  was 
talking  with  his  attorney  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  court  house,  appeared  at  the 
doorway,  drew7  his  pistol  and  shot  Janson  dead.  For  this  crime,  Root  was  after- 
ward sentenced  to  a  term  in  the  State  Penitentiary,  but  was  pardoned  by  the 
governor  before  he  had  completed  his  term. 


300  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

JUDGES  AND  LEADING  LAWYERS  OF  ROCK  ISLAND  COUNTY 

Rock  Island  County  has  taken  the  part  in  upholding  the  high  legal  traditions 
of  the  Rock  River  Valley  commensurate  with  its  wealth  and  progress  and  the 
general  intelligence  of  its  people.  The  county  was  originally  in  the  Fifth  Judi- 
cial Circuit,  later  being  transferred  to  the  Sixth.  In  1873  it  was  again  placed 
in  the  Fifth,  together  with  Henry  and  Mercer  counties.  Under  the  act  of  June  7, 
1877,  Rock  Island,  Hemy,  Mercer,  Warren,  Henderson  and  Knox  counties 
formed  the  Tenth  Circuit,  and  since  1897  Rock  Island,  Mercer,  Henry  and 
Whiteside  have  constituted  the  Fourteenth.  Charles  J.  Searle  has  served  as  a 
judge  of  the  circuit  since  December,  1922.  Judge  Searle  had  been  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Rock  Island  bar  since  his  admission  to  practice  and  his  location 
there  in  1889.  He  is  a  native  of  Arkansas,  farmed  and  taught  school  in  Kansas 
and  graduated  in  law  from  the  Iowa  State  University.  After  serving  two  terms 
as  state's  attorney  of  Rock  Island  County,  he  became  the  founder  (in  his  official 
capacities)  of  the  Western  Illinois  State  Normal  School,  at  Macomb,  and  after- 
ward served  as  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Illinois  State  Court  of  Claims,  which  has 
jurisdiction  of  all  litigation  directed  against  the  State  and  its  institutions. 
Judge  Searle  has  been  always  classed  as  a  progressive  republican. 

JUDGE  J.  W.  DRURY 

Among  the  attorneys  of  the  Rock  Island  County  bar  who  have  passed  away 
may  be  mentioned  J.  Wilson  Drury,  who  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1839  and 
began  practice  at  Rock  Island  in  that  year.  He  invested  in  real  estate  while 
Rock  Island  was  still  the  town  of  Stephenson  and  became  wealthy  irrespective 
of  his  professional  income.  He  was  first  elected  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  in 
1856  and  for  nineteen  years  he  served  on  the  bench  of  the  Appellate  Court.  At 
the  close  of  his  judicial  term  he  formed  a  law  partnership  with  John  P.  Cook, 
of  Davenport,  which  continued  for  some  years.  He  was  engaged  in  much  im- 
portant litigation,  being  attorney  of  the  southwestern  branch  of  the  Rock  Island 
railroad  system  for  some  years.  That  line  ran  to  Kansas  City,  and  Judge  Drury  s 
connection  therewith  caused  him  to  move  to  Chicago.  That  city  was  his  home 
until  his  retirement  in  1894,  when  he  returned  to  his  farm  on  the  Rock  River, 
where  he  died  a  few  years  afterward,  eighty-six  years  of  age. 

Judge  Drury  was  a  personal  friend  of  Senator  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  and  at 
his  request  accepted  the  office  of  State  elector  in  1856,  making  speeches  through- 
out Illinois  for  the  Little  Giant.  He  was  especially  active  in  behalf  of  Douglas 
at  the  Charleston  convention  to  which  he  was  also  a  delegate,  and  was  altogether 
a  man  of  sturdy  character  and  real  note. 

WILLIAM  A.  MEESE 

The  judiciary  and  bar  of  Rock  Island  County  have  always  been  honored  by 
some  man  like  Judge  Drury,  whose  character  for  breadth  and  strength  places 
him  far  above  the  average.  The  late  William  A.  Meese  was  of  that  caliber.  Mr. 
Meese  was  a  Wisconsin  man  of  German  parentage — a  learned  lawyer,  a  scholar 
of  wide  reading  and  accomplishments  in  the  historical  field,  and  a  gentleman 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  301 

of  fine  traits  and  warm  heart.  He  enjoyed  an  extensive  practice  as  a  legal  rep- 
resentative of  large  corporate  interests  in  the  lower  Valley,  and  as  a  citizen  of 
Moline  is  credited  with  giving  his  home  city  its  great  lock  and  harbor  and  with 
being  one  of  its  most  influential  promoters  of  library  and  educational  institu- 
tions, lie  was  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  preserve  the  historical  records  and  land- 
marks of  the  Rock  Island  locality,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society,  an  associate  editor  of  the  Journal  of  the 
society,  and  a  member  of  the  Advisory  Commission  of  the  Illinois  State  His- 
torical Library.  But  when  Mr.  Meese  passed  from  this  life  on  February  9,  1920, 
it  is  doubtful  if  his  broad  influence  for  good  was  remembered  with  more  grati- 
tude and  admiration  than  in  the  matter  thus  described  by  his  old  friend  and 
fellow  worker.  John  II.  Hauberg:  "He  took  unusual  interest  in  young  attorneys, 
and  a  number  of  the  prominent  and  successful  lawyers  of  Rock  Island  County 
received  their  first  coaching  in  the  practice  of  their  profession  in  Mr.  Meese 's 
office.  He  had  great  compassion  for  the  boy  inclined  to  be  delinquent,  and,  in  the 
day  when  'law  was  law,  and  crime  was  crime,  whether  it  was  taking  a  banana 
from  some  one's  stand,  or  a  wagon,'  and  there  were  no  probation  laws,  he  de- 
fended scores  of  boys  when  they  were  up  for  trial,  never  charging  a  cent  for  his 
services.  He  was  very  successful  in  clearing  the  boys  and  restoring  them  to 
the  "straight  and  narrow  path."  Parents  of  incorrigible  boys  often  brought 
their  young  recreants  to  Mr.  Meese 's  office,  where  the  summons  to  the  boy 
to  come  into  his  private  office  to  receive  a  reprimand,  as  only  Mr.  Meese  could 
give  it,  was  something  which  could  not  be  lightly  treated  and  often  made 
lasting  impressions  for  good. 

THE   MURDER  OF    COLONEL   GEORGE    R.    DAVENPORT 

Rock  Island  County  was  the  home  of  some  of  the  most  noted  criminal 
lawyers  in  the  Rock  River  Valley.  In  common  with  other  "river  towns," 
Rock  Island  and  Moline  were  the  scenes  of  much  disorder  and  many  personal 
altercations.  The  crime  which  rocked  the  Valley  from  head  to  foot  in  the  early 
years  of  its  history  was  the  murder  of  Colonel  George  Davenport,  on  the  4th 
of  July,  1845.  The  outrage  was  well  planned  by  the  Banditti  and  was  their 
last  notable  achievement  in  the  field  of  outlawry.  The  motive  of  the  outlaws  was 
robbery,  which  they  reasoned  could  be  readily  a  •eonip'ished,  thinking  every- 
one would  be  absent  attending  the  great  celebration  of  the  Day  at  the  town 
of  Rock  Island.  But  Colonel  Davenport  did  not  accompany  the  other  mem- 
bers of  his  family  to  the  festivities  and  the  robbers  found  him  at  home  alon°. 
He  was  then  sixty-two  years  of  age.  By  threats  of  death,  the  outlaws  compelled 
the  Colonel  to  open  his  safe  from  which  they  took  about  $700  in  gold.  Disap- 
pointed at  the  small  amount  of  their  plunder,  they  demanded  more,  and  upon 
being  refused  they  subjected  him  to  such  terrible  tortures  that  he  became  uncon- 
scious. Fearing  that  they  had  killed  their  victim  they  fled  with  whatever  of 
value  they  could  find. 

A  Mr.  Cole,  of  Moline,  with  two  other  men,  were  soon  thereafter  passing 
down  the  Mississippi  River  in  a  skiff.  They  heard  a  cry  for  help  coming  from 
the  house  on  the  island,  and  going  ashore  found  Colonel  Davenport  in  great 
agi  ny  from  the  treatment  he  had  received.    Leaving  his  two  companions  to  care 


302  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

for  him,  Mr.  Cole  hastened  for  Dr.  Brown,  who  was  with  a  picnic  party  on  the 
island  not  far  away  and  came  at  once  and  was  soon  joined  by  Dr.  Patrick  Gregg. 
All  that  was  possible  was  done  for  the  injured  man,  but  he  died  between  nine  and 
ten  o'clock  that  night. 

The  brutal  murder  of  Colonel  Davenport  stirred  the  country  near  and  far. 
Edward  Bonney,  a  noted  detective  of  that  day,  had  charge  of  the  hunt  for  the 
murderers  and  through  him  they  were  finally  apprehended,  at  scattered  points 
in  Illinois,  Indiana,  "Wisconsin  and  Ohio.  The  criminals  were  Granville  Young, 
John  and  Aaron  Long,  Robert  Birch,  William  II.  and  George  G.  Redden,  and 
John  Baxter.  Baxter  had  formerly  worked  for  Colonel  Davenport  and 
gave  to  the  others  the  description  of  the  interior  of  the  Davenport  home. 

THREE   OF   THE   OUTLAWS    PUBLICLY   HUNG 

Young  and  the  two  Longs  were  tried  at  the  special  October  term  of  the  Cir- 
cuit Court,  Judge  Thomas  C.  Browne,  presiding.  Thomas  J.  Turner,  state's  attor- 
ney, assisted  by  Joseph  Knox,  represented  the  prosecution,  and  the  Court  ap- 
pointed Augustus  Cornwell,  Ira  0.  Wilkinson,  S.  Stephen  Guyer  and  Lewis  W. 
Thompson  to  defend  the  prisoners.  The  jury  remained  out  only  fifteen  minutes 
and  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty.  On  October  11th,  the  Court  sentenced  the  three 
on  trial  to  be  executed  on  the  29th  of  October,  1845,  and  also  ordered  that  the 
body  of  John  Long  be  delivered  to  Dr.  Patrick  Gregg,  after  execution;  that  of 
Aaron  Long,  to  Dr.  Egbert  S.  Barrows,  and  that  of  Granville  Young  to  Dr. 
Reuben  Knox.  On  the  day  of  the  execution  the  scaffold,  which  stood  on  a  plot 
of  ground  bounded  by  Third  and  Fourth  Avenues  and  Fourteenth  Street,  was 
guarded  by  fifty  special  deputies,  as  it  was  feared  an  attempt  at  rescue  would 
be  made  by  the  gang  of  which  these  men  were  members.  This  had  been  threat- 
ened and  was  expected  by  the  prisoners.  It  did  not  materialize,  however,  and 
the  hanging  of  the  three  occurred  according  to  schedule  before  a  large  gathering 
of  people  from  the  country  for  miles  around,  as  the  execution  was  public.  As 
to  the  others  arrested  for  the  murder,  Robert  Birch  escaped  confinement  and 
was  never  recaptured;  John  Baxter  wTas  twice  sentenced,  once  to  be  hung  and 
the  second  time  to  the  penitentiary  for  life,  but  was  finally  pardoned ;  William 
Reddin  pleaded  guilty  and  was  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  one  year  and  one 
week  while  George  G.  Reddin  was  found  "not  guilty"  and  discharged. 

IRA   O.    WILKINSON 

Ira  0.  Wilkinson,  senior  counsel  for  those  charged  with  the  murder  of 
Colonel  Davenport,  was  one  of  the  best  known  lawyers  in  the  lower  Rock  River 
Valley,  or  at  least  became  such  in  after  years.  Even  in  this  trial,  which  was 
his  first  important  case  in  Northern  Illinois,  he  handled  an  almost  hopeless  situa- 
tion with  great  legal  skill.  A  Virginian  by  birth,  in  the  early  '30s  he  was  in 
partnership  with  Richard  Yates  at  Jacksonville,  and  in  1843  located  in  Jack- 
sonville. He  became  probate  judge  of  Rock  Island  County  in  1847  and  served 
on  the  Circuit  bench  in  1849-67.  His  partner,  George  W.  Pleasants,  succeeded 
him  to  the  Sixth  Circuit  bench,  and  afterward  served  two  terms  in  the  Appellate 
Court,  of  the  Second  District.    During  the  third  term  of  Judge  Pleasants,  Judge 


Through    the    courtesy    of    tin-    Bock    Islaiul    Arsenal) 


HOME  OF  COLONEL  GEORGE  DAVENPORT 

Indian  Agent,  trailer  and  pioneer  settler.     Murdered  here  July  4,  1845. 

Built  in    1833;    restored  in   1906. 


304  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Wilkinson  moved  to  Chicago,  where  he  resumed  practice.     The  latter  had  fir^t 
come  into  prominence  from  his  connection  with  the  Davenport  case  in  1845. 

FIRST  PRIVATE  EXECUTION  IN  ROCK  ISLAND  COUNTY 

In  1854  and  1856,  there  were  two  more  public  executions  in  Rock  Island, 
both  the  criminals  being  wife-killers.  The  futility  of  public  executions  as  a  deter- 
rent to  the  commission  of  crimes  involving  the  taking  of  human  life  had  long 
been  discussed  before  the  authorities  performed  the  first  private  execution  in 
Rock  Island,  in  March,  1883.  If  capital  punishment  is  to  be,  it  has  long  since 
been  ordained  that  its  unfortunate  victims  shall  not  be  made  public  spectacles. 

OTHER  CASES  AND  CRIMES 

Robert  W.  Olmstead,  formerly  circuit  judge  and  a  well  known  practitioner 
of  Rock  Island,  writes  as  follows,  December  14,  1925,  in  regard  to  the  subject 
matter  relating  to  his  section  of  the  Valley:  "Your  Rock  Island  County  por- 
tion is  all  right  as  far  as  it  goes.  As  to  subject  matter,  you  have  the  old  story 
of  the  murder  of  Colonel  Davenport,  but  a  number  of  things  have  happened, 
which,  if  looked  into,  would  make  wonderful  stories.  For  instance,  along  about 
1899,  the  removal  of  the  Woodman  office  from  Fulton  to  Rock  Island  involved 
litigation  and  a  riot  at  Fulton  when  the  Rock  Island  contingent  went  to  bring 
the  books  forcibly  to  this  city. 

' '  The  death  knell  of  organized  crime  in  the  city  of  Rock  Island  is  now  being 
sounded  in  a  trial  at  Galesburg  on  a  change  of  venue,  wherein  John  Looney  is 
charged  with  the  death  of  William  Gabel.  This  is  not  a  new  story,  for  it  was 
alive  in  1915  when  I  was  defeated  for  renomination  as  circuit  judge.  The 
Banditti  of  the  Prairies  is  a  great  story  involving  more  murders,  possibly,  but 
only  possibly,  but  for  a  slimy  snake  that  had  a  community  by  the  throat,  I  do  not 
think  it  in  any  way  exceeded  the  story  that  is  now  coming  to  an  end. 

"As  to  persons,  of  course,  there  have  been  a  number  of  able  practitioners, 
not  very  prominent  politically.  William  Jackson  died  recently  at  the  age  of 
ninety-one  years  and  an  examination  of  the  Rock  Island  Argus  files  of  recent 
date  would  indicate  that  probably  he  ought  to  be  included. ' ' 

TRIALS  OF  ROCK  ISLAND  VICE  GANG 

Among  the  most  famous  trials  of  late  years  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  were 
those  of  John  Looney,  former  editor  of  the  Rock  Island  News,  and  his  associates. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1922  the  people  of  the  county  started  a  drive  for 
funds  to  finance  an  investigation  by  the  attorney-general  of  vice  conditions  in 
Rock  Island.  The  investigations  were  started  and  a  detective  agency  was  hired 
by  the  state  to  assist  in  the  survey.  Federal  agents  also  were  asked  to  assist 
and  Roy  Goss,  a  prohibition  agent,  started  an  investigation  of  liquor  conditions 
there. 

An  active  investigation  by  Attorney-General  Edward  J.  Brundage  was 
started  in  Rock  Island  in  October,  1922,  after  the  murder  of  Connor  Looney, 
John  Looney 's  son,  on  October  6.  Assistant  Attorney-General  Charles  W.  Had- 
ley  was  assigned  to  the  case  and  in  January,  1923,  he  was  joined  by  Senator 


tup:  rock  river  valley  305 

James  J.  Barbour.  Attorney-General  Oscar  E.  Carlstrom  continued  the  investi- 
gation after  Mr.  Brundage  lei't  the  office  and  on  August  18  indictments  were 
returned. 

Looney  was  arrested  in  New  Mexico  in  November,  1923,  and  was  brought  to 
Illinois  to  face  charges  of  conspiracy  brought  against  him  in  Rock  Island  during 
the  summer.  lie  was  convicted  and  sentenced  to  from  one  to  five  years  in  the 
penitentiary. 

In  the  general  cleanup  four  men  were  convicted  of  the  murder  of  Looney 's 
son,  Connor.  George  Butler  was  given  twenty  years  in  the  penitentiary  and 
Bill  Burns,  George  Holtsapple  and  Dan  Drost  were  given  fourteen  years  each. 

After  Looney  had  been  convicted  on  the  conspiracy  charge  Assistant  Attor- 
ney-General Hadley  and  Senator  Barbour  started  action  against  Looney  on  the 
indictment  charging  him  with  the  murder  of  William  Gabel,  a  saloon  keeper, 
who  had  disclosed  the  operations  of  the  vice-ring  of  which  Looney  was  the 
alleged  head.  Looney  took  a  change  of  venue,  and  the  case  was  sent  to  the  Cir- 
cuit court  of  Knox  County.  Proceedings  were  finally  started  on  November  23, 
1925,  and  a  month  afterward  Looney  was  sentenced  to  fourteen  years  in  State's 
Prison. 

Indicted  with  Looney  were  eight  of  his  associates,  seven  of  whom  testified  that 
they  had  operated  saloons  and  gambling  and  disorderly  houses,  paying  tribute 
to  Looney  for  the  privilege. 

As  intimated  by  Judge  Olmstead,  the  trial  of  the  Banditti  of  the  Prairies  is 
a  great  story  in  the  criminal  history  but  does  not  in  any  way  exceed  the  story 
of  the  Rock  Island  Banditti  of  today — or,  perchance,  yesterday. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


EDUCATIONAL  PROGRESS 


THE     FOUNDATION     OF     THE     WISCONSIN     SYSTEM ITS     STATE      UNIVERSITY — FIRST 

SCHOOLS  IN  MADISON EDUCATION  IN  JEFFERSON,  FORT  ATKINSON  AND  WATER- 
TOWN THE  NORTHWESTERN  COLLEGE  AND  JEFFERSON  INSTITUTE — BEAVER  DAM, 

WAUPUN  AND  OTHER  DODGE  COUNTY  CITIES  AND  TOWNS JANESVILLE  AND  BELOIT 

AS  EDUCATIONAL  CENTERS  OF  SOUTHERN  WISCONSIN FREE  ACADEMY  AND  WIS- 
CONSIN   SCHOOL    FOR    THE    BLIND    AT    JANESVILLE — BELOIT    COLLEGE    AND    THE 

ROCKFORD   FEMALE   SEMINARY ROCKFORD    COLLEGE    FOR   WOMEN THE    ILLINOIS 

SCHOOL  FUNDS  AND   SYSTEM   OF   FREE   SCHOOLS NORTHERN   ILLINOIS    FOREMOST 

IN    FOUNDING    IT THE    SCHOOLS    OF     ROCKFORD FIRST    CONSOLIDATED     SCHOOL 

DISTRICT  IN  WINNEBAGO  COUNTY THE  PIONEER  SCHOOLS  OF  BELVIDERE — NEW- 
TON ACADEMY WOMEN  SUPERINTENDENTS  OF  SCHOOLS FREEPORT  AND  STEPH- 
ENSON   COUNTY    INSTITUTIONS HISTORY    OF    THE    ROCK    RrVER    SEMINARY    AND 

MOUNT  MORRIS  COLLEGE EARLY  PRIVATE  AND  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  OF  OGLE  COUNTY 

FntST  TEACHERS  AND  SCHOOLS  IN  LEE  COUNTY DIXON  COLLEGIATE  INSTITUTE 

AND    LEE   CENTER   ACADEMY WHITESIDE   COUNTY   TEACHERS    AND    INSTITUTES 

HENRY    COUNTY   AND   ITS   COLONIES. — EARLY   EDUCATIONAL  PROGRESS    IN    MOLINE 

AND  ROCK  ISLAND PAROCHIAL  SCHOOLS AUGUSTANA  COLLEGE  AND  THEOLOGICAL 

SEMINARY,  ROCK  ISLAND. 


There  is  some  atmosphere  about  the  beautiful  and  fertile  stretches  of  the 
Rock  River,  with  its  numerous  tributary  streams — and  all  its  bright  and  lively 
waters — that  has  bred,  drawn  and  nourished  a  vital  and  cultured  race  of  men 
and  women.  The  charming  and  the  substantial  are  both  elements  of  the  parent 
valley  of  Southeastern  Wisconsin  and  Northwestern  Illinois  and  its  minor 
offshoots  east  and  west ;  and  the  dwellers  in  that  bright,  nourishing  and  stimu- 
lating country  are  as  versatile,  strong,  enterprising  and  clean  as  if  they  had 
drawn  these  attributes  from  the  soil  of  their  land.  Whether  they  live  under 
the  laws  of  Wisconsin  or  Illinois,  they  have  been  independent  and  fearless 
workers  in  the  fields  of  law,  education  and  religious  thought.  Especially  has 
the  Upper  Valley  brought  forth  numerous  women  of  educational,  literary  and 
moral  initiative  and  performance,  who  have  done  much  to  found  the  schools 
and  colleges  and  to  promote  the  many  moral  and  spiritual  movements  which 
have  set  high  the  Rock  River  country  in  the  annals  of  the  most  worthy  ac- 
complishments of  the  earth.  Beloit,  Rockford,  Mount  Morris  and  Augustana 
colleges  stand  secure  among  the  fine,  good  and  progressive  institutions  of  the 
Rock  River  Valley — noteworthy  examples  of  what  is  being  accomplished  for 
the  young  men  and  women  of  the  country  by  a  wise  combination  of  intellectual, 
moral  and  spiritual  education.     There  is  no  doubt  that  the  wonderful  human 

306 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  307 

stock  which  has  heen  produced  by  the  racial  melting  pot  in  this  section  of  the 
country  owes  its  indissoluble  nature  largely  to  such  institutions  of  character- 
building. 

THE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  WISCONSIN  SYSTEM 

If  an>'  region  in  the  United  States  has  attempted  to  live  up  to  the  educa- 
tional preamble  of  the  Northwest  Ordinance  more  faithfully  than  the  Rock 
River  Valley  it  is  unknown  to  the  writer,  who  quotes  the  significant  words, 
thus:  "Religion,  morality  and  knowledge  being  necessary  to  good  govern- 
ment and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of  education  shall 
be  forever  encouraged."  The  succeeding  provision  donated  the  sixteenth  sec- 
tion in  each  township  to  the  support  of  public  schools,  and  the  fund  thus  pro- 
vided has  been  the  greatest  incentive  to  the  founding  of  a  democratic  system 
of  education  in  the  Northwest.  As  this  vast  region  was  carved  into  states, 
congress  passed  over  this  School  Section  to  the  new  commonwealths.  When 
Wisconsin  entered  the  Union  in  1848,  she  received  not  only  the  School  Section, 
but  an  additional  tract  of  half  a  million  acres.  A  part  of  this  tract  was  taken 
from  the  unsold  lands  of  the  Rock  River  Canal  Grant,  amounting  to  13,663 
acres,  and  the  remainder  was  selected  by  agents  of  the  State  to  make  up  the 
full  500,000  acres.  This  tract,  with  the  966,731  acres  covering  the  school  sec- 
tions of  the  State  and  the  238,891  acres  which  accrued  from  the  "forfeited 
mortgage  lands"  under  a  statute  of  1849,  brought  the  common  school  fund 
of  Wisconsin  to  a  total  of  1,705,622  acres. 

The  State  University  fund  was  inherited  from  a  territorial  land  grant,  which, 
with  additions  from  Congress,  amounted  in  1854  to  nearly  92,000  acres.  The 
Morrill  act  of  1862  granted  Wisconsin  240,000  acres  to  found  an  Agricultural 
College,  and  this  fund  afterward  became  an  endowment  for  the  University 
of  Wisconsin. 

The  fund  for  the  creation  and  support  of  the  Normal  Schools  of  Wisconsin 
commenced  to  be  formed  in  1851  from  the  sales  of  the  swamp  lands.  In  1857, 
the  Legislature  passed  an  act  "for  the  encouragement  of  academies  and  normal 
schools."  This  law  set  apart  for  the  purposes  specified  in  its  title  one-fourth 
of  the  gross  proceeds  of  the  swamp  lands  granted  to  Wisconsin  in  1850,  and 
provided  for  a  Board  of  Normal  School  Regents  to  distribute  the  income  to 
colleges  and  academies  which  organized  departments  for  the  training  of  teachers. 
By  an  act  passed  in  1865,  one-half  of  the  swamp  land  fund  was  to  be  denom- 
inated the  "normal  school  fund,"  and  the  income  of  this  fund  was  to  be  ap- 
plied ta  the  establishment  and  support  of  normal  schools,  provided  that  25 
per  cent  of  this  income  would  be  annually  transferred  to  the  school  fund  in- 
come, until  the  annual  income  of  the  common  school  fund  reached  the  sum 
of  $200,000. 

This  is  no  place  to  review  the  disgraceful  squandering  of  these  land  funds 
provided  for  the  founding  and  continuation  of  a  grand  system  of  education 
to  be  enjoyed  by  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor.  Although  the  productive  school 
fund  of  Wisconsin  had  reached  to  more  than  $7,300,000  in  1924,  experts  who 
have  made  a  careful  study  of  the  various  educational  funds  set  aside  by  the 
General  and  the  State  governments  have  declared  that  if  proper  business  meth- 

Vol.  1—20 


308  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

ods  had  been  applied  in  the  sale  of  the  lands  and  the  care  of  the  funds,  the 
aggregate  of  the  capital  applicable  to  the  purposes  of  public  education  would 
have  amounted  to  $50,000,000. 

THE    STATE    UNIVERSITY 

At  the  head  of  the  State's  great  educational  system  is  the  University,  and 
around  its  seat  at  Madison  are  the  reservoir  waters  of  one  of  the  distinctive 
valleys  of  the  Rock  River.  No  more  noble  site  for  a  university  could  be  con- 
ceived than  the  region  of  Southern  Wisconsin  gemmed  by  the  Four  Lakes, 
and  from  its  brilliant  and  learned  faculty  has  lately  been  drafted  a  member 
to  grace  the  presidency  of  the  University  of  Chicago.  The  founding  and  ex- 
pansion of  the  State  University  cover  a  subject  of  such  magnitude  and  intricacy 
that  the  details  are  reserved  for  the  history  of  Dane  County  and  its  noteworthy 
institutions.  This  chapter  is  limited  to  a  sweeping  picture  of  the  establish- 
ment of  schools,  colleges  and  universities  in  the  Rock  River  Valley,  with  the 
moral  and  religious  forces  and  institutions  which  have  made  its  people  what 
they  are.  Residents  of  the  Valley  who  are  identified  prominently  with  the 
educational  system  of  the  State  are  as  follows :  John  Callahan,  state  super- 
intendent of  public  instruction  and  one  of  the  regents  ex-officio  of  the  University, 
Madison;  Edward  A.  Birge,  president  of  the  Board  of  University  Regents, 
also  of  Madison ;  Michael  B.  Olbrich,  a  Madison  attorney,  and  Victor  P.  Rich- 
ardson, a  manufacturer  of  Janesville,  other  members  of  the  Board ;  Mrs.  Charles 
R.  Carpenter  and  George  P.  Hambrecht,  of  Madison,  members  of  the  Board 
of  University  Visitors;  State  Superintendent  Callahan  and  Industrial  Com- 
missioner L.  A.  Tarrell,  ex-officio  members  of  the  State  Board  of  Vocational 
Education,  Madison ;  State  Superintendent  Callahan  and  State  Treasurer  Sol 
Levitan,  members  of  the  State  Board  of  Normal  Regents,  Madison,  with  Wil- 
liam Kittle,  as  its  secretary. 

During  the  school  year  1923-24,  more  than  $58,800,000  was  expended  in 
Wisconsin  in  support  of  the  public  schools,  and  $6,280,000  in  the  maintenance 
of  the  State  University,  exclusive  of  revolving  funds. 

FIRST    SCHOOLS   IN   MADISON 

Several  months  after  the  old  capitol  buildings  were  erected  near  Lake  Monona, 
about  a  year  before  Dane  County  was  organized  and  while  it  was  still  a  part 
of  Iowa  County,  A.  A.  Bird,  one  of  the  settlers  on  the  site  of  Madison  employed 
Miss  Louisa  Brayton,  of  Aztalan,  a  settlement  in  what  is  now  Dodge  .County, 
to  come  to  the  rising  town  of  the  Four  Lakes  region  and  teach  the  children 
of  his  family  the  elements  of  learning.  She  came  and  the  small  class  which 
she  formed  took  its  place  in  the  little  community  as  the  first  school  in  that 
locality.  In  1841,  two  years  after  Dane  County  was  created,  the  taxpayers 
made  application  to  the  school  commissioners  to  set  off  Township  7,  Range  9 
east,  as  District  No.  1.  It  was  erected  soon  after,  and  also  so  enlarged  as  to 
include  Township  8.  In  the  following  year,  the  local  school  board  of  Madison 
sanctioned  the  establishment  of  a  select  female  academy,  and  in  1855  the  vil- 
lage was  incorporated  and  a  separate  school   district  formed  to  cover  its  ter- 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  309 

ritory.  As  the  Wisconsin  Stale  University  had  been  founded  seven  years  be- 
fore. .Madison  became  at  once  the  recognized  educational  center  of  tbe  common- 
wealth. 

EDUCATION  IN  JEFFERSON,  FORT   ATKINSON   AND  WATERTOWN 

Largely  through  the  enterprise  of  leading  Milwaukee  citizens,  Watertown, 
Hebron,  Fort  Atkinson  and  Aztalan  were  founded  in  1836,  and  in  the  same 
year  Jefferson  County  was  set  off  from  Milwaukee.  Jefferson  and  Lake  Mills 
sprung  up  about  the  same  time,  so  that  the  county  east  of  Dane  had  a  number 
of  flourishing  settlements  while  Madison  and  Dane  County  were  scarcely  on 
the  map.  Jefferson,  Fort  Atkinson  and  Watertown  all  organized  private  schools 
soon  after  they  were  settled.  In  the  spring  of  1837  the  first  school  at  Fort 
Atkinson  was  opened  in  a  log  cabin  on  the  north  side  of  the  Crawfish  River 
by  Jane  Crane.  Charles  Rockwell  erected  the  first  distinctive  schoolhouse,  in 
1844.  although  religious  meetings  were  held  therein  quite  often.  Many  of  the 
private  schools  in  Fort  Atkinson,  at  an  early  day,  were  conducted  in  the  base- 
ment of  the  old  Congregational  church,  organized  in  1841. 

Watertown  also  established  its  schools  supported  by  private  subscription 
in  the  late  '30s,  and  old  School  District  No.  1  was  well  supported  by  the  tax- 
payers. A.  Hoffman's  blacksmith  and  wagon  shop  was  a  favorite  meeting  place 
for  the  "legal  voters*'  to  discuss  and  organize  school  matters.  In  1856,  its 
public  schools  were  organized  under  the  Union  system  and  placed  under  the 
supervision  of  a  Board  of  Education. 

THE  NORTHWESTERN  COLLEGE  AND  JEFFERSON  INSTITUTE 

The  Lutherans  were  strong,  prosperous  and  enterprising  in  Watertown,  and 
in  1864  their  Wisconsin  synod  erected  a  large  brick  structure  on  the  east  side 
of  the  city  and  opened  it  in  September  of  that  year  as  the  Northwestern  Uni- 
versity. Its  first  dormitory,  built  in  1867,  was  burned  in  1874  and  a  new  one 
was  soon  afterward  erected.  Other  buildings  have  since  been  erected  and  the 
name  of  the  institution  changed  to  the  Northwestern  College  to  avoid  mis- 
understanding caused  by  the  similarity  of  the  title  borne  by  the  Northwestern 
University,  of  Evanston  and  Chicago,  Illinois.  The  Northwestern  College  of 
Illinois  is  located  at  Naperville,  and  is  under  the  control  of  the  Evangelical 
Association  of  Lutherans. 

The  first  schools  in  the  county  seat  of  Jefferson  County  were  established 
in  1839  and  1840,  but  for  more  than  a  dozen  years  after  the  Civil  war  it  was 
the  seat  of  an  educational  institute  founded  by  Universalists.  In  April,  1866, 
was  founded  what  was  known  as  the  Jefferson  Institute.  In  June  of  that 
year  the  Universalists  of  Wisconsin  held  a  convention  at  Columbus  and  took 
over  the  enterprise  under  the  name  of  the  Jefferson  Liberal  Institute.  A  build- 
ing was  completed,  but  the  enterprise  did  not  prosper  and  in  the  spring  of 
1879  the  plant  and  grounds  were  purchased  by  the  City  of  Jefferson  and  trans- 
formed into  a  public  school. 


310  THE  EOCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

BEAVER  DAM,   WAUPUN   AND   OTHER  DODGE   COUNTY   CITIES 

About  one-third  of  Watertown  laps  over  from  Jefferson  County  into  Dodge, 
and  Waupun  is  divided  between  Fond  du  Lac  and  Dodge  counties.  Schools 
were  founded  early  at  Watertown  and  Fox  Lake,  the  latter  in  the  northwestern 
part  of  Dodge  County.  In  1842,  the  handful  of  citizens  at  Beaver  Dam  met 
at  the  house  of  J.  P.  Brower  and  chose  a  site  for  their  first  schoolhouse  a 
short  distance  east  of  Spring  Creek;  but  "things  came  up"  and  it  was  four 
years  before  it  was  finished.  In  1844,  when  Charles  Cleveland  opened  the 
first  school  of  Waupun  in  a  small  wooden  building  in  the  five-year-old  settle- 
ment, it  was  located  in  District  No.  1 ;  which  comprised  the  present  City  of 
Waupun  in  both  Dodge  and  Fond  du  Lac  counties,  and  a  portion  of  the  town 
of  Chester  in  Dodge  County.  The  original  schoolhouse  was  replaced  by  a 
better  one  in  1847.  In  1860,  the  district  was  divided  and  the  South  and  North 
Ward  schools  in  Waupun  were  erected.  Horieon  and  Juneau  were  of  later 
settlement,  but  maintained  the  superior  standard  of  the  county  schools. 

JANESVILLE  AND  BELOIT  AS  EDUCATIONAL  CENTERS 

Janesville  and  Beloit  have  always  been  intellectual  and  educational  centers 
of  Southern  Wisconsin  and  the  Upper  Rock  River  Valley.  Janesville  was  made 
the  seat  of  justice  of  Rock  County  in  1837  and  in  1843,  after  a  number  of 
private  schools  had  been  in  action  for  several  years,  chartered  a  free  academy 
under  the  laws  of  the  Territory.  It  was  one  of  the  first  institutions  of  higher 
learning  in  Wisconsin,  and  in  1844  her  citizens  provided  a  substantial  stone 
building  for  its  operations.  At  that  time  there  were  less  than  100  children 
of  school  age  in  the  place.  The  Academy  building  stood  on  the  site  of  Janes- 
ville 's  Central  school. 

Wisconsin's  first  benevolent  institution 

In  the  fall  of  1849,  there  was  established  at  Janesville  the  first  benevolent 
institution  founded  by  the  State  of  Wisconsin.  The  Wisconsin  School  for  the 
Blind  was  organized  August  27,  1849,  under  private  management,  its  initial 
subscription  being  $430.  In  the  following  February,  the  State  Legislature  in- 
corporated the  school  as  its  first  benevolent  institution. 

beloit  college 

The  Town  of  Beloit,  which  was  chartered  by  the  Territorial  Legislature  in 
1842,  was  early  designated  as  one  of  the  leading  college  centers  of  Wisconsin, 
and  how  it  became  the  headquarters  of  a  movement  which  resulted  in  the 
eventual  founding  of  two  colleges — one  in  Wisconsin  and  the  other  in  Illinois 
— is  thus  told  in  the  "History  of  Winnebago  County,"  by  Charles  A.  Church: 
"As  early  as  1843,  there  was  some  discussion  of  the  need  of  a  college  for  the 
upper  Rock  River  Valley.  A  general  convention  of  the  churches  of  the  North- 
west was  held  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  June,  1844,  at  which  education  received 
much  attention.     It  was  decided  that  a  college  and  a  female  seminary  should 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  311 

be  founded  in  Southern  Wisconsin  and  Northern  Illinois,  respectively.  A 
resolution  was  adopted  that  the  'exigencies  of  Wisconsin  and  Northern  Illinois 
require  that  those  sections  should  unite  in  establishing  a  college  and  female 
seminary  of  the  highest  order — one  in  Wisconsin,  near  to  Illinois,  and  one  in 
Illinois,  near  to  Wisconsin.'  The  delegates,  upon  their  return,  called  a  con- 
vention at  Beloit  in  August,  1844.  Three  subsequent  conventions  were  held 
at  Beloit,  because  it  was  believed  from  the  first  that  the  college  should  be 
located  at  that  place.  The  resolution  of  the  first  convention,  affirming  the 
need  of  both  college  and  seminary,  was  reaffirmed  in  these  subsequent  con- 
ventions, representing  especially  the  Presbyterian  and  Congregational  ministry 
and  churches  in  all  the  region.  The  union  of  these  two  churches  in  this  move- 
ment may  be  attributed  to  the  fact  that  each  was  weak  as  it  stood  alone  and 
only  in  union  was  there  strength.  At  the  fourth  convention,  held  at  Beloit 
in  October,  1845,  that  city  was  selected  as  the  seat  of  the  college  and  a  Board 
of  Trustees  was  elected,  to  whom  was  submitted  the  development  of  both  in- 
stitutions. LTpon  the  original  board  was  Rev.  Aratus  Kent  and  Hon.  Wait 
Talcott.  The  charter  for  Beloit  College  was  approved  by  the  governor  of  the 
Territory  of  Wisconsin,  February  2,  1846.  Middle  college,  the  first  building, 
was  begun  in  the  autumn  of  that  year. 

'Then  began  the  discussion  of  a  site  for  the  seminary.  Rockton  and  Rock- 
ford  were  rivals,  and  Rockford  was  given  the  preference.  A  call  was  issued 
for  a  meeting  at  the  Methodist  church,  on  Monday  evening,  November  3,  1845, 
to  consider  the  location  of  the  seminary.  At  this  meeting  it  was  resolved  to 
attempt  to  raise  the  sum  prescribed  by  the  Beloit  trustees  as  necessary,  about 
$3,500,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  solicit  subscriptions.  Citizens  pledged 
the  required  amount  and  the  Forum  of  December  3d  mentions,  in  a  sketch  of 
the  city,  that  the  trustees  of  Beloit  College  located  the  seminary  at  Rockford. 
A  charter  was  granted  February  25,  1847,  to  the  following  gentlemen  as  in- 
corporators :  Aratus  Kent,  D.  Clary,  S.  Peet,  F.  Bascom,  C.  Waterbury,  S.  D. 
Stevens,  A.  L.  Chapin,  R.  M.  Pearson,  G.  W.  Wilcox,  A.  Raymond,  C.  M. 
Goodsell,  E.  H.  Potter,  L.  G.  Fisher,  Wait  Talcott,  Charles  S.  Hempstead  and 
Samuel  Hinman.  These  same  gentlemen  were  the  incorporators  of  Beloit  Col- 
lege. Disasters  affecting  the  business  interests  of  the  village  prevented  the 
fulfillment  of  the  pledges  which  had  been  made  and  delayed  the  enterprise 
for  a  time,  but  it  was  never  abandoned." 

ROCKFORD  FEMALE  SEMINARY   AND   COLLEGE  FOR  WOMEN 

From  the  time  that  Anna  P.  Sill  established  her  preparatory  school  at  Rock- 
ford under  the  name  of  the  Rockford  Female  Seminary,  the  Illinois  institution 
commenced  to  be  weaned  from  its  mother,  Beloit  College.  That  was  in  June, 
ls4f>,  and  in  1851  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Beloit  College  formally  recognized 
it  as  the  preparatory  department  of  the  Rockford  Female  Seminary.  Recita- 
tions were  conducted  in  the  old  courthouse  building.  In  1850,  largely  through 
the  labors  and  generosity  of  Charles  H.  Spafford,  grounds  had  been  purchased 
for  the  foundation  of  the  seminary  authorized  by  the  Beloit  College  charter. 
The  first  building  was  completed  in  1852,  when  the  seminary  passed  into  the 
control  of  a  separate  Board  of  Trustees,  who  appointed  Miss  Sill  as  principal 


312  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

of  the  institution.  After  1852,  therefore,  the  seminary  was  an  independent 
Illinois  institution.  In  June,  1891,  it  was  decided  to  discontinue  the  seminary 
course  and  the  name  of  the  institution  was  changed  to  Rockford  College,  more 
distinctively  known  as  the  Rockford  College  for  Women. 

The  details  of  the  development  of  both  Beloit  and  Rockford  colleges,  so 
vital  to  the  higher  growth  of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  will  be  given  in  the  county 
histories  of  Rock  and  Winnebago. 

Returning  to  the  educational  survey  of  the  Beloit  region,  it  may  be  noted 
that  the  old  districts,  Nos.  1  and  2,  were  abolished  in  the  fall  of  1849 ;  Union 
District  No.  1  of  Beloit  was  then  formed,  but  that  was  soon  discontinued  and 
School  District  No.  2  was  formed  west  of  the  river.  The  citizens  of  Beloit 
were  very  keen  about  school  matters  in  those  days  (as  they  have  been,  since), 
and  in  December,  1849,  appointed  a  committee  to  recommend  to  the  Legis- 
lature that  money  be  loaned  to  the  district  to  build  a  new  schoolhouse  instead 
of  donating  it  to  railroads.  The  result  was  the  completion  of  a  good  school- 
house  at  a  cost  of  some  $4,000 ;  the  sale  of  the  old  one  brought  $355.  The  first 
school  in  Beloit  was  taught  in  1838  by  John  Burroughs,  the  noted  naturalist 
and  author  and  was  opened  in  the  kitchen  of  the  Rock  River  House. 

THE  ILLINOIS   SCHOOL  FUNDS 

Illinois  has  various  funds  upon  which  to  draw  for  the  support  of  her  pub- 
lic schools,  seminaries,  colleges,  normal  schools  and  University.  The  Township 
fund  for  the  support  of  the  public  schools  is  by  far  the  largest  of  them  all. 
As  is  well  known,  it  is  derived  from  the  munificent  donation  from  Congress 
of  the  sixteenth  section  of  every  township.  The  swamp  land  fund  is  distributed 
to  the  different  counties  by  the  Legislature. 

The  school  fund  proper  consists  of  three  per  cent  of  the  net  proceeds  from 
the  public  land  sales,  one-sixth  part  excepted.  This  is  known  as  the  Three 
Per  Cent  Fund,  or  the  School  Fund  Proper.  The  College  Fund  consists  of 
one-sixth  of  three  per  cent  of  the  sales  of  public  lands  in  the  State.  There 
are  also  University,  Seminary  and  Surplus  Revenue  funds.  The  last-named 
was  created  by  Congress  by  an  act  which  deposited  with  the  states,  in  propor- 
tion to  their  representation  in  that  body,  the  money  that  had  accumulated  in 
the  national  treasury,  mainly  from  the  sale  of  public  lands.  More  than  a 
third  of  this  fund  was  expended  in  internal  improvements,  and  the  remainder 
was  made  a  part  of  the  common  school  fund  of  the  State. 

ILLINOIS  SYSTEM    OF    FREE    SCHOOLS 

The  Illinois  system  of  free  schools  dates  from  1855  and  its  foundation  was 
laid  by  Ninian  W.  Edwards,  son  of  the  Governor,  who  had  long  been  a  public 
man  of  State  affairs.  In  February,  1854,  Governor  Joel  A.  Matteson  appointed 
him  the  first  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  separating  his  functions 
from  those  formerly  performed  by  the  secretary  of  state.  A  year  thereafter, 
under  legislative  instructions,  Mr.  Edwards  reported  a  bill  to  the  General  As- 
sembly embodying  a  system  of  free  education  for  all  the  children  of  the  State. 
It  became  a  law  on  the  15th  of  February,  1855.     According  to  its  provisions, 


THE  ROCK  EtlVEB  V ALLEY  313 

for  State  purposes  the  school  tax  was  fixed  at  two  mills  on  the  $100.  To  this 
was  added  the  interest  from  the  permanent  school  fund.  A  free  school  was 
required  to  be  maintained  for  at  least  six  months  in  each  year,  and  it  was 
made  imperative  upon  the  directors  of  every  school  district  to  levy  the  neces- 
sary tax.  Edwards  had  recommended  the  use  of  the  township  as  the  unit  for 
school  purposes,  the  township  directors  to  combine  in  a  county  convention  to 
elect  a  county  superintendent.  The  Legislature,  however,  retained  the  dis- 
trict system.  In  fact,  as  amended  by  the  General  Assembly,  the  author  of 
the  original  bill  severely  criticised  it  as  containing  many  obscure  and  unjust 
features,  some  of  which  were  afterward  remedied. 

NORTHERN   ILLINOIS   FOREMOST   IN    FOUNDING    IT 

Despite  its  drawbacks,  the  law  was  a  great  boon  to  those  who  had  long 
been  advocates  of  a  system  of  popular  education  based  on  local  taxation.  Its 
passage  was  doubtful  on  account  of  the  unequal  distribution  of  wealth,  and 
consequent  comparative  burdens  of  taxation  required  to  found  and  maintain 
such  a  system  under  State  administration.  In  the  "Centennial  History  of 
Illinois,"  Northern  Illinois  is  thus  given  credit  for  the  final  passage  of  the 
Edwards  bill,  as  amended  by  the  General  Assembly.  "The  law  was  passed," 
comments  that  authority,  "by  the  representatives  of  Northern  Illinois,  in  spite 
of  opposition  from  most  of  Egypt,  St.  Clair  County,  however,  unanimously 
supported  the  proposition  because  of  the  popularity  of  education  among  the 
Germans  there,  led  by  men  like  George  Bunsen,  school  commissioner  of  St.  Clair 
County,  who  was  later  appointed  a  member  of  the  first  State  School  Board. 
The  wealthier  northern  counties  of  the  State  wanted  education  badly  enough 
to  pay  more  than  their  share  for  it;  they  proved  this  to  the  south  by  arrang- 
ing the  distribution  of  the  two  mill  tax  on  the  compound  basis  of  population 
and  territory — two-thirds  according  to  the  school  children  and  one-third  ac- 
cording to  the  number  of  townships.  Some  of  the  northern  counties  received 
less  than  half  of  what  they  contributed,  while  southern  counties  doubled  their 
contributions.  This  consideration,  reenforced  by  the  complaints  of  northern 
districts  of  the  unfair  distribution  of  the  State  funds,  reconciled  many  parts 
of  Egypt  to  the  law,  and  the  school  fever  began  to  carry  all  before  it." 

THE   SCHOOLS    OF   ROCKFORD 

No  county  of  Northern  Illinois  was  more  earnest  and  steadfast  in  the  pro- 
motion of  the  new  public  school  system  than  Winnebago.  Rockford  organized 
as  a  city  in  1852  and  in  1854  its  Council  was  delegated  full  power  over  the 
local  schools.  In  June,  1855,  the  City  Council  passed  its  first  school  ordinance 
under  the  new  school  law.  Under  it,  the  city  was  divided  into  East  and  West 
Side  districts,  designated  Nos.  1  and  2.  A  Board  of  School  Inspectors  was 
appointed  consisting  of  George  Haskell,  A.  S.  Miller  and  Jason  Marsh — the 
last  named  giving  his  name  to  the  Marsh  school.  In  December,  the  board 
voted  to  purchase  of  A.  W.  Freeman  his  lease  of  the  basement  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church  for  a  school  in  District  No.  2.  Mr.  Freeman  was  employed 
to  teach  at  $800  per  year.     At  the  same  time,  H.  Sabin  was  engaged  for  Dis- 


314  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

trict  No.  1  and  the  old  courthouse  on  the  East  Side  was  leased.  The  Council 
had  provided  by  ordinance  for  a  school  agent  for  each  district  whose  acts  were 
to  be  approved  by  that  body,  and  the  present  sites  of  the  Adams  and  Lincoln 
schools  were  purchased.  On  August  14,  1857,  occurred  the  formal  dedication 
of  the  two  union  school  buildings.  Previous  to  that  time,  Rockford  had  no 
schoolhouse  of  its  own,  and  the  completion  of  the  buildings  named  marked 
the  establishment  of  the  local  public  school  system. 

Of  late  years  no  one  reform  in  the  public  school  system  has  done  more 
for  the  children  of  the  rural  districts  than  that  of  Consolidation,  by  which 
sections  of  limited  means  are  enabled  to  combine  their  resources  for  the  com- 
mon good  of  a  designated  area.  Winnebago  County  has  the  oldest  consolidated 
school  in  Illinois.  In  view  of  that  fact,  the  details  of  its  origin  are  quoted 
from  an  account  prepared  by  a  local  historian,  to  this  effect:  "In  April, 
1903,  Districts  90,  91  and  93  of  Seward  Township  were,  on  petition,  con- 
solidated by  the  township  trustees.  A  few  days  later,  by  a  vote  of  38  to  15, 
the  people  voted  to  bond  the  new  district  for  $7,000  for  ten  years'  time,  at 
four  per  cent,  to  erect  a  modern  school  building.  The  taxpayers  also  author- 
ized the  directors,  by  a  vote  of  47  to  11,  to  purchase  a  central  site  of  three 
and  six-tenths  acres.  The  price  paid  was  $1,000.  The  building  was  dedicated 
January  30,  1904,  and  the  event  marked  the  close  of  a  struggle  of  five  years 
to  give  the  children  of  the  township  better  educational  advantages.  A  notable 
programme  was  presented,  which  included  addresses  by  the  late  Alfred  Bay- 
less,  State  superintendent  of  public  instruction ;  Dr.  John  W.  Cook,  president 
of  the  State  Normal  School,  at  De  Kalb;  O.  J.  Kern,  county  superintendent 
of  schools ;  and  presentation  of  a  flag  by  Hon.  Laurence  McDonald.  The  school 
was  opened  February  1,  1904,  with  an  attendance  of  103." 

PIONEER   SCHOOLS   OF   BELVIDERE 

Boone  County,  so  closely  associated  with  Winnebago  in  politics  and  ter- 
ritory, was  also  up  and  doing  in  all  educational  matters,  public  and  private. 
The  Belvidere  district,  which  for  some  time  hung  in  the  balance  between  the 
two  counties,  was  never  lukewarm  in  its  support  of  educational  enterprises. 
The  first  schools  taught  were  private  or  family  schools,  and  among  the  earliest 
of  the  teachers  connected  with  them  was  Miss  Harriet  King,  daughter  of 
Dr.  John  S.  King,  the  eminent  pioneer  Baptist  divine.  Another  of  the  pioneer 
teachers  was  Miss  Rebecca  Loop,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  John  K.  Towner,  who  taught 
a  school  in  the  winter  of  1836-37  at  the  Towner  family  residence  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Kishwaukee. 

NEWTON  ACADEMY 

For  fifteen  or  sixteen  years,  Belvidere  was  the  seat  of  Newton  Academy, 
which  earned  quite  a  name  as  an  educational  institution  of  the  uj>per  Rock 
River  Valley.  About  1837,  a  stock  company  was  formed  to  found  such  an 
institution,  and  in  1838  Dr.  King  and  others  secured  as  its  site  a  tract  ad- 
joining the  courthouse  square.  The  academy  building  was  opened  to  pupils 
and  the  enterprise  was  entrusted  to  several  principals  until  in  August,  1843, 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  315 

it  came  into  possession  of  Arthur  B.  Fuller,  brother  of  the  famous  Margaret 
Fuller,  who  did  her  full  share  to  make  the  Rock  River  Valley  noted  for  its 
educational  and  literary  atmosphere.  Mr.  Fuller  owned  and  operated  the  New- 
ton Academy  for  about  two  years,  after  which  it  was  jointly  occupied  for 
school  and  religious  purposes.  First  a  Unitarian  and  then  a  Baptist  Society 
held  forth  in  it.  It  finally  lost  its  distinctive  character  as  an  academy,  and 
the  property  was  gradually  transformed  into  a  residential  estate.  The  year 
1852  is  given  as  the  date  when  Newton  Academy  ended  its  life  as  an  educa- 
tional concern. 

There  were  other  select  schools  in  Belvidere.  The  public  school  era  com- 
menced in  1842,  and  since  1854,  when  the  stone  part  of  the  public  school 
building  in  the  courthouse  square  was  completed,  the  free  system  was  well 
established  in  that  section. 

WOMEN  SUPERINTENDENTS  OF  SCHOOLS 

In  the  early  70s,  Boone  and  Winnebago  counties  were  acknowledged  leaders 
in  the  advancement  of  women  executives  in  the  free  school  system  of  the  State. 
In  November,  1873,  ten  ladies  of  Illinois  were  elected  county  superintendents 
of  schools.  In  December  of  the  following  year,  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Crary  was  elected 
to  the  position  in  Boone  County.  At  a  meeting  of  the  State  Association  of 
County  Superintendents  held  in  Chicago,  Mrs.  Crary,  as  well  as  Mrs.  Mary 
S.  Carpenter,  of  Winnebago  County,  was  selected  from  the  five  lady  super- 
intendents to  read  papers  and  engage  in  the  general  discussion  before  the  con- 
vention. Mrs.  Crary  had  been  educated  at  Rockford  Seminary  and  Vassar  Col- 
lege (N.  Y.),  and,  although  still  a  young  woman,  had  taught  for  a  number 
of  years  at  Belvidere,  before  the  school  authorities  decided  to  try  what  they 
frankly  admitted  was  "an  experiment."  In  the  case  of  Mrs.  Crary,  and  others 
of  her  sex,  the  experiment  met  with  pronounced  success. 

FREEPORT  AND  STEPHENSON  COUNTY  INSTITUTIONS 

Stephenson  County,  west  of  Winnebago,  was  a  little  out  of  the  main-traveled 
route  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  and  was  not  organized  until  1837,  two  years 
after  its  first  permanent  settlers  had  made  that  region  their  home.  Soon  after 
the  county  got  under  way  as  an  independent  political  body,  Nelson  Martin 
opened  the  first  school  in  his  log  house  near  the  bank  of  the  Pecatonica  River. 
The  tired  housewife  of  William  Baker,  the  ferryman,  had  already  christened 
the  little  settlement,  Free  Port. 

The  public  schools  of  Freeport  were  brought  under  the  jurisdiction  of  its 
Board  of  Education  and  graded  in  1851,  and  a  Union  school  completed  in  the 
following  year.  High  school  courses  were  also  offered  in  1852.  The  building 
which  housed  the  first  Freeport  pupils  outside  of  private  residences  was  known 
as  the  Old  Red  School,  and  performed  its  homely  functions  until  the  Union 
school  was  built. 

Ogle  County  is  not  only  prominent  in  the  history  of  the  Rock  River  Val- 
ley, as  a  popular  educational  center  of  early  establishment,  but  the  scene  of 
the  founding  of  an  institution  of  higher  learning,  permeated  by  a  strong  cur- 


316  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

rent  of  morality  and  religion  along  which  have  been  borne  into  the  world  of 
thought  and  affairs  some  of  the  most  widely  known  characters  of  the  nation. 
Rock  River  Seminary  and  its  child,  Mount  Morris  College,  have  become  known 
as  widespread  influences  for  high  and  broad  growth. 

The  first  school  in  the  county  to  become  established  in  a  home  of  its  own 
was  that  known  as  the  LaFayette  Grove  school,  taught  in  the  winter  of  1836 
by  Chloe  J.  Benedict.  This  log  house  with  a  dirt  floor  was  also  used  by  some 
neighborhood  Methodists  for  a  meeting  place.  The  building  was  soon  burned 
to  the  ground  by  outlaws,  who  carefully  carried  out  of  doors  all  the  books, 
papers,  slates,  pens  and  pencils  used  in  the  operation  of  Miss  Benedict's  school, 
thus  demonstrating  that  the  opposition  of  the  bandits  was  directed  against 
religion*  rather  than  secular  education.  Notwithstanding  which,  the  school 
mistress  was  married,  within  a  few  years,  to  Rev.  Barton  H.  Cartwright,  one 
of  the  widely  known  missionaries  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Not  long  after  the  LaFayette  Grove  school  was  opened,  the  first  schoolhouse 
was  built  at  Byron  and  its  pupils  taught  by  Miss  Lydia  A.  Weldon.  Years 
afterward,  an  academy  was  also  started  at  that  place,  but  could  not  bear  up 
under  its  financial  burdens  and  its  building  Avas  worked  into  the  structure  of 
the  district  school. 

The  first  building  erected  on  the  town  plat  of  Oregon  was  used  as  a  school- 
house  in  the  winter  of  1837.  Two  years  later,  a  building  was  erected  specially 
for  that  purpose,  Phelps'  sawmill  on  Pine  Creek  supplying  the  boards  for  the 
body  of  the  house. 

ROCK   RIVER   SEMINARY   AND    MOUNT    MORRIS    COLLEGE 

A  colony  of  men  and  women  from  Maryland  brought  the  seeds  of  education 
to  Mount  Morris  Township  from  which  good  influences  have  been  germinating 
ever  since  they  came  in  1837.  The  advance  agents  of  this  band  of  intelligent, 
practical  and  high-minded  colonists  were  Samuel  M.  Hitt  and  Captain  Nathaniel 
Swingley  who  had  located  their  claims  the  previous  summer.  Rev.  Thomas  S. 
Hitt,  a  Methodist  minister,  was  attracted  to  the  Mount  Morris  locality  by  the 
favorable  reports  of  his  brother,  the  'Squire  (Samuel  M.),  and  arrived  at  that 
locality  with  his  wife  and  children,  in  September,  1837.  There  he  became  the 
founder  of  a  widely  known  and  prominent  family.  Both  that  year,  and  the 
next,  there  were  material  accessions  to  the  membership  of  the  Maryland  colony. 
In  the  spring  of  1838,  'Squire  Hitt  and  Captain  Swingley  returned  East  for 
their  families,  and  with  them  came  other  entire  households,  many  of  them 
remaining  in  the  vicinity.  Until  the  locality  was  christened,  the  settlement  was 
called  the  Maryland  Colony. 

When  the  Methodist  Annual  Conference  met  at  Jacksonville  in  1838  it  ap- 
proved the  selection  of  Mount  Morris  as  the  site  for  the  projected  educational 
institution  in  Northern  Illinois.  A  fund  of  $8,000  and  a  tract  of  480  acres 
had  been  donated  for  the  purpose,  and  a  building  committee  was  appointed 
composed  of  Rev.  Samuel  M.  Hitt,  Nathaniel  Swingley  and  C.  Burr  Artz.  The 
erection  of  the  first  building  for  the  Rock  River  Seminary  was  awarded  to 
James  B.  McCoy,  and  when  its  cornerstone  was  laid  July  4,  1839,  the  people 
who  attended  the  ceremonies  accompanying  it  all  but  drained  the  Rock  River 


THE  ROCK   RIVEB  VALLKY  317 

Valley.  The  exercises  were  conducted  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hitt,  who  was 
considered  creator  of  the  infant  seminary;  and  it  was  the  son  of  the  founder, 
Robert  R.  Hitt,  who  enjoyed  the  early  period  of  his  education  at  Rock  River 
Seminary  and,  as  it  was  about  to  fall  into  dissolution,  purchased  the  property 
and  revived  the  institution  as  an  educational  force  and  established  it  as  Mount 
Morris  College  in  1879.  Afterward,  for  twenty-four  years  he  represent:  d  the 
Ninth  Illinois  District  in  Congress,  and  was  in  public  service  at  the  time  of 
his  death  in  1906. 

Besides  Mr.  Hitt,  there  may  be  mentioned  as  students  and  graduates  of  the 
Rock  River  Seminary,  Gen.  W.  H.  L.  Wallace,  Gen.  John  A.  Rawlins,  Gov. 
John  L.  Beveridge,  Sen.  Shelby  M.  Cullom,  James  H.  Beverage,  the  Farwell 
brothers,  George  W.  Curtis,  Judge  James  H.  Cartwright,  William  A.  Meese 
and  a  score  of  other  prominent  men. 

The  first  school  at  Mount  Morris  was  taught  in  a  log  cabin  half  a  mile  west 
of  the  site  of  the  village  in  a  grove  on  the  farm  owned  by  'Squire  Samuel  M. 
Hitt.  The  teacher  was  A.  Quimbey  Allen,  who  came  with  the  Maryland  Colony 
at  the  request  of  Messrs.  Hitt  and  Swingley  for  the  special  purpose  of  founding 
an  educational  institution  in  the  Far  West.  Soon  after  the  arrival  of  most 
of  the  colonists  the  school  was  opened  with  twenty-six  pupils  and  was  called 
the  Pine  Creek  Grammar  School.  When  the  cornerstone  of  the  Rock  River 
Seminary  was  laid,  Mr.  Allen's  pupils  attended  the  ceremonies  in  a  body,  and 
many  of  them  became  pupils  in  that  institution.  Afterward  the  Pine  Creek 
Grammar  School  was  conducted  as  the  Primary  Department  of  the  seminary, 
but  was  discontinued  in  1843,  and  private  schools  maintained  for  the  children 
of  the  village.  In  1851,  a  new  public  school  building  was  erected,  in  which 
Mr.  Allen  was  one  of  the  teachers. 

FIRST    TEACHERS   AND    SCHOOLS    IN    LEE    COUNTY 

In  Lee  County,  for  many  years,  the  center  of  educational  interest  was  Dixon. 
Regarding  the  formative  period  of  the  local  schools,  it  is  said  by  Frank  E. 
Stevens — and  he  is  good  authority — that  "John  K.  Robison,  later  of  Melugin's 
Grove,  was  the  first  school  teacher  in  Lee  County,  and  a  Miss  Butler,  who 
came  over  from  Bureau  County,  was  the  next.  Both  tutored  the  children  of 
Mr.  Dixon,  .Mr.  Robison  in  1833  and  Miss  Butler,  later.  For  a  time,  it  was 
the  custom  of  the  Dixons  to  send  their  children  up  to  the  Kelloggs  in  Buffalo 
Grove  to  be  tutored,  and  then,  in  turn,  the  Kellogg  children  would  be  sent  to 
the  Dixon  house.     The  children  of  the  two  families  thus  were  tutored  together. 

"In  the  year  1837,  a  schoolhouse  was  built  on  the  lot  just  east  of  Mrs.  P.  P. 
Starin's  residence,  southeast  corner  of  Fourth  Street  and  Crawford  Avenue. 
The  building  was  paid  for  by  private  subscriptions  from  the  families  then 
living  there.  The  building  was  a  frame  one-story,  twenty  by  thirty  feet,  and 
later  was  moved  to  the  lot  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Ottawa  Avenue  and  the 
alley  known  as  Truman  Court,  running  east  and  west  between  First  and  Sec- 
ond streets.  In  the  latter  location  it  was  used  later  as  courthouse,  town  hall, 
meeting  house,  etc. 

"In  1838,  H.  Bicknell  taught  his  first  school  until  about  the  summer  vaca- 
tion of  1840.     During  the  year  1840,  one  Mr.  Bowen  taught  school,  but  an  in- 


318  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

discretion  shortened  his  stay.  One  day  he  notified  his  pupils  to  come  early  as 
he  had  a  great  natural  curiosity  to  show  them.  Next  morning  he  climbed 
through  the  scuttle,  and  in  the  character  of  a  bear  cut  all  sorts  of  capers. 
Immediately  the  boys  set  upon  him  with  clubs  and  poles,  and  that  ended  Mr. 
Bowen's  school  teaching  days.  Beginning  with  the  fall  term  of  1841  and 
extending  to  the  spring  term  of  1842,  William  W.  Heaton,  later  circuit  judge, 
taught  this  school. ' ' 

During  the  summer  of  1837  was  completed  the  first  distinctive  schoolhouse 
in  Dixon.  The  money  for  its  erection  was  raised  by  subscription.  All  of 
Dixon  came  forward  with  goodly  amounts  for  that  day,  Mrs.  Dixon  giving 
the  largest  sum  ($30).  The  school  building  was  enclosed  with  undressed  oak 
siding  and  a  hard-oak  shingle  roof,  and  was  divided  into  two  rooms.  It  was 
afterward  the  scene  of  many  notable  gatherings  of  religious  and  political  men. 
One  of  the  noteworthy  conventions  of  the  politicians  was  the  meeting  of  the 
whigs  of  the  Jo  Daviess  congressional  district,  in  the  spring  of  1840,  who 
nominated  Thomas  Drummond,  long  afterward  the  noted  United  States  judge, 
to  represent  them  at  "Washington.  By  1844,  the  old  schoolhouse  had  outlived 
its  usefulness,  but  lingered  on  and  was  finally  burned  in  the  great  fire  of  1859. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  at  this  day  that  in  1854,  William  Barge  afterward 
associated  with  the  Dixons  in  the  practice  of  the  law,  was  commissioned  to  teach 
by  John  Stevens,  father  of  the  historian,  and  that  he  (Mr.  Barge)  organized 
the  first  graded  school  in  Lee  County.  In  1858,  a  high  school  department  was 
established  in  the  old  Methodist  church  on  Second  Street,  opposite  the  court- 
house. 

DIXON  COLLEGIATE  INSTITUTE 

Like  other  progressive  counties  of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  Lee  attempted  to 
establish  a  number  of  academies,  or  institutes,  of  a  grade  above  the  curriculum 
of  the  public  schools.  In  1855,  the  Dixon  Collegiate  Institute  was  opened  in 
the  basement  of  the  Lutheran  church  under  the  auspices  of  the  Rock  River 
Presbytery.  The  institution  had  an  endowment  of  $25,000,  the  citizens  of  Dixon 
giving  grounds,  property  and  apparatus  to  the  extent  of  $12,000.  The  institu- 
tion was  incorporated  in  1857,  but  was  abandoned  by  the  Presbytery  in  the 
following  year  and  afterward  became  the  home  of  various  private  schools.  In 
1861,  a  female  seminary  occupied  the  building,  and  in  still  later  years  it  was 
transformed  into  residential  property. 

LEE  CENTER  ACADEMY 

But  the  most  noted  institution  of  higher  learning  in  the  county  was  located 
outside  of  Dixon,  several  miles  to  the  southeast,  at  Lee  Center.  The  latter 
village  was  platted  in  1846,  and  two  years  afterward  a  two-story  brick  build- 
ing was  completed  for  academic  purposes  and  opened  to  the  public.  For  more 
than  a  decade,  the  Lee  Center  Academy  stood  high  among  the  educational 
institutions  of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  students  in  attendance  representing 
Rockford,  Mount  Morris  and  other  towns  which  had  academies  of  their  own. 
Simeon   Wright,    afterward    State    superintendent   of   public    instruction,    was 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  :;i!> 

largely  responsible  for  the  high  standing  enjoyed  by  the  Lee  Center  Academy. 
The  common  English  branches  were  taught,  as  well  as  the  higher  studies,  the 
natural  sciences  and  Latin  and  Greek.  The  successors  of  the  academy  were 
the  Lee  Center  Union  Graded  School  and  Union  District  No.  1,  incorporated 
by  the  State  Legislature  in  1859.  The  old  building  was  condemned  and  demol- 
ished in  1909  and  a  two-story  brick  schoolhouse  erected  on  its  site. 

WHITESIDE  COUNTY   TEACHERS  AND  INSTITUTIONS 

Whiteside  County  enjoyed  the  services  of  numerous  faithful  and  able  teach- 
ers, and  was  one  of  the  first  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  to  hold  regular  institutes 
to  discuss  and  improve  pedagogical  methods  and  practices.  The  passage  of 
the  Free  School  law  in  1855  was  the  signal  for  activity  along  such  lines.  In 
September,  1856,  one  of  the  first  regular  institutes  in  the  county  took  place 
in  the  small  brick  church  at  Como,  a  short  distance  west  of  Sterling  and  Rock 
Falls. 

VY.  W.  Davis,  a  pioneer  teacher  at  Emerson,  was  for  some  time  secretary  of 
the  county  institutes,  and  thus  describes  this  one  held  at  Como,  in  the  last  week 
of  September,  1856:  "Gray-haired  Deacon  Charles  S.  Deming,  of  Lyndon, 
was  county  commissioner,  or  superintendent,  as  the  office  is  now  called.  Alex- 
ander Wilder  was  imported  from  New  York  to  be  conductor.  A  tall,  lank 
specimen,  a  walking  encyclopedia,  who  could  answer  any  question  about  earth, 
air  and  sea,  but  confessed  his  inability  to  open  the  sessions  with  prayer.  So  a 
concert  repetition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  formed  the  devotional  exercises.  M.  R. 
Kelly  brought  from  Lyndon  a  two-horse  wagonload  of  girls,  which  he  jocularly 
called  a  grist  of  teachers,  in  allusion  to  the  large  Como  mill  then  running. 
Ephraim  Brookfield  and  John  Phinney  were  there.  In  the  evening  audience 
sat  regularly  .Miss  Mary  Pollock,  of  Como,  a  handsome  brunette,  afterward 
married  to  Mr.  Wadley  and  long  a  resident  of  Clinton.  Among  the  members 
was  C.  B.  Smith,  then  conducting  a  select  school  in  the  basement  of  the  old 
Presbyterian  church  in  Sterling,  who  studied  law  and  removed  to  Mt.  Carroll, 
where  he  died. 

"For  years  the  institute  was  on  wheels,  held  from  town  to  town;  in  1857 
at  Erie,  1858  at  Fulton,  1859  at  Prophetstown,  and  so  through  the  county.  For 
the  last  thirty  years  (writing  in  1908),  the  sessions  have  been  held  at  Sterling 
or  Morrison  in  the  last  week  of  August,  just  before  the  opening  of  schools. ' ' 

M.  R.  Kelly,  mentioned  by  Mr.  Davis,  became  county  superintendent  of 
schools,  and  an  able,  sunny  and  popular  one.  He  died  at  a  venerable,  but  hearty 
old  age.  As  described  by  one  of  his  warm  friends:  "His  cottage  on  the  edge 
of  Morrison  was  a  poet's  home,  with  its  oaks,  vines  and  shrubbery." 

John  Phinney  was  the  antithesis  of  the  genial  Kelly.  He  was  precise,  made 
no  pretensions  to  elegant  speech,  and  was  a  hard-headed  exponent  of  gram- 
mar and  mental  arithmetic.     He  taught  in  various  places  in  the  county. 

Grove  Wright  was  in  some  respects  the  most  successful  teacher  in  White- 
side County,  enthusiastic,  musical  and  inspiring.  Most  of  his  good  work  was 
accomplished  at  Sterling. 

"Perhaps  the  most  venerable,  the  longest  in  service  of  any  of  our  teachers," 
says  Mr.  Davis,  "was  Mrs.  John  Whallon,  widow  of  the  well  known  captain. 


320  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

She  was  born  in  1832,  coming  with  the  father  in  a  wagon  from  Massachusetts 
in  1837.  Martha  began  to  teach  as  a  mere  girl,  returning  to  Galesburg  after 
a  time  for  further  preparation.  She  taught  at  Sterling  in  1848  when  there 
was  no  school  building,  and  Colonel  "Wilson  had  to  hunt  a  room  and  seat  it, 
at  Rock  Falls  then  Rapids  City,  when  the  river  was  innocent  of  bridge  and 
had  to  be  forded.  She  was  in  faithful  service  all  over  the  county,  at  Como, 
Lyndon,  Prophetstown,  Portland,  Fulton.  In  her  first  terms,  she  received  one 
dollar  and  a  half  per  week  and  boarded  around.  Mrs.  Whallon  spent  the 
sunset  of  her  active  and  useful  life  in  quiet  retirement  amid  ancestral  scenes 
in  Lyndon." 

HENRY   COUNTY  AND   ITS   COLONIES 

Henry  County  was  noted  for  the  numerous  colonies  which  were  planted  on 
her  soil,  and  which  brought  to  this  Far  West  country  the  seeds  of  education 
from  New  England,  New  York  and  even  from  continental  Europe.  Cambridge 
was  settled  by  stray  pioneers  shortly  before  a  party  of  men  and  women  from 
t"he  Genesee  country  of  New  York  occupied  .the  site  of  a  town  to  which  they 
gave  the  name  of  Geneseo.  One  of  the  most  prominent  of  these  colonists  was 
R.  R.  Stewart.  The  New  York  Colony  spread  over  nearly  20,000  acres  in  the 
western  townships  of  the  county,  including  Osco  and  Colona.  The  Wethers- 
field  Colony,  composed  of  Connecticut  emigrants  under  the  guidance  of  Dr. 
Caleb  J.  Tenney,  a  leading  Congregational  minister,  first  located  around  Andover 
shortly  before  the  county  was  organized,  but  afterward  centered  their  enter- 
prise in  the  Kewanee  region  long  before  the  city  was  platted.  Still  farther 
south  in  what  is  now  Henry  County,  and  nearly  a  decade  after  the  coming 
of  the  Wethersfield  colonists,  Eric  Janson  and  his  1,100  followers  who  had 
broken  away  from  the  Lutherans  in  Sweden,  founded  Bishop  Hill.  A  few 
months  afterward,  in  January,  1847,  the  Bishop  Hill  colonists  opened  an  Eng- 
lish school ;  and,  as  stated,  the  members  of  the  other  colonies  in  Henry  County 
were  placing  instructors  over  their  children,  soon  after  they  were  planted  in 
the  new  country.  The  foundation  and  development  of  the  early  Kewanee 
schools  belong  to  a  much  later  period,  as  the  city  was  not  even  platted  until  1854. 

In  the  early  days  of  Rock  Island,  the  place  had  the  shifting  characteristics 
of  a  "river  town."  For  many  years  it  was  also  the  center  of  the  Indian 
disturbances.  It  was  given  over  to  trade  and  commerce  and  disquieting  in- 
fluences, and  its  citizens  did  not  organize  as  a  body  to  promote  the  cause  of 
local  or  sectional  education.  Not  only  was  its  populace  restless  as  a  body, 
but  was  far  less  homogeneous  than  that  of  the  upper  counties  of  the  Valley. 

On  the  other  hand,  Moline  early  assumed  the  type  of  a  substantial  manufac- 
turing town,  especially  after  1847,  when  the  Deere  Plow  Works  were  moved 
hither  from  Grand  Detour.  As  early  as  1843,  enough  citizens  of  Moline  con- 
tributed cash,  materials  and  labor  to  build  their  first  schoolhouse.  The  cash 
contributions  were  negligible ;  but  the  work  and  materials  donated  b}*  the  fifty- 
four  subscribers  were  valued  at  $457,  and  the  building  which  was  completed 
(presumably  for  that  amount)  accommodated  the  pupils  of  the  town  until 
1855.  Thus  was  inaugurated  the  educational  record  of  Rock  Island  County 
which  has  been  continued  without  a  break. 


THE  ROCK  BIVEK  VALLEY  321 

EARLY    PROGRESS    IN    MOLINE    AND    ROCK    ISLAM) 

In  1845  county  organization  of  schools  was  provided  for  by  an  act  of  the 
Legislature.     At  the  head  of  each  county  was   placed  a  school  commissioner, 

whose  duties  included  the  examination  of  candidates  for  teachers'  certificates 
ami  a  general  supervision  of  the  system.  In  1866,  the  title  was  changed  to  that 
of  county  superintendent  of  schools,  and  Judge  W.  H.  Gest  was  the  first  to 
hold  tlic  office  after  the  change  had  been  made. 

Prior  to  the  year  1857,  there  were  five  separate  school  districts  in  Rock 
Island,  each  controlled  by  a  different  board  of  directors.  Persistent  agitation 
against  so  imperfect  and  complicated  a  system — or  iack  of  system — induced  the 
Legislature  to  grant  Rock  Island  a  special  charter  providing  for  a  Board  of 
Education  and  a  city  superintendent  of  schools.  On  April  7,  1858,  George 
.Mixter,  David  Hawes,  Elton  C.  Cropper,  Jacob  Sailor  and  Washington  L. 
Sweeney  were  elected  the  first  Board  of  Education.  With  the  assistance  of 
B.  M.  Reynolds,  the  first  superintendent  of  schools,  and  a  corps  of  eighteen 
teachers,  the  board  worked  out  a  course  of  study  and  organized  the  public 
schools  of  the  city  into  substantially  the  system  of  today. 

Supplementary  to  the  free  systems  of  both  Rock  Island  and  Moline  are 
numerous  large  and  well  conducted  parochial  schools,  most  of  them  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Roman  Catholic  and  the  Swedish  Lutheran  churches. 

AUGUSTANA  COLLEGE  AND  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

One  of  the  most  marked  evidences  of  the  strong  influences  wielded  by  the 
Swedish  Americans  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  is  the  founding  of  the  Augustana 
College  and  Theological  Seminary  at  Rock  Island.  The  institution  was  organ- 
ized at  a  convention  of  Scandinavians  held  in  Chicago,  111.,  but  its  inception 
should  be  traced  to  a  more  remote  period  in  order  to  give  merited  credit  to 
Rev.  Lars  Paul  Esbjorn,  who  came  to  America  in  1849  to  be  a  missionary  pastor 
among  the  Swedish  settlers  of  the  Middle  West.  He  soon  felt  the  need  of  an 
institution  of  higher  learning  to  secure  a  supply  of  pastors  for  the  Swedish 
churches.  He  therefore  arranged  to  have  Swedish  students  admitted  to  Capital 
University  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  belonging  to  the  Joint  Synod  of  Ohio. 
Afterward  he  went  East  to  raise  funds  for  the  erection  of  churches  in  the  new 
Swedish  settlements  and  received  early  assistance  from  Jennie  Lind,  the  great 
Swedish  singer.  Subsequently,  Mr.  Esbjorn  united  with  the  Synod  of  Northern 
Illinois,  which,  cooperating  with  the  Synod  of  Central  Illinois,  established  the 
Illinois  State  University  at  Springfield.  He  wTas  made  a  director  of  the  school 
and  called  to  the  Scandinavian  professorship.  Then,  in  1860,  he  moved  to  Chi- 
cago, taking  with  him  nearly  all  his  Scandinavian  pupils.  At  a  meeting  held 
in  that  city  on  April  27th  of  that  year,  the  little  Scandinavian  band,  led  by 
Rev.  L.  P.  Esbjorn,  organized  the  Augustana  Synod  and  founded  their  own 
institution  of  learning. 

The  new  institution  was  opened  in  Chicago  in  September  with  one  profes- 
sor (Mr.  Esbjorn)  and  twenty-one  students.  From  the  first  the  location  was 
not  considered  permanent  and  the  work  of  raising  funds  for  Augustana  Sem- 
inary was  carried   on   industriously   among  the   churches   both   of   the   United 


322 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


States  and  Sweden.  In  the  spring  of  1863  Rev.  Esbjorn  resigned.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Rev.  T.  N.  Hasselquist,  the  Swedish  Lutheran  pastor  at  Paxton, 
111.,  and  in  1869  the  name  was  changed  to  the  Augustana  College  and  Theological 
Seminary.  The  Norwegians  organized  a  separate  synod  in  1870  and  estab- 
lished their  Augusta  College,  which  is  now  located  at  Canton,  South  Dakota. 
Then  Paxton,  Ford  County,  was  proving  to  be  too  far  east  to  answer  the  require- 
ments of  a  growing  college  and  theological  school  for  the  Swedish  Americans 
of  Illinois,  who  were  concentrating  in  the  lower  valley  of  the  Rock  River.  After 
careful  examination  and  thoughtful  consideration,  the  Augustana  Synod  finally 
decided  on  Rock  Island  as  the  logical  site  for  its  institution  of  learning  and 
religious  instruction.  Since  the  fall  of  1875,  the  location  of  the  Augustana 
College  and  Theological  Seminary  has  been  on  a  noble  rise  of  ground  overlook- 
ing the  Mississippi,  and  the  institution  has  expanded  with  the  growth  of  the 
industrious  and  moral  racial  element  which  supports  it.  "Whenever  its  merits 
and  progress  are  extolled,  the  names  of  Rev.  Lars  Paul  Esbjorn  and  Dr.  T.  N. 
Hasselquist  lead  all  the  rest.  Those  who  revere  them  go  even  further  and  say : 
' '  To  these  two  men  belongs  the  credit  of  founding  the  Swedish  Lutheran  Church 
of  America  and  its  educational,  charitable  and  missionary  work." 


(Through  the  courtesy   of   the  Rex   Studio.   Janesville) 

THE  ROCK  RIVER  NEAR  JANESVILLE 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  CHURCHES  OF  THE  VALLEY 

liberal  beliefs   in  the  upper  section — early  churches  in  rock  county — 

madison    a    natural    religious    center first    religious    services    and 

churches  at  the  capital — rev.  moses  ordway  comes  to  beaver  dam socie- 
ties and  churches  formed  there,  as  well  as  at  horicon  and  juneau — st. 
Bernard's  catholic   church    at   watertown — metiiodists,    Presbyterians 

and  other  protestants   establish   themselves st.    lawrence   catholic 

church  of  jefferson — orthodox  churches  and  the  universalists the 

methodists  oro  \mz1-  first  in  winnebago  county — first  parsonage  in  rock 

rrver  conference} — the  morrills  of  rockford  and  congregationalism 

the  liberal  second  congregational  church second  pastor  a  cousin  of 

ralph  waldo  emerson — the  first  baptist  church  and  revivalist  jacob 
knapp — the  episcopalians,  unitarians,  universalists,  catholics  and  luth- 
erans— rockford  a  catholic  diocese! first  baptist  church  of  belvidere 

— pioneer  organization  west  of  chicago dr.  john  s.  king  and  professor 

bete  3.  whitman — the  presbyterians,  methodists,  universalists  and 
disciples  of  christ  at  the  county  seat  of  boone) — missionary  work  of 

rev.  aratus  kent  in  stephenson  county  and  northwestern   illinois 

first  presbyterian  church  of  freeport other  denominational  work 

aratus  kent  holds  first  religious  services  in  ogle  county pioneer  con- 

gregattonalists  of  grand  detour — methodists  organize  first  in  oregon — 
rev.  barton  cartwright — rev.  n.  j.  stroii,  the  venerable  father  of  luth- 
eranism— rush  of  missionaries  to  inlet,  lee  county,  early  center  of 

crime — pioneer  methodists  to  labor  in  the  dixon  circuit the  rock  river 

assembly other  church  organizations religious  services  in  whiteside 

county  first  held  at  prophetstown  by  methodist  missionary — churches 
formed  at  lyndon,  sterling  and  other  places  in  county — metiiodists 

organize  ix  ha.nxa  township,  henry  county the  old  rock  river  chapel 

— the  wethersfield  colony — overflow  of  its  churches  into  kewanee 

churches  of  rock  island  and  moline  split  along  racial  lines germans 

and  swedes  organize  separate  societies swedish  baptist  and  methodist 

<  hurches  unique  in  sectarian  history first  religious  services  in  rock 

river  valley  held  at  fort  armstong the  presbyterians,  methodists,  bap- 
tists, lutherans  and  catholics  of  rock  island rev.  father   john   g. 

alleman  and  his  faithful  mi-sionary  work  in  rock  island  county the 

churches  in  moline rock  river  valley  altogether  a  fertile  field  in  the 

upraising  of  moral  am)  spiritual  forces. 

The  educational   and   intellectual   development  of  the  people   in  the    Rock 
River  Valley  has  not  been  unique,  as  measured  by  the  standard  of  other  typical 

Tol.  1—21 

323 


324  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

American  communities,  in  that  it  has  been  largely  promoted  and  guided  by  the 
churches  and  their  religious  spirit.  Such  moral  and  economic  issues  as  tem- 
perance and  slavery  have  both  united  and  divided  them,  but  they  have  usually 
taken  a  stand,  firm  and  unqualified.  All  the  denominations  have  been  repre- 
sented in  the  Rock  River  Valley ;  if  any  special  feature  more  than  another  is 
prominent  in  this  churchly  survey  it  is  that  the  upper  region  in  Southern 
Wisconsin  has  been  most  prolific  in  giving  birth  to  such  liberal  churches  as 
those  enrolled  under  Unitarianism  and  Universalism. 

EARLY   CHURCHES  IN   ROCK   COUNTY 

Rock  County  is  a  notable  case  in  point.  The  first  sermon  preached  at  Janes- 
ville  was  in  1837  by  Rev.  Jesse  Halstead,  and  in  1841  Rev.  Alpha  Warren  organ- 
ized a  church.  In  the  following  year,  the  Unitarians  founded  a  society  and 
in  1850  was  organized  the  First  Universalist  Church.  The  Congregationalists 
commenced  to  gather  in  1843,  and  their  First  Church,  under  Rev.  C.  H.  A. 
Buckley,  was  founded  in  1845.  In  1846,  the  Catholics  planted  St.  Patrick's 
Church  at  Janesville.  At  Beloit,  the  pioneer  churches  Avere  the  Congre- 
gational, 1838,  the  Baptist  and  the  St.  Paul's  Episcopal,  1841,  and  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  1849.  The  first  sermon  in  Beloit  was  preached  by  Prof. 
Seth  S.  Whitman  of  Belvidere,  in  the  old  Rock  River  Hotel,  in  September, 
1837.  He  represented  the  pioneer  Baptist  church  of  that  town  and  of  the  Rock 
River  Valley. 

MADISON,   A    NATURAL    RELIGIOUS    CENTER 

Madison,  as  the  territorial  and  state  capital,  naturally  became  a  religious 
center  of  the  Rock  River  Valley.  As  men  and  women  of  all  creeds  gravitated 
to  it,  the  local  churches  formed  early  and  represented  many  sects.  The  pol- 
iticians and  public  officials  encouraged  them  and  threw  open  various  quarters 
in  the  capitol  to  the  religious  meetings  before  the  churches  were  able  to  have 
houses  of  worship. 

The  first  preaching  in  Madison  was  inaugurated  by  the  Methodists,  in  the 
fall  of  1838,  and  their  meetings  were  held  under  the  direction  of  Samuel  Pils- 
bury,  of  the  Aztalan  mission,  in  what  is  now  Western  Jefferson  County  near  Lake 
Mills.  Although  there  was  preaching  for  more  than  a  year  in  the  Assembly 
Hall  of  the  capitol,  no  regular  class  was  formed  by  the  Methodists  until  1840. 
In  October  of  that  year  nine  persons  formed  an  organization  in  the  library  and 
court  room  of  the  capitol  under  the  auspices  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 
but  in  June,  1841,  the  society  adopted  the  name  of  the  Congregational  Church 
of  Madison  and  connected  itself  with  the  Presbyterian  and  Congregational 
Convention  of  Wisconsin.  Rev.  Father  Kundig  held  the  first  Catholic  services, 
representing  ten  families,  in  the  capitol  during  the  year  1842,  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  St.  Raphael's  Church.  Rev.  J.  G.  Miller,  of  the  Evangelical 
Association,  came  from  Ohio  with  its  bishop,  John  Seibert,  and  in  1844  preached 
the  first  sermon  in  German  which  was  ever  delivered  at  the  capitol.  In  1847, 
the  First  Baptist  Church  was  organized  at  Lake  Monona  by  Rev.  Thomas 
Shillinglaugh,  the  first  meeting  being  held  in  the  Superior  Court  room.     These 


THE  HOCK  RIVER  VALLEY  :m 

were  the  pioneer  religions  bodies  to  be  established  at  Madison,  and  many 
others  joined  them  at  a  later  day  to  give  the  State  capital  a  spiritual  and  moral, 
as  well  as  a  political  standing. 

REV.  MOSES  ORDWAY  COMES  TO  BEAVER  DAM 

The  pioneer  man  of  God  to  visit  the  young  settlements  of  Dodge  County 
was  Rev.  Moses  Ordway,  the  Presbyterian  missionary  from  Milwaukee,  who  while 
on  his  way  to  Green  Bay  stopped  at  the  site  of  Beaver  Dam,  in  1840,  and  com- 
menced his  labors  there.  He  preached  in  the  Beaver  Dam  neighborhood  for 
several  years,  died  in  the  spring  of  1846  and  was  buried  in  Milwaukee.  There 
various  members  of  his  family  became  cjuite  prominent.  The  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Beaver  Dam  was  organized  about  the  time  of  Deacon  Ordway 's  death. 
The  First  Methodist  and  the  St.  Mark's  Episcopal  churches  were  organized  in 
a  cabinet  shop  in  1846.  The  Baptists  and  Catholics  established  themselves  at 
Pox  Lake  in  1845  and  1849,  and  the  Congregationalists  and  Methodists,  several 
years  later.  The  Methodists  and  Presbyterians  first  entered  the  religious  field 
at  Horicon  in  1845-46,  Rev.  Moses  Ordway  preaching  to  the  latter  both  at 
Lurnett  and  Horicon.  In  July,  1845,  the  Congregationalists  at  Waupun  formed 
their  first  organization  under  the  direction  of  Rev.  Stephen  Peet,  and  about 
the  same  time,  or  a  little  earlier,  the  Methodists  organized  a  class  in  the  upper 
town.  The  First  Baptist  Church  of  Waupun  was  also  organized  in  1845  and  the 
Disciples  Church  in  1848.  The  first  society  to  be  formed  at  Juneau,  the  county 
seat  of  Dodge,  was  in  1847,  the  Presbyterians  organizing  in  1847  at  the  farm 
house  of  Lester  Nobles.  Five  years  afterward  they  formed  a  regular  church. 
The  Methodists  commenced  to  hold  meetings  at  about  the  same  time  and  for 
some  years  they  shared  the  schoolhouse  with  the  Presbyterians  as  a  place  of 
meeting. 

ST.  Bernard's  catholic  church,  watertown 

Most  of  Watertown  is  located  in  Jefferson  County.  St.  Bernard's  Catholic 
Church  was  the  first  religious  organization  to  be  established  in  the  place,  and 
in  1846  through  the  interest  and  generosity  of  the  Regan  brothers  grounds  were 
obtained  and  a  meeting  house  erected.  Rev.  Patrick  McKernan  was  its  first 
resident  pastor.  In  the  fall  of  1872  Rev.  W.  Corby,  who  had  been  provincial 
superior  at  Notre  Dame,  Ind.,  and  president  of  the  university,  became  pastor 
of  St.  Bernard's  Parish,  and  soon  afterward  the  College  of  Our  Lady  of  the 
Sacred  Heart,  its  parochial  school,  was  opened.  In  the  following  year,  the 
corner  stone  of  the  cathedral  was  laid ;  of  special  historic  interest,  as  it  had 
been  taken  from  the  Rock  of  Cashell,  Ireland. 

OTHER  RELIGIOUS  BODIES 

The  Methodists  commenced  to  meet  in  AVatertown  in  1844,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  they  cooperated  with  the  other  Protestants  of  the  town  in  the  erec- 
tion of  a  Union  church;  but  the  Methodists  appear  to  have  monopolized  it  at 
a  later  period.      In  July,  1845,  Rev.  Stephen  Peet,  agent  of  the  Presbyterian 


326  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Home  Missionary  Society,  founded  the  church  which  subsequently  adopted 
the  Congregational  form  of  church  government.  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Church 
of  "Watertown  was  organized  in  1847  by  Rev.  Melancthon  Hoyt,  a  missionary 
of  Fox  Lake,  who  walked  from  that  point  to  perform  that  service.  In  the  late 
'40s  the  strength  of  the  German  element  in  the  Watertown  region  was  demon- 
strated by  the  founding  of  the  St.  Henry's  Catholic,  the  Protestant  Evangelical 
and  the  German  M.  E.  churches. 

At  Jefferson,  the  county  seat,  the  Catholics  are  quite  strong.  St.  Lawrence 
had  its  origin  in  the  worship  of  a  few  families  who  gathered  in  the  log  cabin 
of  John  Haas  in  1842.  Mass  was  first  celebrated  there  by  Rev.  Father  Maxi- 
millian  Gardner,  a  missionary  from  Sauk  County,  and  in  December,  1850,  the 
first  house  of  worship  was  dedicated  a  short  distance  east  of  Mr.  Haas'  log 
cabin.  Several  Evangelical  societies  were  founded  from  1845  to  1851,  and  in 
1848  Rev.  Seth  Barnett  preached  the  doctrine  of  the  universal  salvation  of 
mankind  in  the  Juneau  courthouse.  The  Universalists  formed  a  regular  society 
in  1850  and  in  1854  erected  a  house  of  worship.  Two  years  later,  the  Catholics 
of  St.  John  the  Baptist  Church  moved  into  the  Universalist  edifice.  The  Presby- 
terians organized  in  1850  and  the  Methodists  in  1851. 

LUTHERANISM    IN    WINNEBAGO    COUNTY 

"Winnebago  County  has  many  features  similar  to  Rock,  Jefferson  and  other 
sections  of  the  upper  Rock  River  Valley  in  the  composition  of  its  religious 
elements.  Both  its  orthodox  and  its  liberal  churches  are  strong  and  growing. 
On  account  of  its  large  and  stalwart  Swedish  admixture  of  racial  characteristics, 
Winnebago  in  the  upper  valley  corresponds  to  Rock  Island  County  in  the  lower, 
as  a  bulwark  of  American  Lutheranism.  As  the  blood  of  its  pioneers  coursed 
mainly  through  New  England  veins,  its  early  churches  were  formed  by  Meth- 
odists, Congregationalists,  Baptists,  Episcopalians,  Universalists  and  Unitarians, 
in  the  order  named. 

THE   METHODISTS    AND    PIONEER    PARSONAGE 

In  June,  1836,  Rev.  Samuel  Pilsbury  preached  a  sermon  at  the  house  of 
Hiram  Enoch,  afterward  county  treasurer  and  editor  and  proprietor  of  the 
Rockford  Journal.  He  was  then  living  in  Guilford  Township,  about  seven 
miles  and  a  half  east  of  the  count}'  seat.  To  grace  this  first  gathering  of  the 
Methodists  of  the  county,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Daniel  Beers  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel 
Gregory  traveled  six  miles  in  a  heavy  lumber  wagon  drawn  by  a  yoke  of  oxen. 
There  were  other  Methodist  meetings  at  Mr.  Enoch's  house  and  the  good  wife 
is  said  to  have  increased  their  attendance  by  serving  appetizing  Sunday  din- 
ners to  the  members  of  the  congregation.  Preaching  was  also  maintained  in 
Mr.  Gregory's  house  at  Rockford,  and  a  class  was  finally  formed  consisting 
of  Samuel  and  Joanna  Gregory,  Mary  Enoch,  and  Daniel  and  Mary  Beers. 
Until  1838  various  circuit  preachers  attended  the  little  Methodist  band  at  Rock- 
ford, but  in  that  year  Leander  S.  Walker  was  placed  in  charge  and  his  people 
built  him  a  parsonage  on  First  Street.  This  was  the  first  Methodist  parsonage 
erected  within  what  is  now  the  Rock  River  Conference;  which  Avas  organized 


THE  KOCK   RIVKR   VALLEY  327 

at  Mt.  .Monis  in  Aii-iist,  1840.  Rockford  was  retained  in  the  Chicago  district. 
The  .Methodists  were  then  holding  services  in  the  brick  schoolhouse  on  the  east 
side  of  the  public  square,  and  there  was  a  clash  between  them  and  the  Univer- 
sal ists.  The  Methodists  withdrew  from  the  schoolhouse  and  their  pastor  finished 
the  lower  part  of  his  parsonage  as  a  chapel.  They  afterward  worshiped  in  the 
old  Seminary  building.  In  1848,  a  house  of  worship  was  completed  on  South 
Second  Street  in  what  was  then  called  the  Barrens,  from  its  unimproved  ap- 
pearance. 

In  January,  1852,  the  First  Methodist  Church  of  Rockford  had  become  so 
large  that  the  Court  Street  Church  was  organized  by  the  members  who  resided 
on  the  West  Side.  The  mother  church  has  other  children.  The  Rockford  Wes- 
leyan  Seminary,  another  offshoot  of  1857,  was  to  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Rock  River  Conference,  but  the  enterprise  was  unsuccessful.  Quite  a  num- 
ber of  houses  were  built,  but  in  time  several  of  them  migrated  into  town  on 
rollers,  and  the  land  reverted  to  farming  purposes. 

THE  CONGREGATIONALISTS,  BAPTISTS  AND  OTHER  DENOMINATIONS 

Congregationalism  came  with  the  early  settlers  from  New  England.  The 
First  Church  was  organized  May  5,  1837,  with  nine  members.  It  was  founded 
at  that  date  by  Rev.  John  Morrill,  at  the  home  of  his  brother,  Israel  Morrill,  on 
the  west  side  of  the  river.  The  third  brother  to  join  the  organization  was 
Richard  Morrill ;  the  three  brothers  and  their  wives  therefore  contributed  two- 
thirds  of  the  original  membership.  The  First  Congregational  is  the  oldest  church 
in  Rockford,  inasmuch  as  the  First  Methodist,  formed  the  previous  year,  ceased 
to  exist  in  the  late  '70s.  Rev.  John  Morrill  continued  in  the  pastorate  for 
about  a  year.  He  had  come  in  a  farm  wagon  from  New  York  as  a  home  mis- 
sionary to  Winnebago  County,  whither  his  brother,  Israel,  had  preceded  him, 
and  in  March,  1839,  officiated  in  the  organization  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
at  Belvidere.  This  pioneer  minister  died  at  Pecatonica,  in  February,  1874. 
The  Congregationalists  of  Rockford  first  worshiped  in  the  "stage  barn"  built 
by  Daniel  S.  Haight,  near  the  corner  of  State  and  Third  streets.  In  the  fall 
of  1838,  Germanicus  Kent  and  George  W.  Brinckerhoff,  at  their  own  initiative, 
raised  a  building  fund  from  some  New  York  friends  and  erected  a  house  of 
worship  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  which  section  of  the  town  he  was  pro- 
moting. The  building  thus  erected  was  the  first  church  edifice  in  Rockford,  and 
stood  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Church  and  Green  streets.  In  view  of  that 
fact,  the  following  description  is  pertinent :  It  was  a  frame  structure,  clap- 
boarded,  in  Doric  style,  45  feet  square  inside,  and  stood  on  a  foundation  of 
blocks  of  trees  cut  from  the  adjoining  grove,  with  sills  resting  upon  them  about 
three  feet  above  the  ground.  In  fact,  the  greater  portion  of  the  building  ma- 
terial was  obtained  from  adjacent  lots.  The  building  fronted  to  the  east  and 
had  three  windows  on  each  side.  A  porch  about  ten  feet  wide  extended  across 
the  front,  covered  by  an  extension  of  the  roof,  which  was  supported  by  four 
fluted  wooden  columns.  This  sylvan  sanctuary  was  occupied  by  the  First  Church 
about,  six  years.  The  longest,  and  perhaps  the  most  notable  pastorate,  enjoyed 
by  the  First  Congregational  Church  was  that  of  Dr.  Henry  M.  Goodwin,  which 


328  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

extended  from  August,  1850,  until  January,  1872.  The  present  edifice  was 
erected  in  1870. 

The  Second  Congregational  Church  was  organized  from  the  First  in  the 
autumn  of  1849.  The  second  pastor  of  the  church  was  Rev.  Joseph  Emerson,  a 
cousin  of  Ralph  Emerson,  of  Rockford,  and  a  second  cousin  of  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson,  the  sage  of  Concord.  The  Second  Congregational  became  early  noted 
for  its  liberal  attitude  toward  other  churches  and  all  elevating  movements,  and 
among  the  noted  speakers  who  were  invited  to  contribute  their  thoughts  and 
inspiration  to  its  congregations  were  A.  Bronson  Alcott,  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott 
and  Julia  Ward  Howe.  The  magnificent  church  completed  in  May,  1892,  was 
destroyed  by  fire  less  than  two  years  afterward,  but  rededicated  in  1894. 

The  First  Baptist  Church  of  Rockford  was  organized  in  December,  1838, 
at  the  home  of  Dr.  George  Haskell,  and  was  the  third  religious  body  to  be 
founded  in  Rockford.  It  was  also  the  second  Baptist  church  to  be  planted 
in  Northern  Illinois,  the  society  at  Belvidere  antedating  it  by  nearly  two 
years  and  a  half.  Prof.  Seth  S.  Whitman  was  chosen  moderator  and  Dr. 
Haskell,  clerk.  The  latter  had  built  a  brick  block  on  the  site  of  the  Ashton 
dry  goods  store,  with  a  hall  on  the  second  floor  for  public  meetings,  and  there 
the  church  held  its  early  services.  In  December,  1839,  the  church  was  incor- 
porated, and  in  May,  1841,  occupied  a  little  frame  building  at  Main  and  Peach 
streets  as  its  first  house  of  worship.  Professor  Whitman  may  be  called  its 
first  regular  pastor,  and  Rev.  Solomon  Knapp,  its  first  resident  minister.  Elder 
Jacob  Knapp  held  a  series  of  remarkable  revivals  in  the  First  Baptist  Church 
in  1848-49,  which  both  increased  the  local  membership  and  established  his  fame 
as  a  revivalist.  For  twenty-five  years  thereafter  his  home  was  in  Rockford. 
When  the  stone  edifice  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  was  completed  in  1850,  at 
a  total  cost  of  $6,000,  it  was  considered  the  finest  meeting  house  in  the  village. 
In  1858,  the  State  Street  Baptist  Church  was  organized  by  members  of  the  First 
who  lived  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  and  in  1880  Swedish  members  of  the 
latter  formed  an  independent  society. 

The  first  Episcopalians  to  settle  in  Winnebago  County  were  members  of  the 
Sampson  George  family,  who  came  from  England  in  September,  1836,  but  the 
first  official  visitation  by  a  clergyman  of  the  American  Church  was  made  by 
Rt.  Rev.  Philander  Chase,  first  bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Illinois,  who  reached 
Rockford  in  August,  1841.  Upon  that  occasion,  Episcopalian  services  were 
first  held  in  the  old  courthouse  on  North  Street.  The  Rockford  parish  was 
organized  in  1849  and  its  house  of  worship  was  consecrated  in  August,  1853  by 
the  name  of  Emmanuel  Church,  of  Rockford. 

The  Unitarians  and  Universalists  from  New  England  gathered  in  Rockford 
at  an  early  day  to  consolidate  the  liberal  religious  sentiment  of  the  community 
into  distinctive  bodies.  Both  seemed  to  have  gathered  their  forces  for  concerted 
action  in  1841.  The  Unitarians  completed  an  organization  in  that  year  by 
electing  as  trustees  of  their  society,  Richard  Montague,  Isaac  N.  Cunningham, 
Francis  Burnap,  Ephraim  Wyman  and  James  M.  Wight,  but  there  is  no  record 
of  any  progress  during  the  following  two  years. 

The  Universalists  formed  a  distinctive  organization  sooner  than  the  Unita- 
rians. In  April,  1841,  representatives  of  Universalism  met  at  the  brick  school- 
house  in  East  Rockford,  and  organized  a  church  by  electing  Daniel  S.  Haight, 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  329 

Ezra  Dorman  and  Thomas  Thatcher  as  trustees.  There,  as  well  as  at  the  court- 
house, services  were  held  for  some  time,  but  the  building  commenced  by  the 
Universalists  on  the  east  side  of  the  public  square  was  never  completed. 

Mass  is  said  to  have  been  celebrated  by  Catholic  priests  from  New  Dublin 
and  Freeport  previous  to  1850,  but  the  first  settled  pastor  of  St.  James  Parish 
was  Rev.  John  A.  Hampston  who  came  to  Rockford  in  November,  1851.  The 
church  edifice  of  the  present  was  dedicated  in  1867.  Father  James  J.  Flaherty 
was  in  charm'  for  twenty-two  years,  or  until  1907.  St.  Mary's  Parish  was  set 
off  from  St.  James  and  comprised  all  of  Rockford  west  of  the  river.  Rockford 
Diocese  was  created  in  September,  1908,  and  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Peter  James  Mul- 
doon  was  soon  afterward  appointed  head  of  the  see.  Catholic  organizations 
established  within  the  past  sixteen  years  are  St.  Anthony's,  by  the  Italians  of 
Rockford.  and  St.  Stanislaus,  by  the  Poles. 

ONE  OF  THE  LARGEST  OF  SWEDISH   LUTHERAN   CHURCHES 

The  First.  Swedish  Lutheran  Church,  founded  in  1854,  with  Rev.  A.  Andreen 
as  its  first  pastor,  had  at  one  time  the  largest  membership  of  any  organization 
belonging  to  that  denomination  in  America,  and  it  is  still  in  the  front  ranks. 
In  1860.  it  withdrew  from  the  synod  of  Northern  Illinois  and  joined  the 
Augustana  Synod.  When  the  present  church  was  erected  on  Lafayette  Avenue 
in  1883,  at  a  cost  of  $60,000,  it  was  one  of  the  handsomest  religious  structures 
in  Rockford  and  its  auditorium  is  yet  among  the  largest.  The  Emmanuel  Luth- 
eran, Swedish  Lutheran  Zion,  German  Lutheran,  Salem  Lutheran  and  Trinity 
English  Lutheran,  are  other  churches  in  Rockford  which  testify  to  the  strength 
and  growth  of  this  Protestant  faith  in  the  upper  Rock  River  Valley. 

Later  organizations  of  liberal  tendencies  are  the  Christian  Church  (Disciples 
of  Christ),  which  was  founded  in  1856  and  reorganized  in  1898;  Church  of  the 
Christian  Union,  founded  by  Dr.  Thomas  Kerr  in  1870,  and  the  First  Christian 
Science  Church,  established  in   1899  and  incorporated  in  1902. 

FIRST  BAPTIST  CHURCH  OF  BELVIDERE 

Boone  County  east  of  Winnebago  has  well  maintained  the  reputation  of  the 
Rock  River  Valley  for  being  a  consistent  supporter  and  promoter  of  religion 
and  morality,  early  and  late.  The  First  Baptist  Church,  of  Belvidere,  was  the 
pioneer  organization  of  that  denomination  in  Illinois  west  of  Chicago.  In  March. 
1836,  Dr.  John  S.  King,  a  leading  Baptist  divine,  preached  the  first  sermon  in 
the  Kishwaukee  wilds.  For  that  purpose,  the  primitive  home  of  Timothy  Cas- 
well was  thrown  open  to  all  who  might  wish  to  worship.  There  were  quite  a 
number  of  Baptists  in  Belvidere  at  the  time,  and  soon  after  Dr.  King  thus 
planted  the  seed,  Deacon  N.  Crosby,  Ira  Ilaskins  and  others  commenced  to 
water  it  and  cultivate  the  field.  In  September,  1836,  Professor  Seth  S.  Whit- 
man became  the  first  regular  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Belvidere, 
and  served  ten  years.  Professor  Whitman  was  a  native  of  Vermont,  in  1827 
was  a  member  of  the  first  graduating  class  of  Newton  Theological  Institution 
(N.  Y.)  and  was  at  once  called  to  the  chair  of  Biblical  Interpretation  at  Hamil- 
ton Theological   Institution.     After  occupying   that   chair  for  seven  years,   he 


330  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

came  to  Belvidere  and  entered  into  his  pastoral  and  civil  work,  for  besides 
preaching  to  the  Baptist  Church  he  performed  the  duties  of  clerk  of  the  Circuit 
Court  and  village  postmaster.  Both  Professor  Whitman  and  Dr.  King  were 
long  faithful  and  honored  characters  of  the  upper  Rock  River  Valley ;  faithful 
and  honored  during  the  entire  period  of  their  lives.  Dr.  King  lived  to  be 
nearly  ninety  years  of  age,  dying  at  DeKalb,  in  September,  1875. 

The  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Belvidere  was  organized  at  the  log  house 
of  Stephen  Burnet  in  March,  1839,  and  two  3Tears  later  was  received  into  the 
Ottawa  Presbytery.  In  1843,  its  first  house  of  worship  and  the  first  building 
in  the  county  used  exclusively  for  religious  purposes,  was  erected  on  the  corner 
of  Main  and  Mechanic  streets.    It  was  a  little  church  built  of  white  brick. 

The  Methodist  circuits  in  Northern  Illinois  west  of  the  Illinois  River  and 
north  of  Peoria  were  the  Ottawa  and  Belvidere ;  the  latter  was  cut  from  the 
Ottawa  Circuit  about  1836.  In  1850,  when  the  brick  church  of  the  local  charge 
was  erected  it  was  the  finest  house  of  worship  in  Belvidere. 

The  Universalists  met  in  Belvidere  for  worship  as  early  as  1838,  Rev.  Seth 
Barnes  of  Rockford  ministering  to  them.  They  effected  a  regular  organization 
in  August,  1853,  and  for  a  number  of  years  thereafter  met  in  the  courthouse 
and  various  churches  until  1862,  when  they  erected  a  house  of  worship  of 
their  own. 

The  Christian  Church,  founded  on  the  teachings  and  faith  of  Alexander 
Campbell,  was  fairly  organized  in  1838.  It  was  closely  identified  with  the 
Unitarians,  and  a  Unitarian  minister  was  called  to  preside  over  the  church, 
as  well  as  assume  charge  of  the  Newton  Academy  at  Belvidere.  The  Lutherans 
are  strong  in  Belvidere,  and  the  Episcopalians  and  Catholics  have  also  organ- 
ized bodies  of  long  standing. 

MISSIONARY  WORK   OF  REV.  ARATUS  KENT  IN   NORTHWESTERN   ILLINOIS 

Although  Methodist  circuit  riders  were  preaching  in  the  Freeport  district 
of  Stephenson  County  as  early  as  1834  (notably  Rev.  James  McKean),  the 
Presbyterians  first  organized  themselves  into  a  church  body.  But  Methodists, 
Presbyterians,  Baptists  and  all  other  Protestant  sects  give  chief  credit  to  one 
man  for  the  planting  of  their  Gospel  in  Northern  Illinois  and  Southern  Wiscon- 
sin. Thus  writes  Mrs.  D.  A.  Knowlton  in  a  "Journal  of  the  Illinois  State  His- 
torical Society":  "The  seeds  of  Presbyterianism  were  sown  in  this  region  by 
Aratus  Kent,  a  young  man  of  fine  education  and  ardent  spirit  sent  from  the 
East  to  Galena,  then  a  mining  town,  where  after  two  years  of  hard  work  a 
church  was  organized.  While  still  making  his  headquarters  at  Galena,  he  was 
in  charge  of  the  missionary  work  extending  east  from  that  point.  The  Methodists 
and  Baptists  pursued  their  methods  of  missionary  effort  by  holding  camp  meet- 
ings, the  Presbyterians  joining  with  them  whenever  convenient.  Father  Kent 
spent  his  whole  life  in  arduous  toil  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ 
in  Northern  Illinois  and  Southern  Wisconsin,  and  not  only  helped  to  organize 
churches,  but  was  instrumental  in  founding  Beloit  College  and  Rockford  Female 
Seminary,  now  Rockford  College." 

More  specific  information  may  be  added  to  the  foregoing  to  the  effect  that 
Rev.  Aratus  Kent  was  a  graduate  both  of  Yale  and  Princeton  universities  and 


TIIK  ROCK  RIYKR  YALLKY  331 

in  1  >•_!!•  came  to  the  Galena  lead  mines  as  a  Congregational  missionary.  This 
was  a  missionary  field  which  do  one  else  would  assume,  but  within  two  years 
he  had  established  a  Sunday  school,  a  day  school  and  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church.  Of  the  last  named  he  remained  pastor  for  seventeen  years,  when  he 
became  agent  of  the  Eome  .Missionary  Society.  He  died  at  Galena,  respected 
and  loved  wherever  he  moved  and  labored,  November  8,  186!). 

Stephenson  County  had  many  New  Englanders  and  Pennsylvania  Dulcli 
among  the  early  settlers,  while  the  immigrant  population  was  at  first  largely 
Irish  Roman  Catholics,  followed  bjr  Germans,  both  Roman  Catholic  and  Prot- 
estant, with  a  number  of  rationalists  or  representatives  of  the  so-called  libei*al 
faiths.  ''In  1842,"  continues  Mrs.  Knowlton,  "a  few  of  Freeport's  leading 
men  determined  to  start  and  sustain  a  Sunday  evening  prayer  meeting,  with 
a  view  to  organizing  a  church.  Within  six  months  a  home  missionary  was 
sent  from  Oswego,  New  York,  and  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Freeport 
was  organized  with  fourteen  members.  Seven  of  these  were  of  Freeport  and 
seven  from  Cedarville  and  Buena  Vista.  The  growth  of  the  church  was  similar 
to  many  others  of  that  period,  their  place  of  worship  being  in  the  frame  build- 
ing used  as  a  courthouse,  except  when  the  weather  became  very  cold  they  were 
obliged  to  use  the  smaller  schoolhouse.  It  took  hard  work  and  faithfulness 
on  the  part  of  the  members  to  overcome  obstacles  and  keep  up  interest  enough 
to  support  the  pastor,  even  with  the  help  of  the  Home  Mission  Board."  Finally 
a  meeting  house  was  dedicated,  and  in  December,  1849,  the  first  church  bell 
in  the  county  rung  out  the  old  year  and  rung  in  the  new,  from  the  tower  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Freeport.  The  Second  Presbyterian  Church 
had  been  organized  in  1847,  and  a  few  years  afterward  German  Presbyterian 
societies  were  founded  in  Cedarville,  Rock  Run  and  Dakota. 

In  1850,  Freeport  Mas  erected  into  a  separate  Methodist  charge  under  Rev. 
John  F.  Devore,  and  in  1854  the  German  M.  E.  Church  was  founded  under 
the  pastorate  of  Rev.  H.  Vosholl.  The  Baptists  formed  a  society  in  December, 
1845,  first  meeting  at  the  home  of  Rev.  James  Sehofield,  who  had  been  sent  for 
that  purpose  by  the  American  Baptist  Home  Missionary  Society.  Their  church 
was  dedicated  in  1848.  In  the  year  named,  Rev.  John  Cavanaugh,  pastor  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  at  New  Dublin,  visited  Freeport  to  there  organize 
a  society  of  his  faith.  His  brother-in-law.  Thomas  Egan,  with  his  family  and 
several  other  Catholics,  had  settled  there.  Mrs.  Egan  set  aside  a  room  in  the 
second  story  of  a  building  which  her  husband  had  just  erected,  and  there 
Father  Cavanaugh  celebrated  mass  for  the  first  time  in  Freeport.  Thus  was 
St.  .Mary's  Church  born,  and  Father  Cavanaugh  became  its  first  resident  priest. 

The  St.  John's  German  Evangelical  Church  was  founded  in  1847,  and  a 
few  years  afterward  the  Emanuel  Church  of  the  Evangelical  Association  (also 
German)  was  established  in  Freeport  as  a  mission. 

It  is  probable  that  the  first  religious  services  in  Ogle  County  were  held  at 
Polo,  by  Aratus  Kent,  the  Presbyterian  missionary  of  Galena.  This  was  about 
1834  and  the  meeting  place  was  the  new  house  of  Captain  Stephen  Hull,  thrown 
open  for  that  purpose  before  it  had  any  roof.  Soon  afterward,  James  McKean 
was  sent  to  the  Buffalo  Grove  Mission,  organizing  the  Buffalo  Grove  and  Polo 


332 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


Methodist  Church,  March  3,  1835 ;  which  was  the  first  organized  religious  body 
within  the  present  limits  of  Ogle  County. 

The  first  settlers  of  the  Methodist  faith  held  their  first  meeting  at  the 
house  of  Perry  Norton,  Byron,  in  1835.  They  organized  a  societj'  in  1837 
under  the  direction  of  Rev.  James  McKean.  Eighteen  years  later,  their  first 
church  was  built  during  the  third  period  of  service  there  as  pastor  of  Rev. 
Barton  Cartwright,  who  hauled  all  the  stone  for  the  foundations  and  walls 
himself,  and  worked  on  the  building  as  it  was  being  constructed. 

The  Congregational  Church,  however,  preceded  the  Methodist  as  an  organ- 
ized body,  its  first  pastor  being  Rev.  E.  Brown,  who  came  from  North  Hadley, 
Mass.,  in  1838.    The  brick  church  of  the  Congregationalists  was  dedicated  in  1847. 

PIONEER  CHURCHES  OF  GRAND  DETOUR  AND  OREGON 

Of  the  religious  associations  in  Grand  Detour,  which  were  among  the  earliest 
in  the  county  to  be  formed,  the  Congregationalists  were  the  first  to  organize  in 
July,  1837.  Rev.  Colvin  W.  Babbitt  was  their  first  pastor.  The  church  build- 
ing was  dedicated  in  November,  1848.  The  lumber  was  purchased  in  Chicago 
and  hauled  to  Grand  Detour  by  Ruel  Peabody,  one  of  the  trustees.  Thus  was 
religion  promoted  in  those  days  at  hard  cost;  therefore,  the  more  valued.  The 
first  Episcopal  service  at  Grand  Detour  was  held  in  June,  1838,  Bishop  Chase 
officiating,  and  the  first  Methodist  class  was  formed  in  1839.  The  temperance 
movement  was  then  active,  and  in  February  of  the  latter  year  a  society  was 
organized  with  a  membership  of  seventy-two. 

REV.   BARTON   CARTWRIGHT   AND  REV.    N.   J.   STROH 


Oregon  was  the  center  of  great  religious  activity.  The  first  denomination 
to  organize  there  was  the  Methodist,  Rev.  G.  G.  Worthington  forming  a  class 
for  his  people  in  1839.  Oregon  was  then  on  the  Buffalo  Grove  Circuit,  estab- 
lished four  years  earlier  and  extending  from  Rochelle  to  the  Mississippi  River 
and  from  Prophetstown  an  equal  distance  north.  James  McKean  was  the  first 
pastor  to  travel  this  district ;  but  the  best  known  circuit  rider  in  Oregon  was  the 
Rev.  Barton  Cartwright,  who  later  made  his  home  at  Mount  Morris  and  after 
that  again  in  Oregon,  where  he  died.  The  Oregon  charge  built  its  first  church 
in  1857.  The  Lutherans  were  the  first  in  Oregon  to  erect  a  church  building. 
Their  first  pastor,  Rev.  N.  J.  Stroh,  was  the  pioneer  of  his  faith  to  settle  in 
Oregon,  or  Ogle  County,  being  on  the  ground  as  early  as  1846.  The  corner  stone 
of  the  church  was  laid  in  1850,  two  years  after  the  founding  of  the  society. 
Father  Stroh  continued  a  resident  of  the  county  for  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
or  until  1897,  which  brought  him  within  one  year  of  being  a  centenarian  and 
giving  him  a  record  of  having  continued  ninety  years  in  the  faith. 

The  foregoing  paragraphs  are  but  pillars  in  the  church  annals  of  Ogle  County, 
the  details  being  reserved  for  its  history  proper. 

The  early  settlement  of  Lee  County,  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  Dixon, 
caused  by  the  tide  of  emigrants  setting  toward  the  Galena  lead  region,  brought 
about  the  establishment  of  numerous  religious  organizations  in  that  section  of 
the  Rock  River  Valley.     Peter  Cartwright,  Aratus  Kent  and  other  famous  mis- 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  333 

Bionaries  of  Northern  Illinois  were  early  drawn  toward  the  county.  In  the 
spring  of  1836,  the  first  Methodist  sermon  was  preached  to  the  people  of  Dixon's 
Perry  by  Rev.  James  McKean,  of  Elkhorn  Grove,  pastor  in  charge  of  Hender- 
son's Mission,  and  about  the  same  time  Peter  Cartwright,  the  great  backwoods 
preacher  and  presiding  elder  of  his  church,  was  holding  forth  in  that  region 
both  of  wickedness  and  revivalism,  Inlet,  later  Lee  Center.  Elder  Cartwright 
preached  his  first  sermon  at  that  time  and  place  in  the  house  of  C.  R.  Dewey 
and  soon  afterward  a  Methodist  class  was  organized  with  John  Fosdick  as 
leader.  At  intervals  of  six  weeks  preaching  was  held  over  a  store  in  the 
village  of  Dixon. 

RUSH  OF   MISSIONARIES  TO   INLET,    LEE  COUNTY 

Later  Dixon  Circuit  was  extended  and  in  1842  it  embraced  Inlet  Grove, 
Palestine  Grove,  Melugin's  Grove,  Washington  Grove,  Light  House  Point,  Jef- 
ferson Grove,  Daysville  and  Payne's  Point,  besides  the  village  itself.  Of  the 
Dixon  Circuit  preachers,  Luke  Hitchcock  was  among  the  best  known.  Inlet 
was  never  missed  by  the  circuit  rider.  For  several  years  it  was  one  of  the 
chief  centers  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  of  the  Banditti  of  the  Prairies  and 
other  outlaws  and  the  good  earnest  preachers  could  always  find  numerous  sub- 
jects for  conversion.  Afterward  when  the  reign  of  the  wicked  was  over  and 
it  became  the  center  of  academic  education,  temperance  and  other  elevating 
influences,  it  and  its  successor,  Lee  Center,  were  noted  for  their  religious  and 
moral  tone. 

CHURCHES  OF  BUFFALO  GROVE  AND  DIXON 

Among  other  denominations  than  the  Methodists  it  was  customary  for  two 
or  more  communities  to  unite  in  the  holding  of  religious  services,  both  from 
motives  of  good  fellowship  and  to  be  assured  of  good  audiences.  For  instance, 
early  religious  services  for  Dixon  were  held  at  Buffalo  Grove  by  residents  of 
that  place  and  Dixon's  Ferry,  and  in  May,  1838,  the  first  regular  church  was 
organized  under  the  appropriate  name  of  "The  First  Regular  Baptist  Church 
of  Dixon  and  Buffalo  Grove."  It  was  formed  at  the  latter  place  under  the 
direction  of  Thomas  Powell,  moderator,  and  the  following  were  the  original 
members:  Howland  Bicknell,  Rebecca  Dixon,  Elizabeth  Bellows,  Jerusha  Ham- 
mond, Sarah  Kellogg,  Martha  Parks  and  Ann  Carley.  The  First  Baptist  Church 
of  Dixon  was  not  formally  organized  until  January,  1841,  and  is  prosperous 
today;  the  Buffalo  Grove  membership  dispersed  in  the  late  '40s. 

Bishop  Philander  Chase  held  Episcopalian  services  in  Dixon  as  early  as 
1837.  He  came  from  Grand  Detour,  at  which  was  stationed  at  a  later  day  a 
missionary  of  that  faith,  Rev.  Abraham  J.  Warner,  who  held  regular  services 
at  that  place,  and  at  Dixon,  Sterling  and  Elkhorn  Grove.  The  parish  organiza- 
tion at  Dixon  was  effected  about  18f>5,  under  the  name  of  St.  Luke's  Church. 

In  1842,  the  Baptist  Church  split  into  two  congregations  at  Dixon  and 
Buffalo  Grove,  and  in  the  following  year  the  First  Methodist  Church  completed 
its  first  house  of  worship  on  Second  Street  south  of  the  public  square. 


334  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

THE  ROCK  RIVER  ASSEMBLY 

The  "First  Evangelical  Lutheran  Congregation  of  Lee  County"  was  organ- 
ized August,  1848,  in  a  South  Dixon  barn  by  Rev.  Jacob  Burket.  In  1853  its 
name  was  changed  to  that  of  the  St.  Paul's  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  and 
four  years  later  the  German  members  withdrew  and  organized  a  separate  con- 
gregation. To  the  Lutherans  of  the  Dixon  region,  especially  St.  Paul's  Church, 
Northern  Illinois  is  indebted  for  the  establishment  of  the  Rock  River  Assembly, 
or  Chautauqua,  the  home  of  which  is  a  beautiful  tract  of  about  forty  acres  on 
the  north  bank  of  the  river  adjoining  the  City  of  Dixon  on  the  east.  Its  large 
circular  auditorium,  school  and  administration  buildings,  hotel  and  comfortable 
cottages,  with  electric  lighting,  abundant  water  supply,  provisions  for  outdoor 
sports  and  adequate  transportation,  make  the  Assembly  site  ideal  for  restful 
study,  spiritual  uplift  and  healthful  recreation. 

In  1850  and  1854  both  the  Unitarians  and  the  Congregationalists  formed 
societies,  the  former  building  a  handsome  church,  but  after  a  few  years  they 
disbanded,  most  of  the  Congregationalists  joining  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

MISSIONARIES  OP  WHITESIDE  COUNTY  AT  PROPHETSTOWN 

The  Catholics  were  organized  in  1854  by  Father  Mark  Anthony,  and  have 
increased  in  numbers  from  year  to  year  as  the  St.  Patrick's  Church. 

As  a  rule  the  missionaries  of  the  Methodist  and  Presbyterian  churches  were 
the  first  to  venture  into  the  primitive  communities  of  Whiteside  County.  The 
first  recorded  religious  services  were  held  in  what  is  now  the  Township  of 
Prophetstown,  on  Christmas  day  of  1835,  at  the  house  of  Asa  Crook,  and  were 
conducted  by  a  minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The  circuit 
preacher  was  on  his  way  to  establish  a  mission,  but  losing  his  trail  on  the  prairie 
came  to  Prophetstown  for  shelter.  Charles  Bent,  the  newspaper  man  and  his- 
torian of  Morristown,  continues  the  story:  N.  G-.  Reynolds,  Norman  B.  Seely, 
Alexander  Seely  and  their  families,  had  assembled  at  Mr.  Crook's  for  a  holiday 
visit,  and  while  they  were  there,  the  minister  came  in,  and,  true  to  his  calling, 
desired  to  hold  a  religious  meeting,  stating  that  if  Methodist  preaching  would 
suit  those  assembled,  he  would  commence  the  services.  Mr.  Reynolds  replied 
that  they  had  been  used  to  hearing  the  Gospel  preached  by  Methodist  ministers 
in  the  East,  and  he  had  no  doubt  all  would  be  happy  to  hear  a  minister  of  that 
denomination  preach  again.  The  agreement  being  made,  P.  B.  Reynolds,  then 
a  boy,  was  sent  out  with  a  sleigh  to  gather  in  the  families  of  William  Hill, 
Uncle  Harry  Smith  and  others,  and  when  all  had  arrived  the  minister  pro- 
ceeded with  the  services.  It  is  doubtful  if  a  more  attentive  congregation  has 
ever  assembled  in  the  Township  of  Prophetstown.  The  first  minister  who  had 
regular  preaching  days  came  from  Elkhorn  Grove  and  held  his  meetings  on 
a  week  day.  The  First  M.  E.  Society  in  Prophetstown  was  formed  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1836,  at  the  house  of  N.  G.  Reynolds  and  consisted  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
William  Hill,  Mrs.  Harry  Smith  and  Mrs.  N.  G.  Reynolds.  It  was  formed  at 
first  as  a  mission  society,  and  afterward  grew  into  the  present  M.  E.  Church 
and  Society  of  Prophetstown. 


THE  ROCK  RIVEE  PALLET  335 

EARLY  RELIGIOUS  BODIES  ORGANIZED 

I '»ut  the  first  independent  religious  body  organized  in  Whiteside  County 
was  the  Congregational  Church  and  Society  of  Lyndon,  formed  on  the  27th  of 
June,  1836.  The  initiatory  steps  leading  toward  that  organization  were  taken 
by  Adam  R.  Hamilton,  William  D.  Dudley  and  Chauncey  G.  Woodruff,  with 
their  families,  the  earliest  settlers  of  Lyndon,  and  fresh  from  the  great  revivals 
which  occurred  in  New  York  and  other  Eastern  States  during  the  winters  of 
1830  and  1835.  The  meeting  was  held  at  the  house  of  William  D.  Dudley  and 
presided  over  by  Rev.  Elisha  Hazard,  agent  of  the  American  Home  Missionary 
Society,  who  had  come  to  the  West  to  establish  churches  and  societies  under 
its  patronage.  He  became  the  first  pastor  of  the  Lyndon  church.  Its  first 
meeting  house  was  erected  in  1850.  The  Baptists  of  Lyndon  organized  a 
church  in  1837  and  the  Methodists  in  1841. 

The  Methodists  also  commenced  early  to  hold  services  in  Sterling  township. 
The  settlers  opened  their  cabins  freely  to  the  minister.  From  a  class  said  to 
have  been  formed  in  1836  in  the  cabin  of  Hezekiah  Brink,  developed  the  pres- 
ent Broadway  M.  E.  Church,  of  the  City  of  Sterling.  Rev.  Barton  H.  Cart- 
wright  founded  the  original  class  of  six  members,  and  no  missionary  in  the 
Rock  River  Valley  left  a  more  enduring  record. 

The  year  1839  marked  the  formation  of  quite  a  number  of  churches  in 
Whiteside  County.  The  First  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  in  Albany 
in  that  year;  the  Methodists  of  Erie  established  a  church  and  Sunday  school; 
the  First  Congregational  Church  of  Union  Grove  was  formed  a  few  miles  east  of 
Fulton,  and  also  in  1839  was  organized  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  Society, 
at  Sharon,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Wilcox,  of  Geneseo,  Henry  County;  while  a  Protestant 
Methodist  Church  was  formed  in  Union  Grove,  now  a  part  of  Morrison. 

One  of  the  first  of  the  Roman  Catholic  churches  to  be  established  was  St. 
Patrick's,  at  Sterling,  organized  in  1854.  The  Lutheran  churches  and  societies 
were  founded  at  a  still  later  period,  and  all  will  be  noticed  in  the  history  of 
Whiteside  County.  The  oldest  church  at  Rock  Falls  is  the  Methodist,  organized 
in  1868. 

The  first  religious  organization  to  be  formed  in  Henry  County  was  at  the 
house  of  P.  K.  Hanna,  in  the  township  of  that  name,  during  the  fall  of  1835. 
ruder  Mr.  Hanna 's  enthusiastic  direction  a  number  of  Methodists  were  gath- 
ered at  his  home  and  were  organized  into  a  class  by  Rev.  Colin  D.  James.  In 
1854,  a  brick  edifice  was  erected  to  accommodate  the  growing  society.  It  was 
known  t'<>r  years  as  the  Rock  River  Chapel,  and  w;is  used  until  the  fall  of  1875, 
when  a  better  house  of  worship  was  built  in  the  village  of  Cleveland.  At 
Colona,  also  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  county,  the  Methodists  formed  a 
class  as  early  as  1842,  and  the  Presbyterians  organized  churches  at  a  later  day. 
In  the  southern  townships  of  the  county,  the  Swedes  and  Germans  planted 
numerous  settlements  and  organized  themselves  into  religious  bodies  during 
the  '60s.  One  of  the  earliest  and  strongest  churches  in.  Kewanee  to  be  formed 
during  that  period  being  that  founded  by  the  German  Evangelical  Association 
on  School  Section  No.  28.  The  Swedish  M.  E.  Church  of  Bishop  Hill  was 
organized  in  the  fall  of  1864. 


336  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

HENRY  COUNTY  CHURCHES — KEWANEE 

But  the  colonies  which  were  established  in  Henry  County  were  the  means 
of  planting'  some  of  its  pioneer  churches.  Wethersfield  Colony,  which  originated 
among  the  Connecticut  Congregationalists  of  that  town  in  the  East,  first  chose 
Andover,  Henry  County,  as  the  site  of  its  experiment.  In  October,  1839,  a 
Congregationalist  Church  was  established  there,  and  in  1841  a  Methodist  class 
was  formed. 

After  Andover  had  been  abandoned  in  favor  of  the  site  farther  east,  known 
as  Wethersfield,  Kewanee  was  platted  (in  1854)  on  either  side  of  the  Military 
Tract  Railroad  and  commenced  to  draw  from  the  strength  of  the  colony. 

The  Congregationalists  first  organized  in  the  new  railroad  town,  and  in 
August,  1855,  commenced  to  meet  in  the  village  schoolhouse.  In  1858,  a  church 
was  formally  organized  with  Rev.  Charles  H.  Pierce  as  its  settled  pastor.  A 
few  months  later,  the  Methodists  of  the  colony,  who  had  been  meeting  in  a 
schoolhouse  about  a  mile  east  of  Kewanee,  moved  into  town,  where  they  reor- 
ganized and  remained.  In  May,  1856,  the  Baptists  of  the  Wethersfield  Colony 
voted  to  move  to  Kewanee  and  acted  accordingly.  The  Catholics  organized  in 
1854,  soon  after  Kewanee  was  platted,  at  the  house  of  Matthew  Joyce,  which 
occupied  the  site  of  the  building  afterward  erected  by  St.  Mary's  Catholic 
Church  as  its  place  of  worship.  The  Church  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints  was  also 
a  religious  organization  of  an  early  day  which  did  not  originate  in  the  Wethers- 
field Colony.  It  was  first  established,  in  1859,  at  Amboy,  Lee  County,  and 
commenced  its  work  at  Kewanee  in  1862. 

NOTED  CHURCHES  OF  ROCK  ISLAND 

In  the  lower  part  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  are  the  metropolitan  communi- 
ties of  Rock  Island  and  Moline,  with  their  varied  activities  of  commerce  and 
the  industries.  The  early  and  generous  mixture  of  Germans  and  Swedes  among 
the  settled  population  of  Rock  Island  County  caused  a  remarkable — even  a  unique 
— alignment  of  its  religious  organizations.  With  the  coming  of  mature  men  and 
women  from  continental  Europe,  and  before  even  the  younger  generations  had 
been  molded  into  English-speaking  Americans,  the  Catholic  and  Lutheran 
churches  commenced  to  split  along  racial  lines,  and  both  Swedes  and  Germans 
affiliated  themselves  with  Protestant  denominations  from  which  they  had  here- 
tofore held  themselves  aloof,  or  been  utter  strangers.  In  fact,  until  the  record 
of  sectarian  organization  commenced  to  be  written  in  Rock  Island,  a  Swedish 
Baptist  Church  was  unknown  in  the  world,  and  at  an  early  date  was  organ- 
ized in  that  city  the  second  Swedish  Methodist  congregation  in  the  universe. 

FIRST  RELIGIOUS  SERVICES  IN  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

The  first  religious  services  held  for  a  congregation  of  white  people  in  the 
Rock  River  Valley  were  those  conducted  at  Fort  Armstrong  in  1826  by  a 
traveling  minister  whose  name  has  not  been  recorded.  The  Rev.  John  Kinney 
held  occasional  services  at  the  fort  in  1829  and  1833,  and  soon  afterward  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  sent  Rev.  Asa  McMurtry  to  Rock  Island  to  organize 


THE  HOCK  RIVER  VALLEY  337 

a  class.  Meetings  were  held  at  private  residences  until  1836,  when  the  first 
school  house  was  built  and  services  were  held  there  for  a  number  of  years.  Thus 
the  pioneer  missionaries  were  the  first  to  enter  the  Rock  Island  field.  In  the 
city  alone  there  are  now  more  than  thirty  churches,  the  Presbyterians  leading 
in  number,  with  the  Evangelical  Lutherans  (English  and  Swedish),  Methodists 
and  Roman  Catholics,  following.  The  Baptists  and  Christians  (Disciples  of 
Christ)  are  also  strong  and  growing. 

EARLY    PROTESTANT    CHURCHES    OP    ROCK   ISLAND 

The  Presbyterians  were  largely  represented  among  the  early  settlers  of  Rock 
Island.  The  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Stephenson  was  organized  at  a  meet- 
ing held  in  the  old  Rock  Island  House,  November  27,  1837.  In  1848,  the  con- 
gregation split  on  the  question  of  slavery,  the  seceding  faction  organizing  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church  and  building  a  house  of  worship  opposite  the 
courthouse  on  Second  Avenue.  In  1870,  the  factions  were  reunited  as  the 
Central  Presbyterian  Church.  The  United  Presbyterian  Church  was  formed 
in  1854  as  the  Associated  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  and  several  years 
previously  the  Trinity  Episcopal  Church  had  its  beginnings. 

About  1850,  the  .Methodists  built  an  edifice  on  the  present  site  of  Spencer 
Square  and  in  1855  erected  a  handsome  new  church  at  Nineteenth  Street  and 
Fifth  Avenue.  The  German  Methodists  began  work  in  Rock  Island  in  the 
latter  year,  when  Dlrich  Guntcr  was  sent  by  the  Rock  River  Conference  and 
organized  a  congregation.  The  church  was  afterward  affiliated  with  the  St. 
Louis  Conference.  The  Swedish  Methodists  were  also  active  and  organized 
their  society  under  Rev.  Jonas  Headstrom. 

The  First  Baptist  Church  was  organized  at  the  home  of  Lemuel  Ludden  in 
1837,  and  Rev.  Titus  Gillet  became  its  first  settled  pastor.  The  pioneer  Swedish 
Baptist  Church  of  the  world  was  organized,  with  three  members,  at  the  old 
schoolhouse  in  Union  Square,  now  Spencer  Square,  August  13,  1852.  Its  pastor 
and  founder  was  Rev.  G.  Palmquist. 

The  German  Lutherans  established  themselves  in  Rock  Island  during  the 
early  '50s,  and  founded  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Emanuel  Church  at  Fifth 
Avenue  and  Twentieth  Street.  In  1856,  the  Missouri  Synod  sent  Rev.  C.  A.  T. 
Selle  to  the  charge.  Five  years  later  its  first  brick  house  of  worship  was  dedi- 
cated. The  Lutheran  Emanuel  was  the  mother  church  of  the  societies  identified 
with  the  faith  in  Rock  Island. 

The  first  visitation  of  a  Catholic  priest  to  the  white  settlers  of  Rock  Island 
was  made  by  Father  Mazuchelli,  a  missionary  of  the  church  who  had  been 
sent  to  the  lead  mines  of  Galena  in  1835.  On  his  way  thither,  he  stopped 
at  what  was  then  the  town  of  Stephenson,  as  well  as  Davenport,  and  made 
another  visit  to  the  Rocky  Island  district  upon  his  return  from  Galena  in  1837. 

REV.    JOHN    (i.     ALLEMAN    AND    CATHOLICISM 

The  story  of  the  founding  of  St.  James  Church  and  the  labors  of  the  Rev. 
Father  John  G.  Alleman  is  of  deep  interest  to  all,  irrespective  of  creed,  who 
revere   faithfulness  and   sturdiness  of  character.     It  is  well  told  bv  James  F. 


338  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Murphy,  a  leading  lawyer  and  layman  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Rock  Island. 
He  writes :  ' '  The  first  Catholic  church  in  the  county  was  built  at  Rock  Island 
during  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Father  John  G.  Alleman,  a  German  Dominican 
friar  in  1851,  although  not  completed  until  1852.  This  church  was  named 
St.  James,  and  stood  at  what  is  now  Twenty-second  Street  and  Fourth  Avenue, 
on  the  site  now  occupied  by  St.  Mary's  German  Catholic  church.  The  size 
of  this  church  was  40x66  feet,  and  it  was  built  of  stone  quarried  from  the 
ground  on  which  the  church  was  built.  The  windows,  sills,  water  tables  and 
other  trimmings,  however,  were  brought  from  Nauvoo,  111.,  and  were  taken 
from  the  ruins  of  the  Mormon  temple  at  that  place.  They  were  loaded  on 
flat  boats  and  transported  up  the  Mississippi  River  to  Rock  Island,  where  they 
were  put  in  place.  In  later  years  when  the  old  church,  becoming  too  small, 
was  torn  down,  these  stone  trimmings  were  used  in  the  new  rectory. 

"Father  Alleman  had  established  a  church  and  cabin  at  Fort  Madison,  la., 
where  he  continued  to  reside,  not  taking  permanent  charge  of  St.  James  until 
1857,  when  he  removed  to  Rock  Island.  Father  John  Larmer,  who  knew  him 
well,  says  of  Father  Alleman:  'He  had  served  the  church  as  a  missionary 
over  Northern  and  Central  Ohio,  had  said  mass  in  a  cabin  in  the  center  of  a 
corn  field  where  the  City  of  Cleveland  now  stands,  and  upon  arriving  in  the 
West  he  built  himself  a  church  and  shanty  where  Fort  Madison,  la.,  now 
stands.  From  this  place  he  usually  traveled  on  foot,  as  I  saw  him  for  years, 
with  a  pair  of  saddle  bags  over  his  arm,  in  which  were  all  his  church  equip- 
ments, all  a  missionary's  conveniences  for  the  celebrating  of  mass.  Being  of 
huge  stature  and  in  splendid  health,  he  could  cover  in  a  morning  on  foot  as 
much  ground  as  an  average  horse.  Wherever  he  heard  there  were  a  few  Cath- 
olics he  made  them  a  visit.  He  covered  all  Northern  Missouri  and  Southern 
Iowa ;  then  crossing  the  Mississippi  he  extended  his  missionary  wanderings 
as  far  east  as  the  Illinois  River  north  to  the  Wisconsin  line.'  Again  Father 
Larmer  says :  '  Father  Alleman  was  a  great  scholar,  with  such  a  tenacious 
memory  that  he  could,  even  when  an  old  man,  repeat  all  of  the  first  book 
of  Virgil's  JEneid.'  " 

Father  Alleman  remained  in  charge  of  the  little  stone  church  at  Rock 
Island  until  1856,  and  during  this  period  he  also  conducted  missions  at  Geneseo, 
Sheffield,  Carbon  Cliff,  Minersville,  Hampton,  Rapids  City,  Port  Byron,  Coal 
Valley,  Edgington  and  Keithsburg,  in  the  Bureau,  Henry,  Mercer  and  Rock 
Island  counties  of  today.  As  he  advanced  in  years  it  was  necessary  to  ap- 
point a  younger  man  in  his  place.  Rev.  John  P.  Donelon  was  sent  to  St.  James 
in  1856  and  Father  Alleman  served  as  his  faithful  assistant.  In  1864,  largely 
through  the  efforts  of  the  venerable  missionary,  the  present  handsome  St. 
Mary's  German  Catholic  church  was  completed.  In  that  year  Father  Alleman 
retired  to  the  house  for  aged  Catholic  priests  at  St.  Louis,  where  he  died  in 
1867,  generally  mourned  and  honored.  The  division  of  Rock  Island  Catholics 
into  English  and  German-speaking  organizations  occurred  in  1874;  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking members  were  organized  as  St.  Joseph's  Catholic,  and  the  German- 
speaking,  as  St.  Mary's. 

From  the  mother  church  have  also  sprung  the  Sacred  Heart  and  Belgian 
Catholic  churches,  of  Rock  Island. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  339 

MOLIXE  CHTJBCHES 

Through  the  labors  of  Father  Alleman,  the  Church  of  St.  Anthony  was 
founded  at  Moline  in  185(5.  Tlie  year  before,  he  had  said  mass  in  the  house 
of  Peter  Dubuque,  and  several  times  during  1855  repeated  Catholic  services 
there.  In  1856  he  selected  a  site  for  a  house  of  worship  adjoining  Mr.  Dubuque's 
bouse  on  the  north.  The  building  was  considered  sufficiently  completed  dur- 
ing the  following  year  to  be  opened  to  worshipers,  although  its  wralls  were 
still  unplastered  and  the  seats  were  common  boards  nailed  together  without 
backs.  This  crude  little  frame  building  was  dedicated  in  1857  as  the  Church 
of  St.  Anthony.  Father  Alleman  sometimes  held  services  there,  and  when 
he  said  mass  at  Rock  Island  many  of  the  Moline  Catholics  would  walk  thither 
to  hear  him.  St.  Mary's  Church  was  formed  from  St.  Anthony  as  late  as 
1878  and  the  school  connected  with  it  has  been  prospering  for  more  than 
twenty-five  years.  The  Belgian  Catholic  Church  of  East  Moline  was  an  off- 
shoot of  St.  Mary's  of  Moline  and  was  formed  in  1907. 

Thus  has  a  surface  survey  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  been  made  of  its 
pioneer  secular  schools,  both  private  and  public,  and  of  its  popular  and  higher 
educational  establishments.  The  earliest  of  its  religious  bodies  have  been  por- 
trayed; the  parenthood  of  the  churches  of  today  briefly  designated.  These 
uplifting  institutions  and  influences  have  been  cooperating  with  the  parochial 
and  Sunday  schools  of  the  denominational  organizations,  with  thousands  of 
other  moral  and  spiritual  agencies.  These  phases  of  the  higher  development 
of  the  people  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  are  so  manifold  and  so  complex  that 
they  are  set  forth  elsewhere  in  the  histories  of  the  twelve  counties  included 
in  this  history. 


Vol.  1—22 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE  PRESS  OP  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

NEWSPAPERS    TYPICAL    OF    THE   PEOPLE THE    PRESS    OF    MADISON THE    WISCONSIN 

ENQUIRER — JOSIAH  A.  NOONAN  AND  GEORGE  HYER MADISON  EXPRESS  AND  WIS- 
CONSIN   STATE   JOURNAL DAVID  ATWOOD,   SO   LONG   VENERABLE  FATHER   OF    THE 

WISCONSIN  PRESS OTHER  MADISON  NEWSPAPERS THE  FOUNDING  AND  PROGRESS 

OF  THE  JANESVILLE  GAZETTED — THE  BELOIT  FREE  PRESS — PIONEER  COLLEGE  PUB- 
LICATION, THE  ROUND  TABLE — THE  WATERTOWN  RECORDER — THE  ANZEIGER  OF 
WATERTOWN   BRINGS   OUT    CARL   SCHURZ,    THE   FAMOUS   GERMAN-AMERICAN   TO-BE 

DER    VOLKSZEITUNG    FOUNDED THE    JEFFERSON    BANNER, — WISCONSIN    CHIEF, 

FORT  ATKINSON,  ONE  OF  THE  FIRST  TEMPERANCE  PAPERS  ISSUED  IN  WISCONSIN 
— NEWSPAPERS  OF  BEAVER  DAM,  HORICON  AND  OTHER  DODGE  COUNTY  TOWNS — 
OTHER  CURRENT  PUBLICATIONS  OF  DODGE,  JEFFERSON,  ROCK  AND  DANE  COUNTIES, 

WIS. TWO  OF  ROCKFORD'S  PIONEER  NEWSPAPERS  WRECKED BIRTH  AND  GROWTH 

OF     THE    REGISTER-GAZETTE — THE    ROCKFORD     MORNING     STAR    AND     J.     STANLEY 

BROWNE! HOW    THE    FREEPORT    JOURNAL-STANDARD    CAME    TO    EXIST EMANUEL 

AND  JONATHAN  KNODLE  FOUND  THE  ROCK  RIVER  REGISTER  AT  MOUNT  MORRIS — 
MOVED  TO  THE  MORE  PROMISING  GRAND  DETOUR — MOUNT  MORRIS  GAZETTE  TRANS- 
FERRED TO  OREGON STEPS  TAKEN  BEFORE  THE  INDEX  WAS  FOUNDED PRINTING 

AND  PUBLISHING  HOUSE  OF   THE   KABLE  BROTHERS NEWSPAPERS  OF   POLO THE 

REPORTER  AND   REPUBLICAN  OF   OREGON ROCHELLE    PRESS  ESTABLISHED   AT  THE 

OLD    TOWN    OF    LANE — THE    BELVIDERE    NEWSPAPERS THE    NORTHWESTERN    AND 

REPUBLICAN — THE  DIXON  TELEGRAPH  AND  OTHER  PAPERS  IN  LEE  COUNTY — 
WHITESIDE   COUNTY'S  FIRST  NEWSPAPER,   THE   INVESTIGATOR,   NOW    THE  FULTON 

JOURNAL ALBANY  REVIEW THE  STERLING  GAZETTE — THE  WHITESIDE  SENTINEL 

AND   CHARLES   BENT THE   TAMPICO   TORNADO THE   ECHO,    OF   PROPHETSTOWN 

KEWANEE  NEWSPAPERS  AND  THE  STAR-COURIER — THE  GENESEO  REPUBLICAN  AND 

CAMBRIDGE    CHRONICLE ROCK    ISLAND    NEWSPAPERS    THE    FIRST    PUBLISHED    IN 

THE    ROCK    RIVER    VALLEY ROCK    ISLAND   BANNER    AND    STEPHENSON    GAZETTE 

THE  UPPER  MISSISSIPPIAN  AND  ADVERTISER — THE  ROCK  ISLAND  ARGUS  AND  UNION 
SWEDISH-AMERICAN  NEWSPAPERS — ORGANS  OF  THE  SECRET  SOCIETIES  AND  IN- 
DUSTRIES  THE  MOLINE  DISPATCH GAZETTE  VAN  MOLINE,  UNIQUE  FOREIGN  PUB- 
LICATION  PORT   BYRON    PUBLICATIONS,   PAST   AND   PRESENT. 

The  newspapers  and  other  periodicals  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  broadly 
range  from  the  political,  thoughtful  and  even  cultured  press  of  Madison, 
Beloit  and  Rockford,  stressed  by  university  and  collegiate  influences,  to  the 
journalistic  representatives  of  the  industrial  and  workingmen's  classes  of  Rock 
Island  and  the  Mississippi  region.  Winnebago  County,  in  its  eruptions  of  ink 
and  paper,  covers  both  the  broadcloth  of  the  scholar  and  the  jumper  of  the 

340 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  341 

industrial,  while  the  sections  of  the  Valley  stretching:  toward  the  Mississippi 
support  many  newspapers  of  substance  and  merit  which  are  fine  specimens 
of  "country  journalism";  and  there  is  no  branch  of  newspaperdom  which 
calls  for  more  tact,  ability  and  perseverance,  than  that  planted  and  nourished 
in  the  rural  soil. 

THE  WISCONSIN  ENQUIRER,  MADISON 'S  FIRST   NEWSPAPER 

Tn  Madison,  the  seat  of  Wisconsin's  capital  and  University,  was  planted 
some  of  the  earliest  and  most  vigorous  newspapers  of  the  Territory  and  State. 
The  first  to  be  established  there  was  the  Wisconsin  Enquirer,  the  founder  of 
which  was  Josiah  A.  Noonan,  afterward  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  eccentric 
democratic  politicians  in  Milwaukee.  He  had  bought  a  crude  press  and  print- 
ing material  in  Buffalo  and  arranged  to  ship  them  to  Madison  by  way  of  Green 
Hay;  thence  up  the  Fox  River  on  barges  to  Fort  Winnebago  and  from  that 
point  overland  to  the  capital.  The  bill  of  shipment  came,  but  weeks  passed 
and  no  press  or  printing  material  followed.  Then  Mr.  Noonan  engaged  George 
Hyer  to  mount  a  pony,  start  for  Fort  Winnebago  and  endeavor  to  trace  the 
missing  shipment.  There  was  no  road  to  cover  the  forty  miles  between  Madi- 
son and  Fort  Winnebago,  but  Mr.  Hyer  reached  his  destination  (as  the  pioneers 
had  the  habit  of  doing  in  those  days)  and  learned  that,  during  a  storm  in 
Lake  Huron  off  Mackinaw,  Noonan 's  press  and  material  had  to  be  thrown 
overboard  to  lighten  the  laboring  boat.  So  back  to  Madison  and  Mr.  Noonan, 
Hyer  went,  and  informed  the  waiting  journalist  of  the  calamity.  Thereupon, 
Xoonan  bought  the  Racine  Argus  and  transferred  it  to  Madison,  with  its  hand 
press  and  font  of  type,  and  Hyer  became  his  printer  and  pressman  and  general 
Utility  man.  He  struck  off  the  first  number  of  the  Wisconsin  Enquirer  on 
the  8th  of  November,  1838,  and  he  was  soon  up  to  his  neck  in  work  printing 
hills,  reports,  journals  of  the  General  Assembly  and  revisions  of  the  laws.  In 
July,  1840,  C.  C.  Sholes,  of  Kenosha,  became  joint  proprietor  of  the  Enquirer 
with  Mr.  Xoonan,  the  latter  retiring  from  the  paper  in  December,  1840.  Both 
Mr.  Xoonan  and  Mr.  Sholes  afterward  moved  to  Milwaukee,  where  the  former 
was  long  postmaster  of  the  Cream  City.  Mr.  Sholes  was  connected  with  the 
City  Administration,  but  became  best  known  as  the  inventor  of  the  typewriter, 
which  the  Remingtons  finally  took  over  and  from  which  they  realized  a  fortune. 
George  Hyer  became  proprietor  of  the  Wisconsin  Enquirer  after  Mr.  Sholes 
left  it,  and  is  considered  its  real  founder. 

OLDEST   NEWSPAPER   IN    ROCK   RIVER   VALLEY 

The  Madison  Express  was  the  second  newspaper  to  issue  from  Madison, 
which  has  endured  to  the  present  and  which  is  the  oldest  periodical  in  the 
Rock  River  Valley,  as  it  was  the  predecessor  of  the  Wisconsin  State  Journal. 
The  Express  was  first  issued  December  25,  1839,  by  William  W.  Wyman.  It 
was  published  as  a  whig  paper  until  May,  1848.  It  then  suspended  for  a  few 
months,  when  (in  October,  1848)  David  Atwood  and  Royal  Buck  purchased 
the  Express  and  continued  its  publication.  In  1850,  the  Wisconsin  States- 
man, a  whig  publication,  was  started  in  Madison,  later  the  Palladium  appeared, 


342  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

and  in   September,  1852,  they  were  consolidated  with  the   Express,   and  Mr. 
Atwood  founded  the  Wisconsin  State  Journal  as  the  result. 

DAVID   ATWOOD 

For  years  afterward,  David  Atwood  remained  at  the  helm  of  the  Journal 
and  made  it  one  of  the  most  influential  newspapers  in  "Wisconsin  and  the 
Northwest.  During  the  late  period  of  his  life,  both  in  appearance  and  in  fact, 
Mr.  Atwood  held  the  uncontested  position  of  the  beloved  patriarch  of  the 
Wisconsin  press.  Under  him,  Reuben  G.  Thwaites  rose  into  literary  notice 
and  esteem,  his  record  as  secretary  of  the  Wisconsin  State  Historical  Society 
earning  him  a  national  prominence. 

OTHER    MADISON   NEWSPAPERS 

The  Wisconsin  Argus  was  started  in  Madison  in  April,  1844,  and  the 
Wisconsin  Democrat  in  January,  1846.  They  were  consolidated  in  June,  1852, 
and  conducted  by  Beriah  and  S.  D.  Carpenter  until  1859.  In  the  same  year 
the  Argus  and  Democrat  was  revived  by  E.  A.  Calkins  &  Company,  who  in 
1864  sold  the  plant  to  the  State  Journal.  Mr.  Calkins  afterward  moved  to 
Milwaukee  and  as  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  News  made  a  brilliant  record 
as  a  democratic  newspaper  man. 

The  Wisconsin  Staats  Zeitung,  a  widely  known  German  weekly,  was  first 
issued  from  Madison  in  December,   1878. 

Besides  the  Wisconsin  State  Journal,  there  are  several  Madison  publica- 
tions established  at  an  early  day,  such  as  the  Wisconsin  Farmer,  founded  in 
1848,  and  the  Wisconsin  Journal  of  Education,  established  in  1854. 

THE    JANESVILLE    GAZETTE 

Janesville  and  Beloit  entered  the  journalistic  field  at  an  early  day.  The 
first  number  of  the  Janesville  Gazette  was  issued  by  Alden  &  Stoddard  on 
August  14,  1845.  It  flew  the  whig  flag  and  afterward  the  republican,  and 
has  never  lowered  those  colors  in  the  prosecution  of  its  editorial  policies.  Mr. 
Alden  a  few  years  afterward  became  sole  proprietor  of  the  Gazette,  Mr.  Stod- 
dard moving  to  Iowa,  where  he  died  in  1857.  The  morning  edition  was  first 
issued  in  1854.  In  1864,  A.  M.  Thomson  and  W.  G.  Roberts  became  identified 
with  the  Gazette,  and  afterward  became  prominent  in  the  newspaperdom  of 
Milwaukee,  being  identified  with  the  Sentinel  in  their  business  and  editorial 
connections  for  many  years.  In  1870,  General  James  Bintliff  headed  the  affairs 
of  the  Janesville  Gazette  and  materially  added  to  its  standing. 

The  Rock  County  Recorder  was  established  in  1869,  had  a  daily  in  opera- 
tion in  1878,  but  eventually  fell  by  the  wayside. 

THE   BELOIT   FREE   PRESS    AND   ROUND   TABLE 

Beloit  had  a  number  of  newspapers  which  arose  early,  flourished  with  more 
or  less  vigor,  and  died.     The  Messenger,  the  first  to  be  born  and  the  first  to 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  343 

die,  was  founded  by  Cooley  &  Civer,  in  September,  1846.  The  Beloit  Journal 
was  allotted  a  longer  life.  It  was  established  by  Stokes  &  Briggs,  as  a  whig 
newspaper,  in  June,  1848,  and  was  finally  absorbed  by  the  Beloit  Free  Press, 
which  had  been  started  by  Chambers  Ingersoll  in  February,  1866.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1853,  Beloit  College  issued  the  first  number  of  its  monthly  publication 
now  known  as  the  Round  Table.  There  have  been  many  mergings  to  form 
this  representative  college  journal,  which  is  now  one  of  the  oldest  periodicals 
of  its  kind  in  the  Northwest. 

THE  WATERTOWN   RECORDER 

The  citizens  of  Watertown  had  the  honor  of  issuing  some  of  the  pioneer 
newspapers  of  the  Rock  River  Valley ;  especially  were  the  Germans  of  that 
place  active  in  establishing  publications  of  their  race.  Early  in  April,  1846, 
J.  A.  Hadley  bought  some  type  from  Orasmus  Turner,  editor  and  proprietor 
of  the  Niagara  Democrat,  published  in  Lockport,  N.  Y.  He  also  picked  up 
scraps  of  a  newspaper  outfit  at  Rochester,  and  in  the  spring  of  the  following 
year  collected  all  his  material  and,  with  his  family,  started  for  the  raw  settle- 
ment in  the  wilds  of  the  Rock  River.  At  that  time,  the  site  of  Watertown 
was  studded  with  stumps  and  the  mud  in  its  undefined  streets  was  knee-deep. 
Mrs.  Hadley  told  her  newspaper  husband  that  he  was  crazy  to  think  of  estab- 
lishing any  kind  of  an  institution  in  such  a  place;  but  Mr.  Hadley  was  of 
another  mind,  went  right  ahead  and  on  June  23,  1847,  issued  the  first  number 
of  the  Watertown  Recorder,  which,  for  some  years  monopolized  the  local  field. 
Its  first  daily  appeared  in  September,  1855. 

CARL    SCHURZ    ENTERS    JOURNALISM 

From  Watertown  went  forth  a  number  of  German  editors,  who  afterward 
made  reputations  of  national  scope  and  one,  at  least,  became  one  of  the  great 
public  men  of  the  United  States.  The  Anzeiger  was  established  at  Watertown 
in  the  summer  of  1853  by  several  men  formerly  connected  with  the  Milwaukee 
Banner.  Emil  Rothe  was  its  first  editor  and  in  1857,  when  the  proprietor  of 
the  Anzeiger  became  dissatisfied  with  his  work,  the  position  was  offered  to 
Carl  Schurz.  He  was  then  a  resident  of  Watertown,  a  highly  educated  young 
man  of  such  liberal  political  views  that  he  had  been  obliged  to  leave  Germany 
a  few  years  before.  Schurz  gravitated  to  Watertown,  where  so  many  of  his 
countrymen  were  enrolling  themselves  as  American  republicans,  and  there  com- 
menced his  long  and  distinguished  career  in  journalism  and  politics.  Young 
Schurz  remained  with  the  Anzeiger  but  a  short  time,  as  its  political  views  were 
not  flexible  enough  to  suit  him.  The  Anzeiger  was  succeeded  by  the  Welt- 
burger,  which  absorbed  it  and  continues  to  this  day. 

In  the  meantime  (September,  1857),  Der  Volkszeitung  had  been  founded 
and  induced  Carl  Schurz  and  Herman  Von  Linderman  to  join  it.  It  was 
radically  republican,  but  suspended  soon  after  the  presidential  election  of  1860. 
Both  Schurz  and  Linderman  then  went  to  St.  Louis  and  joined  the  Westliche 
Post.  Schurz,  however,  was  to  outgrow  the  German  type  of  character.  As 
a  large  figure  in  the  Civil  war,  a  United  States  senator,  secretary  of  the  interior 


344  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

and  a  leader  in  New  York  journalism,  he  became  one  of  the  greatest  German- 
Americans  of  his  time.  Watertown  therefore  feels  proud  to  have  sent  forth 
from  its  newspaper  press  Carl  Schurz,  the  brave,  able  and  polished  man  of 
German  birth  and  true  American  spirit. 

GEORGE  W.  PECK,  ONCE  CONNECTED  WITH  THE  JEFFERSON  COUNTY  REPUBLICAN 

Jefferson,  the  seat  of  justice  of  Jefferson  County,  established  several  news- 
papers in  the  '50s.  The  Jeffersonian,  founded  in  1851,  lasted  about  ten  years; 
the  Republican,  established  in  1856,  had  a  very  brief  existence.  The  Jefferson 
County  Republican  was  founded  in  1858,  and  George  W.  Peck,  famous  humor- 
ist of  Milwaukee  and  subsequently  governor  of  the  State,  once  had  an  editorial 
connection  with  it.  The  Republican  was  rechristened  the  Jefferson  Banner 
in  1860. 

FIRST  TEMPERANCE  PAPER  PUBLISHED  IN  WISCONSIN 

The  press  of  Fort  Atkinson  is  chiefly  noted  as  having  produced  one  of 
the  first  temperance  papers  published  in  "Wisconsin.  In  the  early  '50s,  Thur- 
low  Weed  Brown,  who  published  and  edited  the  Cayuga  Chief,  a  temperance 
paper  at  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  visited  Chicago  to  attend  a  temperance  convention 
held  in  that  city.  He  passed  several  weeks  in  the  Rock  River  Valley,  being 
especially  taken  with  the  Fort  Atkinson  region.  Having  decided  to  locate 
there,  he  returned,  brought  his  newspaper  outfit  from  Geneva,  and  established 
the  Wisconsin  Chief  at  Fort  Atkinson,  getting  out  its  first  issue  on  October 
15,  1856.  After  his  death,  the  paper  was  published  and  edited  by  his  sister, 
Emma  Brown. 

Farther  up  the  Valley,  at  Beaver  Dam,  several  pioneer  newspapers  had 
been  established.  The  Weekly  Badger  was  first  issued  by  A.  G.  Hoag  in 
September,  1848,  but  the  presswork  and  a  portion  of  the  typesetting  were  done 
by  the  Watertown  Chronicle.  The  Beaver  Dam  paper  was  a  stanch  Democratic 
organ  and  a  supporter  of  Van  Buren. 

The  Beaver  Dam  Republican  was  also  a  democratic  paper  founded  in  March, 
1853,  and  later  became  the  organ  of  the  new  republican  party,  under  the  pro- 
prietorship of  N.  V.  Chandler.  The  Sentinel  was  afterward  established,  as 
well  as  a  monthly  literary  magazine  called  the  Western  World.  The  con- 
solidation of  these  ventures  brought  out  the  Dodge  County  Citizen  April  18, 
1856.     It  was  a  republican  organ  as  we  define  the  party  term  today. 

The  Horicon  Argus,  founded  in  August,  1854,  was,  before  its  removal  to 
Beaver  Dam,  edited  by  the  eccentric  M.  M.  Pomeroy,  who  afterward  estab- 
lished Pomeroy's  Democrat  at  La  Crosse.  The  Fox  Lake  Times,  and  the  Fox 
Lake  Journal  were  issued  at  about  this  time,  and  the  Waupun  Times  first  ap- 
peared in  1857. 

OTHER  NEWSPAPERS  IN  SOUTHERN   WISCONSIN 

Besides  these  very  early  newspapers  established  in  the  Roek  River  Valley 
of  Wisconsin,  there  are  many  others  of  later  date  and  substantial  status.  The 
record  of  their  establishment,  virtually  up  to  date,  is  as  follows : 


THE  ROCK  BIVEB  \ rALLEY  345 

Dodge  County:  Beaver  Dam  Argus,  I860;  Fox  Lake  Representative,  1866; 
Boricon  Reporter,  1881;  Juneau  Independent,  1893;  Lomira  Review,  1903; 
Mayville  Pioneer,  1876;  Mayville  News,  1892;  Randolph  Advance,  1893;  Reese- 
ville  Review,  1889. 

Jefferson  County:  Fort  Atkinson  Democrat,  1904;  Hoard's  Dairymen, 
1870;  Jefferson  County,  Union,  1870;  Juneau  Independent,  1893;  Lake  Mills 
Leader,  1878;  Palmyra  Enterprise,  1874;  Waterloo  Courier,  1885;  Black  and 
Red  i  Northwestern  College),  Watertown;  Bruder  Botschafter  (German),  Water- 
town,  1866;  Watertown  Gazette,  1879;  Watertown  Times,  1895. 

Rock  County:  Beloit  News,  1885;  Rock  County  Banner,  Clinton,  1888; 
Times-Observer,  Clinton,  1923 ;  Edgerton  Eagle,  1901 ;  Wisconsin  Tobacco  Re- 
porter, Edgerton,  1874;  Evansville  Review,  1866;  Janesville  Independent,  1901; 
Orfordville  Journal,  1908. 

Dane  County:  Cambridge  News,  1885;  Deerfield  News,  1899;  De  Forest 
Times,  1895;  American  Thresh erman,  Madison,  1898;  Banker-Farmer,  Madi- 
son, 1913;  Campaigner  (prohibition),  Madison,  1913;  Capital  Times,  Madison, 
1917:  Cardinal  (collegiate),  1892;  Commerce  Magazine  (course  in  commerce), 
L919;  Country  Magazine  (students  in  College  of  Agriculture),  1905;  La  Fol- 
lette's  Magazine,  Madison,  1909  ;  Monumental  News  (Allied  Arts  Publishing  Com- 
pany i,  Madison,  1889;  Parks,  Cemeteries  and  Lands,  Madison,  1891;  Tractor 
and  Gas  Engine  Review,  Madison,  1908 ;  Wisconsin  Beekeeping,  Madison,  1924 ; 
Wisconsin  Alumni  Magazine,  Madison,  1899;  Wisconsin  Blade  (negro),  1916; 
Wisconsin  Botschafter  (German),  Madison,  1869;  Wisconsin  Congregational 
Church  Life,  1894,  Madison,  1896;  Wisconsin  Engineering  Monthly,  Madison, 
1896;  Wisconsin  Farm  Bureau  News,  Madison,  1922;  Wisconsin  Horticultural 
Monthly,  Madison,  1910;  Wisconsin  Leader  (Non-Partisan  League),  Madison, 
1920 ;  Wisconsin  Literary  Magazine,  Madison,  1903 ;  Wisconsin  Magazine,  Madi- 
son, 1923 ;  Wisconsin  Magazine  of  History,  Madison,  1917 ;  Wisconsin  Octopus 
(students'  humorous  magazine),  Madison,  1920;  Mazomanie  Sickle,  1874;  Mid- 

dleton   Times-Herald,  ;  Journal-Telephone,    Milton   Junction,    1879;   Mor- 

risonville  Tribune,  1903;  Mt.  Horeb  Mail, ;  Mt.  Horeb  Times,  1892;  Oregon 

Observer,  1880;  Waunakee  Tribune,  1911. 

rockford 's  pioneer  newspapers  wrecked 

When  Rockford  was  a  village  of  three  or  four  hundred  inhabitants,  on  the 
5th  of  May,  1840,  its  radical  whigs  welcomed  the  Rock  River  Express,  edited 
by  B.  J.  Gray.  Its  primary  purpose  was  to  promote  the  presidency  of  Wil- 
liam Henry  Harrison,  and  when  its  idol  went  into  the  White  House,  the  whig 
organ  collapsed.  In  the  summer  of  1840,  the  Rockford  Star  twinkled  for  a 
time  in  the  journalistic  heavens.  Its  editor  was  Philander  Knappen,  who 
injudiciously  criticised  the  shooting  of  the  Driscolls  by  a  band  of  enraged 
citizens  for  the  murder  of  John  Campbell,  captain  of  the  "regulators."  Soon 
afterward  the  office  of  the  Star  was  entered,  the  type  scattered  and  the  press 
disabled,  and  Editor  Knappen  so  reduced  to  impotency  that  he  abandoned 
his  newspaper. 

The  Rockford  Pilot  was  erected  on  the  ruins  of  the  Star,  and  was  issued 
and  edited  by  John  A.  Brown,  from  July,  1841,  to  October,  1842.     It   was  a 


346  THE  KOCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

democratic  paper  and  as  the  local  party  went  under  in  the  fall,  including 
the  editor  himself,  who  was  defeated  for  representative  of  the  Legislature,  its 
main  support  failed. 

BIRTH    AND    GROWTH    OF    THE    REGISTER-GAZETTE 

In  February,  1843,  J.  Ambrose  Wight  commenced  the  publication  of  a 
whig  paper  under  the  name  of  the  Winnebago  Forum,  and  it  is  said  that  mate- 
rial from  the  wrecked  Star  was  also  used  in  printing  the  Forum.  The  paper 
was  afterward  christened  the  Rockford  Forum  and  the  Republican.  In  the 
meantime  the  Rockford  Register  had  been  founded  by  E.  C.  Daugherty,  as 
an  anti-slavery  publication.  In  1862  he  purchased  the  Republican  of  the  Blais- 
dell  brothers.  The  Rock  River  Democrat,  which  had  been  founded  in  1852, 
by  Benjamin  Holt,  was  merged  into  the  Register  management  in  1865,  and 
the  consolidated  properties  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  joint  stock  company. 
In  October,  1877,  the  Rockford  Daily  Register  was  started  upon  a  permanent 
basis  by  N.  D.  Wright  and  C.  L.  Miller.  The  Rockford  Gazette,  which  had 
been  founded  as  a  small  advertising  sheet  in  1866,  had  grown  to  a  well  estab- 
lished daily  by  August,  1879,  and  in  January,  1891,  it  was  merged  with  the 
Register  as  the  Register-Gazette.  By  these  consolidations  and  mergings,  brought 
about  by  -energetic  and  wise  management,  the  Register-Gazette  has  reached  a 
high  standing  in  the  newspaper  field  of  the  Rock  River  Valley. 

THE  ROCKFORD  MORNING  STAR  AND  J.   STANLEY  BROWNE 

The  Rockford  Morning  Star  was  the  first  successful  morning  newspaper 
published  in  the  city.  In  the  spring  of  1887,  a  joint  stock  company  was  formed 
for  its  publication  and  the  first  number  issued  on  March  20th.  J.  Stanley 
Browne,  a  New  York  man  of  public  standing,  was  an  editor  of  the  Star  from 
its  inception  until  his  death  in  1915.  The  Republican  was  founded  in  the 
spring  of  1890,  in  1893  a  daily  edition  was  issued  and  in  1896  the  name  of 
the  paper  was  changed  to  the  Republic.  The  Catholic  Monthly  was  established 
in  1909  and  the  Labor  News  in  1913. 

The  Rockford  Furniture  Journal,  which  was  founded  in  1888  and  after- 
ward moved  to  Chicago,  was  the  pioneer  in  the  establishment  of  a  number 
of  trade  and  industrial  publications.  Several  unsuccessful  attempts  have  been 
made  to  supply  the  Swedes  of  Rockford  with  representative  publications.  The 
Svenska  Posten,  founded  in  1889,  is  still  published.  The  Germania,  established 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Germans,  in  1885,  is  also  in  the  field  of  foreign  publications. 

Among  the  outside  newspapers  in  Winnebago  County  are  instanced:  The 
Pecatonica  News,  founded  in  1872 ;  Rockton  Herald,  1875 ;  Winnebago  Reflector, 
1887 ;  Durand  Gazette,  1907. 

HOW  THE  FREEPORT   JOURNAL-STANDARD   CAME  TO  EXIST 

Freeport,  as  one  of  the  most  promising  towns  in  the  Rock  River  Valley, 
enjoyed  an  early  influx  of  newspaper  men.  Its  first  newspaper  was  the  Prairie 
Democrat,  started  in  November,   1847,  by  Thomas  J.   Turner,   to  further  his 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  347 

political  ambitious  as  representative  of  his  congressional  district.  The  Bulletin 
was  born  the  same  year  to  further  the  prospects  of  the  village  itself.  In 
November,  1848,  H.  G.  Grattau  came  from  Janesville,  where  he  had  been  con- 
nected with  the  Gazette,  and  established  a  whig  newspaper  at  Freeport  called 
the  Journal.  Both  the  Bulletin  and  the  Journal  continued  their  journalistic 
lives,  the  former  commencing  to  issue  a  daily  edition  in  September,  1877. 
Then  the  Freeport  Standard  appeared  in  1887,  and  they  all  were  published 
regularly  up  to  the  time  of  their  consolidation  some  years  ago.  The  result 
was  the  Journal-Standard,  a  firmly  established  representative  of  all  phases  of 
the  city's  activities. 

Outside  of  Freeport,  in  Stephenson  County,  are  the  following  publications: 
Star,  Lena,  founded  in  1866;  Courier,  Orangeville,  1884;  News,  Pearl  City, 
1889 ;  Register,  Window,  1896. 

THE   KNODLE    BROTHERS   FOUND    THE   ROCK    RIVER   REGISTER 

From  the  time  that  Mount  Morris  was  foreordained  to  be  a  center  of  educa- 
tion and  intellectual  progress  by  the  establishment  there  of  the  Rock  River 
Seminary,  in  1839-40,  it  required  no  keen  American  prophet  to  foretell  that 
such  soil  would  also  breed  newspaper  adventurers;  and  the  men  who  were 
to  start  the  progeny  were  Marylanders  who  were  forming  the  settlement  around 
the  seminary  which  wras  afterward  to  be  Mount  Morris.  The  story  of  their 
venture  is  told  by  the  Kable  brothers  in  their  history  of  Mount  Morris,  issued 
some  twenty-five  years  ago,  in  these  words :  ' '  The  great  esteem  in  which  all 
educational  interests  were  held  by  the  first  settlers  of  Ogle  County  is  evi- 
denced by  the  fact  that  when  the  country  was  almost  a  wilderness  the  corner 
stone  of  Old  Sandstone,  or  Rock  River  Seminary,  was  laid — on  the  fourth  day 
of  July,  1839.  Consequently,  it  was  generally  thought  in  the  East  that  among 
a  people  so  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  importance  of  educational  advantages, 
a  newspaper  would  find  a  ready  support,  but  this  estimate,  as  the  sequel  will 
show,  proved  a  serious  mistake  to  the  projectors  of  the  first  newspaper  venture 
in  Mount  Morris.  The  principals  in  this  enterprise  were  Jonathan  and  Emanuel 
Knodle,  of  Washington  County,  Md.,  the  former  as  publisher  and  the  latter 
as  editor  of  the  proposed  paper.  These  gentlemen  purchased  the  press  and 
materials  with  which  a  small  paper  entitled  the  Casket  was  printed  at  Boons- 
boro,  Md.,  and  on  the  16th  day  of  July,  1841,  the  former  accompanied  by 
his  family,  with  their  household  goods  and  said  printing  outfit,  set  out  in  wagons 
for  Mount  Morris.  "When  they  arrived  at  Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  finding  their 
loads  too  heavy  to  be  drawn  by  the  teams,  the  press  and  printing  material 
were  shipped  thence  by  boat  around  to  Savanna,  111. 

"In  a  letter  dated  Peoria,  111.,  October  27,  1841,  Emanuel  Knodle  wrote 
to  his  brother  Samuel  in  the  East:  'We  found  it  necessary  to  go  to  St.  Louis 
for  some  type,  rules,  composing  sticks,  etc.  When  I  left  Mount  Morris  on 
the  25th,  we  had  not  yet  heard  of  our  press  and  type,  but  think  that  by  this 
time  they  should  have  come  around  to  Savanna.'  A  later  letter  shows  that 
the  press,  etc.,  were  received  from  Peru,  instead  of  Savanna.  The  water  being 
low  in  the  Mississippi,  the  boats  could  not  ascend  as  far  as  Savanna.  Decem- 
ber 8th  the  outfit  was  moved  into  a  house  built  west  of  the  Seminary  property 


348  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

by  Samuel  McFarland  during  the  spring  previous."  This  house,  representing 
the  first  printing  office  in  Ogle  County,  stood  until  1900.  During  the  re- 
mainder of  December,  1841,  Emanuel  and  Jonathan  Knodle,  and  others,  were 
hard  at  work  sorting  and  cleaning  the  material  after  its  long  journey  by  land 
and  water.  Composition  rollers  had  also  to  be  made  and  many  other  articles 
supplied,  and  to  crown  all  their  difficulties  the  bed  of  the  press  was  broken 
when  the  attempt  was  made  to  put  it  in  place.  The  press  was  known  as  the 
Ramage  and  is  said  to  have  been  nearly  the  style  of  that  used  by  Benjamin 
Franklin  which  is  now  in  the  National  Museum  at  Washington. 

All  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  enterprise  were  at  length  overcome,  and 
on  January  1,  1842,  the  first  number  of  the  Rock  River  Register  was  issued 
from  its  little  frame  office  and  distributed  to  its  patrons.  It  was  a  small  five- 
column  sheet,  printed  one  page  at  a  time  on  a  very  inferior  quality  of  paper. 
Its  motto,  suggested  by  Rev.  T.  S.  Hitt,  was  "We  hope  to  be  recognized  as 
fellow  laborers  in  the  noble  work  of  enlightening  the  human  mind."  During 
the  April  following  its  establishment,  Emanuel  Knodle  died,  and  in  September 
the  Register  was  moved  to  Grand  Detour  because  of  the  poor  mail  service  at 
Mount  Morris.  It  eventually  ceased  publication  after  a  career  of  less  than 
two  years. 

OTHER    NEWSPAPERS    OP    OGLE    COUNTY 

Seven  years  passed  after  the  failure  of  the  Register  before  anyone  had 
sufficient  courage  to  try  another  newspaper  enterprise  in  Ogle  County;  but 
when  J.  Frederick  Grosh  and  Tomlinson  Ankney  brought  from  Rockford  the 
material  by  which  the  defunct  Free  Press  of  that  place  had  been  printed  and 
started  the  Gazette  at  Mount  Morris,  they  set  in  motion  a  continuous  line  of 
newspapers  in  the  county.  Professor  D.  J.  Pinckney  was  the  editor  of  the 
Mount  Morris  Gazette,  the  first  number  of  which  was  issued  in  March,  1850. 
It  was  moved  to  Oregon  within  a  year,  reissued  as  the  Ogle  County  Gazette, 
afterward  returned  to  Mount  Morris  and  was  finally  moved  to  Savanna. 

The  Northwestern  Republican,  started  in  1856  under  the  management  of 
Samuel  Knodle,  became  the  Independent  Watchman  and  passed  through  other 
transformations  before  it  reappeared  at  Polo,  during  the  first  year  of  the  Civil 
war,  as  the  Ogle  County  Press.  Then  Mr.  Knodle  conducted  a  growing  job 
printing  office  at  Mount  Morris  which  well  advertised  the  town,  and  in  1876 
founded  the  Independent,  which  was  sold  in  the  following  year  to  John  Sharer, 
who  changed  its  name  to  the  Ogle  County  Democrat.  Within  the  following 
decade,  it  was  established  under  another  name  at  Oregon.  Finally,  the  entire 
outfit  was  brought  back  to  Mount  Morris  by  Mr.  Sharer  and  sold  to  Charles 
T.  Coggins,  who,  in  July,  1890,  founded  the  Index — still  a  live  publication. 
It  was  made  a  pronounced  success  by  H.  J.  and  H.  G.  Kable,  who  obtained 
possession  of  the  plant  in  1898. 

PRINTING    AND  PUBLISHING   HOUSE   OF   THE   KABLE  BROTHERS 

Harry  G.  and  Harvey  J.  Kable  are  twin  brothers,  natives  of  Carroll  County, 
111.,  and  immediately  after  graduating  from  Mount  Morris  College  bought  the 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  349 

Index,  placed  it  on  its  feet,  and  then  established  one  of  the  largest  printing 
and  publication  houses  in  Northern  Illinois.  A.  H.  Rittenhouse  was  orig- 
inally in  partnership  with  the  Kable  Brothers  Company.  The  numerous  period- 
icals issued  by  this  house  have  given  Mount  Morris  a  prominent  standing  as 
a  printing  and  publishing  center.  Among  others  may  be  noted:  The  Mystic 
Worker,  1896;  Official  Commercial  Travelers  Guide,  1916;  Post  Office  Clerk, 
1901;  Poultry  Tribune,  1895;  Pythian  Guest  (Pythian  Sisters),  1889;  and 
Woodman  Recorder,  1906.  There  are  other  publications  put  forth  from  the 
house  of  the  Kable  Brothers,  with  imprints  giving  Chicago,  Cleveland,  Detroit, 
South  Bend  and  Omaha  as  cities  of  publication. 

NEWSPAPERS  OF  POLO,  OREGON  AND  ROCHELLE 

Polo  established  its  first  newspaper  in  the  spring  of  1857,  under  the  name 
of  the  Transcript,  and  in  May  of  the  following  year  Henry  R.  Boss  took  what 
was  left  of  its  plant  to  get  out  the  first  number  of  the  Advertiser.  Mr.  Boss 
made  a  good  paper  of  the  Advertiser,  but  sold  out  in  December,  1860,  and 
moved  to  Chicago,  where  for  a  number  of  years  he  was  employed  by  the  Tribune. 
The  Advertiser  is  claimed  as  the  progenitor  of  Polo's  Tri-County  Press.  Its 
youngest  newspaper  is  the  Ogle  County  Farmer,  which  was  born  in  1922. 

When  the  Mount  Morris  Gazette  temporarily  suspended  in  the  spring  of 
1851,  the  plant,  or  rather  printing  material,  was  purchased  by  R.  C.  Burchell, 
of  Oregon.  He  brought  it  to  that  place  and  established  the  Ogle  County  Gazette, 
afterward  the  Reporter,  which  still  exists.  The  Reporter  was  at  first  neutral 
in  politics,  but  in  1856  it  supported  the  newly  organized  republican  party 
and  since  then  has  never  deviated  from  its  allegiance.  The  newspaper  out  of 
which  has  grown  the  Ogle  County  Republican  originated  with  B.  B.  Bemis, 
by  whom  it  was  issued  as  the  Ogle  County  Local.  In  1894  it  became  the  Local 
Advocate  and  shortly  afterward  the  Republican. 

R.  P.  Lane,  a  Rockford  capitalist,  gave  his  name  to  the  town  which  pre- 
ceded Rochelle,  and  the  early  newspapers  of  the  place  were  christened  accord- 
ingly. The  Lane  Leader  was  first  issued  in  the  fall  of  1858  and  the  Lane 
Patriot  three  years  later.  Professor  James  A.  Butterfield,  editor  of  the  latter, 
was  a  musician  of  some  note  and  wrote  a  number  of  popular  songs.  "When 
You  and  I  Were  Young,  Maggie,''  was  his  greatest  hit  as  a  song  writer.  In 
July,  1863,  the  Lane  Register  was  first  issued  by  E.  L.  Otis,  who  had  moved 
from  Rockford  for  that  purpose.  When  the  name  of  the  village  was  changed 
in  186",  it  became  the  Rochelle  Register,  under  which  style  it  has  since  been 
published.  It  has  generally  been  republican  in  politics.  In  December,  1897, 
diaries  A.  and  Fred  E.  Lux  founded  the  Rochelle  Independent.  The  News 
was  established  in  1921. 

The  Forreston  Journal  began  its  publication  in  April,  1867,  and  the  Herald 
was  started  in  1878.  The  latter  was  afterward  moved  to  Mount  Morris,  where 
it  was  published  by  the  Kable  Brothers  Company  under  the  style  of  the  Ogle 
County  Review -Herald.  The  Byron  Express  was  founded  in  1878  by  Ervin 
&  Hewitt.  Besides  being  a  thorough  local  paper,  it  publishes  two  editions  in 
neighboring  towns — the  Mirror,  at  Leaf  River,  and  the  Graphic,  at  Stillman 
Vallev. 


350  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

THE    PRESS    OF    BELVIDERE 

The  first  Belvidere  Republican  (Whig)  Avas  commenced  in  1847  by  J.  W. 
Snow,  who  brought  press  and  type  from  Woodstock,  McHenry  County.  It 
lived  until  1849,  when  it  succumbed  to  fast  accumulating  debts,  like  most 
ventures  of  the  sort.  Whereupon  an  old-time  writer  of  Boone  County  com- 
ments :  "  It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  more  money  and  time  are  lost  in  the 
attempt  to  establish  newspapers  in  new  country  towns  than  in  almost  any 
other  undertaking.  And  this  in  face  of  the  fact  that  no  other  agency  can  be 
made  so  useful  in  presenting  the  advantages,  or  made  so  potent  in  advancing 
local  interests,  as  a  well  conducted  newspaper."  Then,  almost  pathetically: 
"But  we  are  writing  history.  The  last  number  of  the  Republican  was  printed 
on  brown  paper." 

The  Republican  was  succeeded  by  the  Belvidere  Standard  in  1851,  and  its 
manager  and  proprietor,  Ralph  Roberts,  became  one  of  the  leading  republicans 
of  the  State.  During  the  following  sixteen  years  other  newspaper  ventures 
were  launched  and  sunk,  the  Standard  being  by  far  the  most  substantial,  and 
in  the  '70s  being  considered  one  of  the  most  influential  journals  in  Northern 
Illinois.  The  Northwestern  was  commenced  in  January,  1867,  by  E.  H.  Talbot, 
and  in  1870  was  purchased  by  R.  W.  Coon.  In  1892,  the  second  Belvidere 
Republican  was  established  and  is  still  alive  and  flourishing.  It  is  an  evening 
daily  (except  Sunday)  and  its  weekly  edition  is  the  old  Northwestern.  The 
Republican  is  the  only  daily  newspaper  published  in  Boone  County;  in  fact, 
there  is  only  one  paper  published  outside  of  Belvidere,  the  Nutshell,  of  Capron, 
which  has  been  issued  only  since  1921. 

THE  DIXON  TELEGRAPH  AND  OTHER  LEE  COUNTY  PAPERS 

Lee  County  centered  in  Dixon  for  many  years  and  it  is  natural  that  its 
first  newspaper  should  be  issued  from  the  county  seat.  Its  pioneer  was  the 
Dixon  Telegraph  and  Lee  County  Herald,  with  Charles  R.  Fisk  as  publisher 
and  Benjamin  F.  Shaw,  editor.  Several  generations  of  Shaws  have  since  been 
identified  with  the  Dixon  Telegraph,  as  it  was  subsequently  known.  It  is  now 
issued  every  evening  except  Sunday.  The  Franklin  Reporter  was  started  in 
Franklin  Grove  in  1868.  Paw  Paw  gave  birth  to  a  number  of  newspapers  in 
the  late  '70s.  The  Herald  first  appeared  in  1877,  and  in  March  of  the  fol- 
lowing year  it  was  succeeded  by  the  Lee  County  Times.  Other  papers  were 
started  in  the  late  '70s  and  the  early  '80s,  but  the  Lee  County  Times  was  the 
only  one  which  had  the  preservative  and  staying  qualities,  and  is  yet  firmly 
planted.     The  Ashton  Gazette  has  been  published  since  1895. 

WHITESIDE  COUNTY'S  EARLIEST   NEWSPAPERS 

In  the  days  when  Fulton  and  Albany,  above  Rock  Island,  promised  to  be 
booming  river  towns,  and  were  also  looking  eastward  for  railroad  connections 
with  the  Iowa  country  across  the  Mississippi,  those  reckless  newspaper  men, 
as  was  their  custom,  flocked  into  the  borderland  of  what  is  now  Whiteside 
County  in  order  to  be  early  in  the  field.     During  the  early  period  of  1853, 


THE  ROCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  351 

Judge  James  McCoy  and  .John  Phelps  ('(included  that  Fulton  needed  a  news- 
paper, and  in  the  fall  of  the  year  went  to  St.  Louis  and  Galena  and  bought 
a  press  and  type  (hoth  metal  and  wood)  Avith  which  to  start  the  newspaper 
and  a  job  office.  The  press  was  shipped  so  late  in  the  season  that  the  steamer 
which  carried  it  had  to  go  into  winter  quarters  at  Rock  Island,  on  account 
of  the  ice.  It  was  not  until  the  spring  of  1854,  therefore,  that  the  outfit  was  on 
the  ground.  Judge  McCoy  could  expound  law  and  Mr.  Phelps  could  sell 
goods,  but  neither  knew  anything  about  the  practical  work  of  getting  out  a 
newspaper,  of  printing  hand  bills  and  letter  heads.  So  they  imported  A.  Mc- 
Fadden,  a  practical  printer,  from  Freeport,  and  in  May,  1854,  he  put  out 
the  Investigator,  the  first  newspaper  issued  in  Whiteside  County.  It  was  pub- 
lished in  a  two-story  brick  building,  erected  expressly  for  a  printing  office  by 
Messrs.  McCoy  and  Phelps,  and  soon  afterward  Mr.  McFadden  purchased  the 
plant  and  formed  a  partnership  with  G.  A.  Laighton.  Mr.  Laighton  after- 
ward became  postmaster,  gave  his  attention  more  to  politics  than  to  news- 
paper work,  and  the  Investigator  was  suspended  after  a  fitful  career  of  about 
two  years.  In  1859,  G.  J.  Booth  leased  the  sleeping  Investigator,  commenced 
the  publication  of  the  Fulton  Weekly  Courier,  and  in. 1863  changed  the  name 
of  the  paper  to  the  Fulton  Journal,  under  which  style  it  has  been  published 
until  the  present. 

In  July,  1854,  Charles  Boynton  revived  the  Albany  Herald,  a  newspaper 
which  had  been  feebly  struggling  for  several  weeks,  but  though  he  is  said  to 
have  issued  a  creditable  weekly,  he  was  able  to  float  it  only  until  December, 
when  he  moved  his  office  to  Sterling  and  commenced  the  publication  of  the 
Times.  Half  a  dozen  other  unsuccessful  attempts  were  made  to  found  news- 
papers at  Albany.  None  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  a  substantial  enter- 
prise until  the  Review  was  founded  in  1899. 

THE   STERLING   TIMES 

The  first  number  of  Mr.  Boynton 's  Sterling  Times  was  issued  on  the  7th 
of  December,  1854,  and  in  his  salutatory  he  makes  the  following  suggestive 
remarks:  "Our  paper  is  small,  but  it  is  young;  and  if  it  is  so  fortunate  as 
to  meet  with  its  proper  nourishment  we  see  no  reason  why  it  will  not  very 
shortly  be  able  to  stand  in  the  same  crowd  with  its  more  portly  neighbors. 
The  location  is  one  of  the  best,  in  one  of  the  best  counties  in  the  best  State, 
with  immense  undeveloped  agricultural  resources.  "Within  the  range  of  our 
vision  lies  the  dormant  water  power  which  would  put  in  motion  as  many  fac- 
tories as  now  stud  the  Merrimac,  and  a  virgin  soil  that  will  yield  twice  as 
much  as  would  feed  the  operatives.  We  have  waited  long  for  the  slow  and 
gradual  development  of  the  resources  of  this  country;  have  grated  corn  on 
a  lantern  for  our  daily  bread,  and  more  than  once  followed  the  trail  to  the 
Garden  City,  sounding  the  depths  of  every  slough,  and  wading  through  miles 
of  water."  Then  the  country  between  Sterling  and  Chicago  was  as  unsightly 
and  forbidding  as  the  city  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Michigan  which,  like  a  mud 
turtle,  often  struggled  to  get  its  head  in  the  sunshine. 

Under  Mr.  Boynton,  the  Times  was  neutral  in  politics,  but  under  the  other 
proprietors  who  succeeded  him  its  creed  and  policies  radically  changed. 


352  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

THE  STERLING  GAZETTE 

In  the  winter  of  1857-58,  H.  G.  Grattan,  who  had  previously  purchased 
the  press  and  material  of  the  defunct  Times,  started  the  Sterling  Gazette.  He 
afterward  formed  a  partnership  with  William  Caffrey,  who  during  the  previous 
year  had  commenced  the  publication  of  the  Republican  for  the  special  purpose 
of  advocating  the  election  of  John  C.  Fremont  to  the  presidency.  The  con- 
solidated name  of  Republican  and  Gazette  continued  for  but  a  short  time  and, 
Mr.  Grattan  having  previously  withdrawn  from  the  firm,  Mr.  Caffrey  continued 
the  publication  of  the  Sterling  Gazette,  the  Republican  having  been  dropped 
from  the  title  of  the  paper.  There  were  other  journalistic  ventures,  such  as 
the  Whiteside  Chronicle  in  1868  and  the  Sterling  Clear  Grit  in  1877,  but  the 
Gazette  is  the  one  which  has  endured.  It  is  now  an  evening  paper,  published 
daily  except  Sunday. 

THE    WHITESIDE    SENTINEL    AND    CHARLES    BENT 

The  City  of  Morrison  and  a  large  tributary  country  are  warmly  support- 
ing what  has  long  ago  ceased  to  be  an  "enterprise";  for  The  Sentinel  has 
been  firmly  established  these  many  years  faithfully  conserving  the  interests  of 
the  region  roundabout.  In  1857,  the  new  town  of  Morrison,  which  had  been 
located  with  the  coming  of  the  railroad  in  the  fall  of  1855,  was  beginning  to 
develop  and  began  to  look  around  for  the  inevitable  newspaper.  Its  anxious 
citizens  had  not  long  to  wait,  for  their  invitation  to  Alfred  McFadden,  who 
was  then  editing  the  Fulton  Investigator,  to  try  his  fortunes  with  an  interior 
community,  was  accepted,  and  on  the  23rd  of  July,  1857,  backed  by  the  finan- 
cial support  and  good  will  of  the  community,  the  newspaper  man  from  Fulton 
issued  the  first  number  of  the  Whiteside  Sentinel,  a  six-column  four-page  pub- 
lication. With  the  exception  of  one  year,  Mr.  McFadden  continued  its  publica- 
tion for  a  decade.  In  July,  1867,  the  Sentinel  was  purchased  by  Charles  Bent 
and  Maurice  Savage,  who  published  it  until  May,  1870,  when  Mr.  Bent  be- 
came its  sole  proprietor.  Mr.  Bent  became  identified  with  the  Whiteside  Sentinel 
the  year  after  he  was  mustered  out  of  military  service  as  a  lieutenant  in  the 
147th  Illinois  Infantry,  which  was  one  of  the  last  in  the  State  to  be  disbanded. 
For  about  eighteen  months  in  1877-79,  while  he  was  engaged  in  the  prepara- 
tion and  publication  of  a  History  of  Whiteside  County,  the  Sentinel  was  con- 
ducted by  Robert  W.  Welch,  of  New  York,  but  at  the  conclusion  of  that  period 
he  repurchased  the  paper.  Since  that  time  the  Whiteside  Sentinel  has  been 
continuously  owned  and  conducted  either  by  Mr.  Bent,  or  his  son,  Charles 
Bent,  Jr.,  the  latter  having  sole  charge  of  it  during  the  absence  of  the  father 
as  United  States  pension  agent  at  Chicago,  and  for  a  number  of  years  past. 
The  senior  editor  and  proprietor  is  living  in  partial  retirement  from  the  active 
labors  of  his  profession,  and  the  editors  and  publishers  of  this  work  have  been 
fortunate  in  securing  his  cooperation  as  an  adviser  of  long  and  honored  resi- 
dence in  the  lower  Rock  River  Valley. 

The  standing  of  Whiteside  County  as  an  agricultural  section  of  the  State 
is  emphasized  by  the  founding  of  a  periodical  devoted  to  such  interests  called 
the  Whiteside  County  Farmer,  first  issued  in  1921. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  353 

THE    TAMPICO    TORNADO 

A  few  miles  east  of  Prophetstown  and  southeast  of  the  Rock  River  is  the 
little  village  of  Tampieo.  Fire  and  flood  have  tried  in  vain  to  wipe  out  the 
town,  but  it  has  risen  above  them  both.  Hardly  had  the  railroad  reached  the  few 
buildings  known  as  Tampieo  post  office  before  its  hotel  and  another  structure 
were  burned,  and  two  years  afterward  the  flames  swept  over  most  of  its  en- 
larged site.  A  few  months  later,  in  June,  1874,  a  tornado  swept  over  Tampieo 
leaving  scarcely  anything  behind  except  ruin  and  maimed  people  of  the  vil- 
lage. The  outside  territory  was  virtually  untouched.  Nearly  two  years  later, 
Messrs.  Hill  &  Gifford,  gave  the  plucky  Tampieo  a  newspaper.  They  called 
it  the  Tampieo  Tornado.  Although  they  printed  it  in  Prophetstown,  they 
were  not  to  entirely  escape  the  scourge  that  seemed  to  pursue  the  town  of  their 
rhoice;  for  two  weeks  after  the  first  number  of  the  Tornado  had  been  issued 
a  fire  again  swept  through  the  business  portion  of  Tampieo  and  burned  every- 
thing in  the  newspaper  office.  But  neither  the  town  nor  the  newspaper  could 
be  squelched,  and  the  Tornado  has  been  published  since  about  1877  in  the 
village  of  Tampieo. 

Prophetstown  has  been  the  field  of  considerable  newspaper  tillage.  Im- 
mediately after  the  railroad  had  been  completed  to  that  point,  the  settlers 
around  the  station  had  invited  A.  D.  Hill  and  Charles  Bent  to  establish  a 
newspaper  in  their  midst.  After  receiving  some  aid  from  the  citizens,  these 
gentlemen  did  as  they  were  asked  and  on  the  2d  of  September,  1871,  issued 
the  first  number  of  the  Prophetstown  Spike.  At  the  end  of  the  year  Mr.  Hill 
h'vame  sole  proprietor,  conducted  it  altogether  for  about  twelve  years  and 
made  a  good  local  newspaper  of  it.  Its  successor  was  the  Echo,  established 
by  William  Wilson  in  1892,  and  still  in  the  land  of  living  newspapers. 

KEWANEE   NEWSPAPERS    AND    THE   STAR-COURIER 

Henry  County,  naturally  bound  to  the  lower  Rock  River  Valley  by  the 
Green  River  and  artificially  by  a  thick  network  of  rails,  has  always  been  fa- 
vorite soil  for  the  expansion  of  the  Third  Estate.  The  Dial  was  its  first  news- 
paper and  was  originally  issued  from  Kewanee,  the  year  after  it  was  platted, 
to  advertise  this  station  on  the  Military  Tract  Railroad.  J.  H.  Howe  was  its 
first  editor.  It  was  soon  afterward  purchased  by  C.  Bassett,  who  figured  prom- 
inently in  local  journalism.  In  1870,  he  bought  the  Kewanee  Radical  and 
started  the  Advertiser,   subsequently,  the  Independent. 

The  Kewanee  Courier  was  established  in  March,  1876,  by  C.  N.  Whitney, 
who  brought  an  outfit  from  Princeton,  Bureau  County.  The  Star-Courier, 
of  which  Mr.  Whitney's  publication  was  the  originator,  was  first  issued  as  a 
daily  (evening  paper,  except  Sunday)  in  1894.  Leo  H.  Lowe,  who  is  both 
editor  and  proprietor  of  the  daily  and  the  weekly  Star-Courier,  is  one  of  the 
veteran  newspaper  men  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  and  is  a  valued  cooperator 
on  our  Reference  and  Advisory  Board.  Of  late  years,  it  has  become  more  and 
more  evident  that  the  expanding  industrial  classes  should  have  a  mouthpiece 
to  expound  and  exploit  their  interests,  and  in  1920  this  need  was  met  by  the 
establishment  of  the  Kewanee  Labor  Bulletin. 


354  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

THE   GENESEO    REPUBLICAN    AND    CAMBRIDGE   CHRONICLE 

Outside  of  Kewanee,  those  old  ambitious  rivals  for  the  county  seat,  soon 
after  the  Dial  was  hung  before  the  public,  brought  to  bear  the  artillery  of 
type  upon  the  questions  which  agitated  the  people  of  the  early  days.  In  1856, 
the  Geneseo  Republican  was  established,  and  the  Cambridge  Chronicle  followed 
closely  in  its  wake  some  time  during  1858.  Despite  their  age,  they  are  still 
good  local  representatives  of  newspaperdom.  After  them,  in  other  sections 
of  Henry  County,  came  these,  in  succession :  Orion  Times,  1877 ;  Woodhull 
Dispatch  and  Galva  News,  1879 ;  Alpha  Advance,  1902 ;  Atkinson  News,  1914. 

ROCK    ISLAND    NEWSPAPERS,    PIONEERS    OF    THE    VALLEY 

Rock  Island  gave  birth  to  the  first  newspapers  published  in  the  Rock  River 
Valley.  The  Rock  Island  Banner  and  Stephenson  Gazette  was  issued  from 
a  little  office  near  the  ferry  landing  by  a  young  Irish  printer,  who  had  come 
from  Paoli,  Ind.,  where  his  father  had  been  waving  the  Torch  Light.  At  the 
time  that  Henry  C  McGrew  set  up  his  newspaper  plant  in  Rock  Island,  he 
had  no  competitor  nearer  than  Galena,  Peoria  and  Springfield.  The  Rock 
Island  Valley  was  clear  of  the  smell  of  printer's  ink  in  1839,  when  young 
McGrew  unfurled  his  Banner.  At  first  he  conducted  a  neutral  paper,  and 
made  the  mistake  of  taking  his  stand  as  a  democrat  in  a  whig  community 
right  in  the  heat  of  the  political  campaign  of  1840.  The  paper  did  not  long 
survive  the  storm  of  opposition  which  assailed  it,  and  in  the  fall  of  1841  Mr. 
McGrew  moved  his  concern  to  Galena  and  commenced  the  publication  of  the 
Sentinel. 

The  Upper  Mississippian  commenced  to  replace  the  Banner  and  Gazette, 
in  the  fall  of  1840,  as  it  was  frankly  whig  and  was  published  simultaneously 
in  Stephenson,  Rock  Island  County,  111.,  and  Davenport,  Scott  County,  Iowa 
Territory.  Daniel  Crist  appears  to  have  been  first  responsible  for  it,  with  John 
G.  Powars  as  its  financial  backer.  In  1844,  after  suffering  some  reverses,  it 
was  taken  over  by  Harmon  G.  Reynolds,  who  changed  the  name  to  the  Upper 
Mississippian  and  Rock  Island  Republican  and  its  politics  from  whig  to  demo- 
cratic. Mr.  Reynolds  was  an  able  lawyer  and  afterward  judge  and  postmaster, 
but  could  not  save  his  newspaper  venture  from  the  rocks,  and  it  went  down 
to  the  customary  limbo  of  journalism  in  1847. 

"When  the  Upper  Mississippian  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  democratic 
Reynolds,  the  whigs  again  came  to  the  front  with  a  newspaper  organ,  and  in 
November,  1845,  issued  it  under  the  name  of  the  Northwestern  Advertiser. 
At  the  organization,  of  the  Republican  party  in  1856,  the  Advertiser  came  to 
the  support  of  the  new  political  organization,  but  was  discontinued  in  the 
spring  of  1858. 

COL.    J.   B.   DANFORTH    AND    THE   ROCK   ISLAND   ARGUS   AND   UNION 

The  Democrats  of  the  Rock  Island  region  were  without  a  newspaper  from 
1847  until  1851,  but  in  the  fall  of  the  latter  year  came  Fred  S.  Nichols  and 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  355 

John  W.  Dunham,  from  the  St.  Louis  Intelligencer.  Their  employer  sold  them 
sufficient  second-hand  material  for  the  publication  of  the  Republican,  the  dem- 
ocratic paper  so  craved  by  the  people  of  Rock  Island.  Mr.  Nichols  was  a 
northerner;  Mr.  Dunham,  a  southerner.  Mr.  Nichols  so  harped  upon  Mr.  Dun- 
ham's windy  English  that  there  was  a  split  in  the  partnership.  Mr.  Dunham 
withdrew,  and  in  November,  1852,  J.  B.  Danforth,  Jr.,  bought  a  half  interest 
in  the  Republican,  which  was  soon  increased  to  a  complete  proprietorship. 
In  that  year  he  was  appointed  to  the  military  staff  of  the  governor  of  Illinois, 
and  for  fifty  years  Colonel  Danforth  was  one  of  the  most  notable  editorial 
characters  in  the  Rock  River  Valley.  On  July  13,  1854,  he  established  the 
Daily  Republican,  the  first  daily  newspaper  published  in  the  Valley.  It  was 
launched  as  an  evening  publication,  but  on  December  17,  1855,  was  changed 
to  a  morning  paper.  About  this  time  its  name  was  changed  from  the  Re- 
publican to  the  Rock  Island  Argus.  For  a  time  the  Argus  was  merged  with 
a  paper  known  as  the  Rock  Islander,  and  retained  a  double  head  for  two  years 
while  Colonel  Danforth  was  roaming  the  high  seas  as  a  purser  in  the  United 
States  Navy.  When  he  returned  he  dropped  the  Rock  Islander,  having  resumed 
control  of  the  newspaper. 

In  the  meantime,  Moline  had  found  itself  as  a  newspaper  town.  The  Work- 
man, an  industrial  and  anti-slavery  publication,  was  established  in  August, 
1854.  Robert  H.  Graham  (afterward  Colonel  Graham)  and  Alfred  Webster 
bought  the  paper  in  1857  and  changed  its  name  to  the  Moline  Independent. 
.Mr.  Graham  became  a  leading  local  figure  in  the  Civil  war  and  the  Independent 
fell  to  his  brother-in-law,  J.  A.  Huck,  who  in  October,  1862,  moved  the  paper 
to  Rock  Island.  In  the  following  month,  Mr.  Huck  commenced  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Rock  Island  Weekly  and  Daily  Union. 

As  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  trace  the  beginnings  and  the  broad 
lines  of  newspaper  development  in  the  Rock  River  Valley,  it  is  beyond  its 
aim  to  follow  in  detail  the  development  of  the  Argus  and  the  Union  until  they 
were  consolidated.  The  Argus  and  Union  is  now  the  leading  publication  in 
the  lower  Rock  River  Valley. 

SWEDISH-AMERICAN   NEWSPAPERS 

The  strength  of  the  Swedish-Americans  in  Rock  Island  County  is  well 
shown  in  the  number  and  substantial  support  of  their  periodicals.  The  Au- 
gustana, the  organ  of  the  Swedish  Lutheran  Synod,  was  founded  as  early  as 
1855;  the  Lutheran  Companion  was  established  in  1892;  the  Augustana  Observer, 
the  magazine  of  the  Augustana  College,  in  1902,  and  the  Missions  Tiding, 
issued  in  Swedish  and  English,  by  the  Woman's  Missionary  Society  of  the 
synod,  in  1906.  A  number  of  the  secret  and  benevolent  societies  also  have 
flourishing  publishing  houses  in  Rock  Island;  among  others,  the  Royal  Neigh- 
bors, established  in  1898,  and  the  Modern  Woodmen,  in  1883.  In  1910,  the 
Tri-City  Labor  Review  was  first  issued  from  the  Industrial  Home  at  Rock 
Island.  It  supplanted  the  Tri-City  Unionist,  which  was  a  monthly  published 
in  Davenport,  Iowa,  and  represents  the  allied  union  trades  of  Rock  Island, 
Moline  and  Davenport. 

Vol.  1—28 


356  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

THE    MOLINE    DISPATCH 

The  Moline  Dispatch  of  the  present  day  had  its  origin  in  the  Review,  estab- 
lished in  November,  1870.  It  labored  along  under  changing  management  until 
B.  F.  Tillinghast  obtained  possession  of  it  in  May,  1872,  and  it  was  largely 
through  his  executive  and  editorial  ability  that  the  paper  was  placed  strongly 
upon  its  feet.  In  1878,  it  was  consolidated  with  the  Dispatch,  which  had  been 
established  in  July  of  that  year  as  a  daily.  The  Review-Dispatch  was  the 
weekly  edition  of  the  Dispatch  until  1912,  when  it  was  discontinued.  In  July, 
1885,  Dean  Brothers,  proprietors  of  the  Dispatch,  sold  the  newspaper  to  P.  S. 
McGlynn  and  John  K.  Groom.  Mr.  Groom  sold  his  interests  to  W.  F.  East- 
man, who,  at  his  death  in  1909,  had  been  serving  for  three  years  as  postmaster 
of  Moline.  Mr.  Eastman's  interest  in  the  Dispatch  was  purchased  from  the 
estate  in  1912  by  John  Sundine,  who  became  business  manager  of  the  Moline 
Dispatch  Publishing  Company.  Of  late  years,  Mr.  McGlynn  has  been  some- 
what retired  from  the  business  and  editorial  management  of  the  Dispatch, 
but  his  connection  of  forty  years  with  its  progress  has  enrolled  him  among 
the  most  prominent  and  successful  veterans  of  the  profession  in  the  Rock 
River  Valley;  and  he  is  another  of  the  strong  men  identified  with  the  prepara- 
tion of  this  history. 

UNIQUE   MOLINE   WEEKLY 

In  November,  1907,  a  unique  weekly  was  established  in  Moline.  The  Gazette 
van  Moline  is  the  only  newspaper  in  the  United  States  published  in  the  interest 
of  Belgian  and  Dutch  citizens  in  the  Flemish  language,  which  is  understood 
by  both  these  peoples.  It  is  a  general  newspaper  and  independent  politically. 
Connected  with  it  is  also  a  large  job  office. 

PORT  BYRON  PUBLICATIONS 

Port  Byron  was  at  one  time  believed  to  be  a  growing  town  in  Rock  Island 
County,  and  in  1857  a  civil  engineer  started  a  newspaper  at  that  place.  It 
fell  and  the  Times  arose  in  1859,  and  after  the  lapse  of  many  years  (1875* 
the  Port  Byron  Weekly  found  courage  to  lift  its  head.  The  weekly  floundered 
around  politically  and  financially  and  the  Pilot  did  the  same.  The  Port  Byron 
Globe  has  been  making  its  appearance  since  October,  1880.  In  October,  1894, 
the  Press  attempted  to  live  at  Aledo,  but  had  to  be  moved  over  to  Reynolds 
before  it  would  stay  planted;  which  was  in  January,  1896.  Milan  made  four 
attempts  to  establish  newspapers  before  its  current  journal,  the  Independent, 
was  issued  in  May,  1902.  Its  only  other  publication  is  the  Rail  Splitters,  a 
prohibition  monthly,  established  in  1915. 

So  that  Rock  Island  County  may  be  called  a  newspaper  field  of  trials, 
tribulations  and  triumphs,  and  is  fairly  characteristic  of  the  journalistic  at- 
mosphere in  the  Valley  and  in  the  United  States  of  America. 


CUAPTEK  XVI 
THE  VALLEY  IN  FOUR  WARS 

THE     MEXICAN    WAH — ILLINOIS    IN    THE '  CIVIL    WAR — THE    VALLEY    REGIMENTS — THE 

ROCK    RIVER   VALLEY    OF    WISCONSIN THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN    WAR THE   THIRD 

AND  SIXTH  REGIMENTS — ILLINOIS'  PARTICIPATION  IN  THE  WORLD  WAR — THE 
TIllliTY-TIIIRD  DIVISION  AT  THE  FRONT — THE  123RD  HEAVY  FIELD  ARTILLERY — ■ 
THE  SINEWS  OF  WAK — WISCONSIN  ENTERS  THE  WORLD  WAB — THIRTY-SECOND 
DIVISION  AT  THE  FRONT — THE  HOME  DEFENSES — THE  WISCONSIN  STATE  GUARD 
— WAR  FUND  CONTRIBUTIONS^ — THE  COLLEGE  WAR  SPIRIT. 

Although  the  Rock  River  Valley  was  represented  to  some  extent  in  the  four 
regiments  and  independent  companies  of  the  Illinois  Mounted  Volunteers  which 
participated  in  the  .Mexican  war  of  1846-48,  the  enlistments  were  so  scattered  as 
to  be  hardly  worthy  of  note.  The  strength  of  the  American  forces  drawn  from 
Illinois  was  largely  dependent  upon  the  older  and  more  populous  counties  farther 
smith  and  east.  Of  course,  many  of  those  who  were  prominent  in  the  Black 
Hawk  war,  like  Taylor  and  Davis,  reappeared  as  leaders  in  the  war  with  Mexico, 
hut  the  Rock  River  Valley  cannot  claim  them  as  residents.  Colonel  John 
Dement,  one  of  the  outstanding  figures  of  the  war  with  Black  Hawk,  was  a 
resident  of  Dixon  and  a  public  office  holder  at  the  time  of  the  Mexican  war. 

THE  MEXICAN  WAR 

War  was  declared  May  13,  1846,  and  less  than  two  weeks  afterward  Gov- 
ernor Thomas  Ford  (whom  the  Rock  River  Valley  does  proudly  claim)  issued 
his  proclamation  calling  for  the  enlistment  of  three  twelve-months  regiments, 
the  assessed  quota  of  the  State.  Alton  was  named  as  the  rendezvous.  A  fourth 
regiment  of  men  enlisted  for  a  year  was  subsequently  added.  Then  followed 
the  fifth  regiment,  known  officially  as  the  First  Regiment  Illinois  Volunteers 
During  the  War,  and  the  sixth  regiment  also  mustered  into  the  service  for  the 
period  of  the  war  as  well  as  several  companies  of  independent  mounted  volun- 
teers and  about  150  volunteers  who  joined  the  Fourteenth  and  Sixteenth  United 
States  Infantry  regiments.  The  Third  and  Fourth  regiments  won  especial  dis- 
tinction at  Vera  Cruz,  Cerro  Gordo  and  the  City  of  Mexico.  The  Second  Regi- 
ment, originally  organized  as  a  twelve-months  unit  with  William  II.  Bissell 
(afterward  governor),  colonel,  was  reorganized  in  August,  1847,  "for  the  period 
of  the  war."  At  that  time  many  of  the  young  men  of  Belvidere  joined  the  regi- 
ment, in  which  William  Shepard  was  captain  of  Company  E.  The  mortality 
among  this  comparatively  small  contingent  was  noticeable,  about  forty  of  the 
hoys  leaving  their  bodies  in  Mexican  soil,  several  of  the  deaths  occurring  as  late 

357 


358  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

as  May,  1848.    All  the  Illinois  troops  were  mustered  out  between  May  25,  1847. 
and  November  7,  1848,  the  independent  companies  being  the  last  to  quit 
service. 

ILLINOIS    IN    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

Of  the  250,000  soldiers  whom  Illinois  sent  to  the  battlefields  of  the  Civil  war, 
or  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  the  Rock  River  Valley  furnished  its  full  quota. 
Many  of  its  citizens  made  fine  records  as  commanders  in  the  Union  service,  and 
Stephen  A.  Hurlbut,  of  Belvidere,  was  one  of  the  thirteen  distinguished  major 
generals,  who  stood  large  in  the  military  history  of  the  war  and  who  afterward, 
like  Logan,  Palmer  and  Oglesby,  adorned  the  public  life  of  his  State  and 
Nation.  Rockford,  Dixon  and  Preeport  were  the  great  concentration  points  f  i 
the  raising  of  troops  in  the  Rock  River  Valley. 

THE  VALLEY  REGIMENTS 

The  regiments  specially  identified  with  this  section  of  Illinois,  although  its 
men  were  scattered  in  many  other  commands,  were  the  Fifteenth,  Fifty-fourth, 
Seventy-fifth,  Ninety-second,  Ninety-fifth,  One  Hundred  and  Fifth  and  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-second  Infantry  and  the  First  Light  Artillery.  Illinois 
having  sent  six  regiments  to  the  Mexican  war,  by  courtesy  the  numbering  of 
the  regiments  which  participated  in  the  war  for  the  Union  began  with  No.  7. 
A  number  of  the  regiments  which  responded  to  the  first  call  of  the  president, 
claimed  the  right  to  be  recognized  as  the  first  regiment  in  the  field,  but  the 
honor  was  finally  accorded  to  that  organized  at  Springfield  by  Colonel  John 
Cook.  It  was  a  three-months  regiment  and  was  mustered  into  the  service  April 
25,  1861,  ten  days  after  President  Lincoln's  first  call. 

The  Fifteenth  Infantry,  the  first  regiment  to  be  raised  in  the  Rock  River 
Valley  of  Illinois,  was  organized  at  Freeport  and  mustered  into  the  service,  May 
24,  1861.  It  was  engaged  at  Sedalia,  Shiloh,  Corinth,  Metamora  Hill,  Vicks- 
burg,  Fort  Beauregard,  Champion  Hill,  Allatoona  and  Bentonville.  In  March, 
1864,  the  regiment  reenlisted  as  veterans,  and  in  the  following  July,  was  con- 
solidated with  the  Fourteenth  Infantry  as  a  Veteran  Battalion.  At  Raleigh  the 
Veteran  Battalion  was  discontinued  and  the  Fifteenth  reorganized.  It  was 
mustered  out  at  Springfield  for  final  payment  and  discharge  having  served  four 
years  and  four  months.  Miles  marched  4,299.  Men  enlisted  from  date  of  organ- 
ization, 1,963.     Strength  at  date  of  muster  out,  640. 

Although  the  Fifty-fifth  Infantry  was  organized  at  Chicago  and  mustered 
into  service  October  31,  1861,  the  regiment  was  chiefly  recruited  from  the  young 
farmers  of  "Winnebago,  Kane,  DeKalb,  La  Salle,  Grundy,  McDonough  and  Ful- 
ton counties.  It  participated  in  the  battles  of  Shiloh,  Corinth,  Chickasaw  Bayou, 
Vicksburg,  Missionary  Ridge,  Kenesaw  Mountain  and  Jonesboro,  being  in  the 
siege  of  Vicksburg:  and  Atlanta  campaign.  Altogether  the  regiment  was  engaged 
in  thirty-one  battles,  was  128  days  under  fire  and,  in  its  campaigns,  actually 
marched  3,240  miles.  The  command  reenlisted  as  veterans,  was  mustered  out 
at  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  and  received  its  final  discharge  at  Chicago,  the  same  month. 

The  Seventy-fifth  Infantry  was  organized  at  Dixon  and  mustered  into  the 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  359 

service  September  2,  1862.  The  regiment  participated  in  the  battles  of  Ferry- 
ville,  Nolansville,  Stone  River,  Lookout  Mountain,  Dalton,  Resaca,  Marietta, 
Kenesaw,  Franklin,  and  Nashville;  was  mustered  out  at  Nashville,  June  12, 
1865,  and  finally  discharged  at  Chicago  in  the  following  month. 

Tht>  Ninety-second  Mounted  Infantry  was  mustered  into  the  service  Septem- 
ber 4,  1862,  having  been  recruited  from  Ogle,  Stephenson  and  Carroll  counties. 
During  its  term  of  service  the  regiment  was  in  more  than  sixty  battles  and 
skirmishes,  including  Ringgold,  Chickamauga  and  numerous  engagements  on  the 
the  march  to  the  sea  and  the  campaigns  through  the  Carolinas.  It  was  mus- 
tered out  at.  Concord,  N.  C,  and  finally  discharged  at  Chicago,  July  10,  1865. 

The  Ninety-fifth  Infantry  was  organized  at  Rockford  and  mustered  into  the 
service  September  4,  1862.  Three  companies  of  the  regiment  were  recruited 
from  Boone  County  and  seven  from  McHenry.  It  participated  in  the  cam- 
paigns against  Vicksburg,  the  Red  River  expedition,  against  Price  in  Missouri 
and  Arkansas  and  around  Mobile  and  Atlanta.  In  August,  1865,  it  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Forty-seventh  Illinois  Infantry. 

The  One  Hundred  and  Fifth  Infantry  was  mustered  into  the  service  at 
Dixon,  September  2,  1862,  and  participated  in  the  Atlanta  campaign  and  the 
subsequent  engagements  in  the  Carolinas,  while  advancing  northward.  It  was 
mustered  out  at  Washington,  D.  C,  June  7,  1865,  and  discharged  at  Chicago  ten 
days  later. 

The  One  Hundred  and  Forty-second  Infantry  was  organized  at  Freeport  as 
a  battalion  of  eight  companies  and  sent  to  Camp  Butler,  where  two  companies 
were  added,  and  the  regiment  mustered  into  service  for  one  hundred  days,  June 
18,  1864.  The  regiment  was  chiefly  engaged  in  guarding  railroads  in  Tennessee 
and  was  mustered  out  in  Chicago,  one  month  beyond  its  term  of  enlistment,  in 
October,  1864. 

Battery  F,  of  the  First  Light  Artillery,  was  recruited  at  Dixon,  and  mus- 
ic red  into  the  service  at  Springfield,  February  25,  1862.  It  took  part  in  the 
siege  of  Corinth  and  the  Yocona  expedition,  and  was  consolidated  with  the  other 
batteries  of  the  regiment,  March  7,  1865. 

THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  OP  WISCONSIN 

The  grand  military  center  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  in  Wisconsin  was,  of 
course,  Madison,  the  State  capital,  from  which  also  went  to  the  front  some  of 
the  most  noted  commands  and  commanders  identified  with  the  war  in  Wiscon- 
sin; and  the  nucleus  of  the  military  organization  and  distribution  was  Camp 
Randall,  named  after  one  of  the  great  war  governors  of  the  State,  Alexander 
\V.  Randall.  On  the  very  day  that  Lincoln  issued  his  first  call  for  troops  to 
"put  down  the  rebellion,"  Governor  Randall  held  a  meeting  in  his  office  at  the 
Capitol,  with  Judge  0.  Cole  in  the  chair.  On  the  following  day,  Captain  George 
E.  Bryant  tendered  the  services  of  the  Madison  Guards  and  the  Governor  issued 
his  proclamation  calling  for  the  organization  of  the  First  Regiment  Wisconsin 
Volunteer  [nfantry.  The  Governor's  Guards,  Captain  J.  P.  Atwood,  were  ready 
and  accepted  on  the  18th.  On  dune  !)th,  the  two  Madison  companies  left  for 
Harrisburg,  Pa.,  and  one  of  the  first  men  wounded  in  the  Civil  war  was  Fred 


360  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

B.  Hutching,  of  Madison,  a  color  bearer  at  the  battle  of  Falling  Waters,  West 
Virginia. 

The  colonel  of  the  First  Wisconsin  Regiment  for  three  years  was  John  C. 
Starkweather,  and  of  the  Second,  S.  Park  Coon.  They  were  considered  espe- 
cially Dane  County  regiments,  as  well  as  the  Third  and  Fourth.  The  Eleventh 
was  intended  to  be  thus  identified,  but  Dane  County  had  already  been  drawn 
upon  to  such  an  extent  that  her  men  were  thereafter  distributed  in  more  than 
a  score  of  commands  in  the  infantry,  cavalry,  artillery  and  among  the  sharp- 
shooters of  the  army.  The  colonel  of  the  Eleventh,  however,  was  Charles  L.  Har- 
ris, of  Madison,  and  the  lieutenant  .colonel  of  the  Sixteenth  was  Lucius  Fairchild, 
afterward  brigadier  general  and  governor  of  the  State.  Several  Rock  River 
Valley  men  were  prominent  in  the  Randall  administration.  Matthew  H.  Car- 
penter, the  brilliant  young  lawyer  of  Janesville,  whose  national  fame  was  yet 
to  be  made,  was  appointed  judge  advocate  with  the  rank  of  major.  It  is  always 
to  be  remembered  with  regret  and  grief  that  Louis  P.  Harvey  of  Shopiere,  Rock 
County,  had  only  served  about  three  months  of  his  term  as  governor,  when  he 
was  drowned  while  hastening  to  the  relief  of  wounded  Union  boys  stricken  at 
Shiloh. 

As  stated,  Camp  Randall  was  the  great  rendezvous  for  military  movements 
in  the  raising  and  dispatching  of  troops  which  were  sent  from  the  Rock  River 
Valley  of  Wisconsin.  It  was  beautifully  located,  just  west  of  Lake  Monona  and 
a  mile  and  a  half  west  of  Capitol  square,  not  far  from  the  University  build- 
ings. In  the  Civil  war,  as  well  as  in  subsequent  calls  for  patriotic  service,  the 
students  of  the  State  University  organized  themselves  and  cheerfully  and  bravely 
marched  to  whatever  field  of  battle  they  were  called. 

Rock,  Dodge  and  Jefferson  counties,  Wisconsin,  came  forward  to  support 
the  Union  cause  with  the  best  of  their  men  and  women  and  the  utmost  of  their 
means.  For  the  details  as  to  Rock  County  reference  is  made  to  the  complete 
history  (Chapter  XVII)  covering  that  section  of  the  State.  Both  Dodge  and 
Jefferson  counties  were  alive  and  stirring  from  the  first  to  the  last  of  the  Civil 
war.  Dodge  County  soldiers  were  in  almost  every  regiment  of  the  State.  The 
Beaver  Dam  Rifles  and  the  Horicon  Guards  were  the  first  of  the  military  organ- 
izations in  existence  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  to  be  absorbed  into  the  Union 
army — the  former  being  assigned  to  the  Fifth  Wisconsin  Infantry,  and  the 
Guards,  to  the  Tenth.  In  Jefferson  County,  Fort  Atkinson  and  Watertown, 
were  leading  war  centers  of  the  Valley.  Recruiting  for  the  First  Wisconsin 
Cavalry  was  eagerly  pushed  in  June,  1861,  and  nearly  three  companies  were 
raised  in  Jefferson  County.  The  men  saw  strenuous  service  in  Arkansas,  Ten- 
nessee, Missouri  and  in  the  march  to  Atlanta  and  the  sea.  They  were  finally 
discharged  at  Nashville,  in  July,  1864.  Two  other  companies  of  the  Fourth 
Cavalry  were  also  raised  in  Jefferson  County,  and  were  sent  to  the  Army  of 
the  Gulf  and  the  Southwest.  Two  companies  for  the  Twenty-ninth  Infantry 
and  one  for  the  Thirteenth  were  also  drafted  from  various  points  in  the  county. 
Watertown,  perhaps  because  of  its  large  German  element,  had  been  noticeably 
imbued  with  the  military  spirit,  and  its  Rifles,  German  Rifles,  Union  Guards 
and  other  organizations  were  readily  absorbed  by  various  Wisconsin  regiments, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  Watertown  Irish  Company  and  the  Watertown  American 
Volunteer  Company.    The  Sixteenth,  Seventeenth,  Twentieth  and  Twenty-ninth 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  361 

Infantry  regiments  all  received  contributions  from  these  previously  organized 
companies. 

( hie  of  the  leading  commanders  of  the  Valley  went  from  Watertown.  Henry 
Bertram  enlisted  from  the  Fifth  was  of  Watertown  and  was  chosen  first  lieu- 
tenant of  Company  A,  Third  Regiment  of  volunteer  infantry.  He  finally  reached 
the  grade  of  brigadier  general.  General  Bertram  was  appointed  postmaster  at 
Watertown  after  the  war  and  died  September  3,  1878. 

Only  the  high  spots  of  the  Civil  war  as  it  affected  the  Rock  River  Valley  in 
Wisconsin  and  Illinois  have  been  touched  in  this  narrative.  The  bravery  dis- 
played by  its  soldiers  on  a  thousand  battle  fields  and  the  self-sacrifice  and  gen- 
erosity evinced  by  all  classes  of  men,  women  and  children  at  home,  laboring 
toward  the  same  Union  ends,  have  been  told  and  retold  and  are  known  and 
honored  by  thousands  who  were  saved  the  anxieties  and  agonies  of  those  days. 

THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN   WAR 

The  entire  State  of  Wisconsin  raised  and  equipped  about  5,500  men  for  the 
Spanish-American  war;  four  regiments  of  infantry  and  one  battery  of  light 
artillery.     They  participated  in  only  a  few  skirmishes  and  but  two  of  the  men 

were  killed  in  action.  Notwithstanding.  141  of  those  ready  for  action  and  any- 
thing else  which  might  come  to  an  American  soldier  died  of  disease.  The  records 
of  those  who  thus  gave  their  lives  as  residents  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  of  Wis- 
consin are  not  accessible. 

THE    THIRD    AND     SIXTH     REGIMENTS 

For  the  Spanish-American  war,  Illinois  furnished  nine  regiments  of  infantry, 
one  regiment  of  cavalry  and  a  battery  of  light  artillery.  Except  in  the  Third 
and  the  Sixth  Infantry  regiments  there  were  no  large  representations  from  the 
Rock  River  Valley  of  Illinois. 

Arthur  E.  Fisher,  of  Rockford,  was  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  Third,  and 
Richings  .J.  Shand,  of  the  same  city,  one  of  the  majors.  Several  Rockford  men 
also  joined  the  hospital  service  and  the  regimental  band.  In  the  ranks  were 
men  from  Freeport,  Belvidere,  Rochelle,  Byron,  Mount  Morris  and  Franklin 
Grove.  William  II.  Brogunier  was  captain  of  Company  II,  Charles  E.  Almong, 
tirst  lieutenant,  and  William  II.  Sarver,  second  lieutenant,  all  of  Rockford, 
which  also  furnished  most  of  the  privates.  Belvidere  also  supplied  a  number 
of  the  rank  and  file.  Rockford  sent  most  of  the  officers  and  men  which  formed 
Company  K.  of  the  Third  Regiment,  with  about  a  dozen  privates  from  Belvidere. 
Edward  E.  Leonard  was  captain  of  the  company,  James  A.  Buggies  first  lieu- 
tenant and  Krnest  L.  Hess,  second  lieutenant;  all  citizens  of  Rockford.  Com- 
pany M  was  primarily  a  Rochelle  company,  with  a  sprinkling  from  Oregon, 
Paw  Paw,  Spring  Valley,  Franklin  Grove  and  Mt.  Morris.  All  the  officers  were 
from  Rochelle — Edward  A.  Ward,  captain;  George  VY.  Dicus,  first  lieutenant; 
and  William  F.  Hackett,  second  lieutenant. 

The  sendee  of  the  Third  Infantry  was  in  Porto  Rico.  It  was  mustered  into 
the  service  for  two  years,  at  Camp  Tanner,  Springfield,  III.,  .May  7,  1898.  After 
a  stay  of  several  weeks  at  Chickamauga  Park  and  Newporl   News,  on  July  25th 


362  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

it  sailed  on  the  St.  Louis  for  Porto  Rico  and  arrived  at  Ponce,  on  the  31st.  The 
regiment  landed  at  Arroyo  on  August  2nd,  under  slight  resistance  by  the 
Spanish.  It  participated  in  the  engagement  at  Guayama,  August  5,  1898,  and 
north  of  that  town  the  regiment  had  skirmishes  on  the  8th  and  13th.  The  Third 
then  engaged  in  out-post  duty  in  the  locality  and  east  of  Guayama  until  Novem- 
ber, when  the  troops  embarked  on  the  Roumania  for  New  York.  It  arrived  on 
the  9th  and  was  mustered  out  at  Joliet,  111.,  January  24,  1899. 

The  Sixth  Regiment  had  large  contingents  from  Rock  Island,  Moline, 
Sterling  and  Freeport,  with  representatives  from  Kewanee,  Morrison,  Prophets- 
town,  Geneseo,  Cambridge,  Albany,  Lyndon,  Erie  and  Port  Byron.  The  lieu- 
tenant colonel  of  the  regiment  was  Edward  Kittilsen,  of  Moline,  and  William 
E.  Baldwin  of  Dixon,  was  one  of  the  three  majors.  John  0.  Prestin,  of  Sterling, 
was  chief  musician.  Company  A  was  composed  entirely  of  Rock  Island  men; 
its  captain  was  William  McConochie;  first  lieutenant,  Luke  E.  Hemenway;  sec- 
ond lieutenant,  George  W.  Flood.  Geneseo,  Cambridge  and  Kewanee  chiefly 
contributed  to  form  Company  B,  and  their  officers  were  Geneseo  men — John 
W.  Reig,  captain  and  William  A.  Wanner,  first  lieutenant,  James  Hill,  sec- 
ond lieutenant.  Company  E  was  almost  entirely  composed  of  Sterling  citi- 
zens, all  of  its  officers  coming  from  that  city.  William  F.  Lawrie  was  its  cap- 
tain, Goodcil  B.  Dillon,  first  lieutenant,  and  Frank  Wahl,  second  lieutenant. 
Officers  and  most  of  the  men  organized  as  Company  F  were  from  Moline — Frank 
J.  Clendenin,  captain;  George  M.  Gould,  first  lieutenant  and  Marvin  H.  Lyon, 
second  lieutenant.  The  bulk  of  the  personnel  making  Company  G  was  fur- 
nished by  Lee  County,  especially  Dixon.  Its  captain,  however,  was  Philip  Mc- 
Grath,  of  Woosung,  Ogle  County,  but  both  lieutenants  were  Dixon  men — 
Charles  E.  Frisby,  first,  and  Henry  B.  Trowbridge,  second  lieutenant.  With 
only  a  few  exceptions,  Whiteside  County  gave  her  men  to  organize  Company  I, 
of  the  Sixth.  William  F.  Colebaugh  of  Morrison  was  its  captain  and  Edward 
C.  Lawton,  first  lieutenant.  Company  L  was  virtually  a  Freeport  unit,  with 
Charles  B.  Kling  as  captain,  Simon  H.  Ottenhauser,  first  lieutenant,  and  Harry 
H.  Yount,  second  lieutenant. 

The  Sixth  Illinois  Volunteers  Infantry  was  mustered  into  the  military 
service  of  the  United  States  for  two  years,  at  Springfield,  May  11,  1898.  A 
week  later  left  for  Camp  Russell  A.  Alger,  Va. ;  remained  there  until  July  5th, 
and  the  following  day  the  regiment  arrived  by  rail  at  Charleston,  South 
Carolina.  Before  the  end  of  the  month,  several  transports  had  landed  the 
detached  companies  of  the  regiment  in  Porto  Rico.  The  only  company  which 
actually  saw  action  was  G,  on  July  26th,  four  miles  from  Guanica,  Various 
units  of  the  regiment  marched  and  countermarched  and  camped  in  many  parts 
of  the  island  ready  for  service  of  any  kind.  It  finally  embarked  at  Port 
Ponce,  September  7th,  arrived  at  Weehawken,  N.  J.,  about  a  week  later,  and 
was  mustered  out  at  Springfield,  111.,  November  25,  1898. 

ILLINOIS  PARTICIPATION  IN  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Rock  River  Valley  of  Wisconsin  and  Illinois  poured  her  men,  her  money, 
and  her  utmo.st  resources  of  energy,  ability  and  patriotism  gathered  from  all 
classes,  from  both  sexes  old  and  young,  into  the  overwhelming  volume  of  forces, 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  GALLEY  363 

means  and  high  spirit,  which  was  the  decisive  contribution  of  the  United  States 
in  the  final  crushing  of  European  imperialism.  This  section  of  two  great, 
brave,  resourceful  states,  cannot  be  set  aside  as  any  exception  to  the  general 
spirit  and  irresistible  action  which  animated  every  portion  of  the  United 
States  in  doing  its  pari  in  the  World  war. 

On  April  6,  1917,  Congress  declared  that  a  state  of  war  existed  between 
the  United  States  and  the  Imperial  German  Government,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing May  Governor  Prank  0.  Lowden  appointed  the  Illinois  State  Council 
of  Defense.  The  National  Guard  was  reorganized  and  in  May  the  selective 
service  system  went  into  effect.  This  inaugurated  the  first  of  the  three  reg- 
istrations, which  not  only  furnished  the  men  who  ended  the  war  overseas,  but 
had  a  potent  effect  on  the  enemy  as  illustrating  the  tremendous  man-power 
of  the  United  States.  The  National  Guard  of  the  State  was  promptly  in- 
ducted into  the  service  as  a  body  assigned  to  the  quelling  of  riots  of  whatever 
kind.  On  June  7-10,  the  companies  of  the  Third  Regiment  were  called  to 
Rockford  to  quell  anti-draft  demonstrations  which  threatened  to  lead  to  serious 
riots. 

In  May,  1917,  was  formed  the  Women's  Committee  of  the  State  Council 
of  Defense  that  every  woman  in  Illinois  might  be  given  an  opportunity  to 
tender  her  patriotic  service  at  home  or  abroad;  and  nobly  did  they  acquit 
themselves  of  this  opportunity. 

The  President's  proclamation  of  July  3,  1917,  inducted  into  Federal  service 
all  the  units  of  the  National  Guard — eight  regiments  of  infantry,  three  of 
field  artillery  and  a  regiment  of  engineers.  This  organized  military  strength 
of  the  State  in  August,  1917,  amounted  to  18,619  men.  The  Sixth  Infantry 
was  commanded  by  Colonel  Charles  G.  Davis,  of  Geneseo,  Henry  County. 

Illinois  troops  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  were  distributed  in  numerous  com- 
mands and  after  the  National  Guard  of  the  different  states  were  absorbed  into 
the  greal  Federal  Army,  it  became  impossible  to  trace  the  State  units  as  a 
whole.  But  the  bulk  of  the  soldiers  drafted  from  that  section  of  Illinois  were 
attached  to  the  Thirty-third  (Prairie)  Division.  In  the  fall  of  1917,  it  mobilized 
at  Camp  Logan,  Houston,  Texas,  under  the  command  of  Major  General  George 
Bell.  The  nucleus  of  the  division,  one  of  the  bravest  and  most  efficient  of  the 
American  Expeditionary  Army,  was  the  Illinois  National  Guard,  and  it  was 
brought  up  to  war  strength  mainly  by  Illinois  men  in  the  National  Army 
sent  Erom  Camps  Grant,  Dodge  and  Taylor. 

THE    THIRTY-THIRD    DIVISION    AT    THE    FRONT 

The  Thirty-third  Division  comprised  the  Sixty-fifth  and  the  Sixty-sixth 
Infantry  brigades,  the  Fifty-eighth  Field  Artillery  Brigade,  with  machine  gun 
battalions,  engineering  and  field  signal  units,  military  police  and  ammuni- 
tion, supply  and  sanitary  trains.  So  thorough  was  the  training  and  so  fine 
was  the  morale  of  the  Thirty-third  Division  that  it  was  repeatedly  separated 
and  drafted  to  strengthen  the  various  armies  at  the  fighting  front.  At  differ- 
ent periods  it  was  attached  to  five  armies  and  twelve  corps  and  is  said  to 
have  been  the  only  division  of  the  United  States  army  which  was  drafted 
to  the  fighting  fronts  and   served   under   British,    French  and  American  com- 


364  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

manders.  As  a  whole,  the  various  commands  of  the  division  participated  in 
the  fighting  at  the  Amiens  sector,  the  Somme  offensive,  the  Verdun  sector, 
the  St.  Mihiel  and  Meuse-Argonne  offensives,  and  the  Tryon  sector;  at  the  last 
named  sector  of  the  battle  front,  its  great  service  was  completed,  October  26- 
November  11. 

During  the  active  operations  of  the  Thirty-third,  the  division  captured 
3,987  prisoners  and  suffered  8,279  casualties,  of  which  785  officers  and  men 
were  killed  in  action.  In  the  number  of  congressional  medals  awarded  for 
bravery  "beyond  the  call  of  duty,"  it  was  only  exceeded  by  the  Thirtieth 
Division  of  the  American  Army.  As  a  whole  it  was  with  the  Army  of  Oc- 
cupation in  Germany,  reached  Hoboken,  N.  J.,  in  May,  1919.  The  first  con- 
tingent of  the  Thirty-third  reached  Chicago,  on  the  27th  of  that  month,  and 
by  the  end  of  June  it  was  demobilized  at  Camp  Grant. 

the  123rd  heavy  field  artillery 

This  regiment  is  one  of  the  few  commands  of  the  Thirty-third  Division 
which  may  be  traced  as  a  unit  through  the  overseas  fighting.  It  was  mobilized 
as  the  Sixth  Illinois  Infantry,  in  command  of  Colonel  Charles  G.  Davis,  in 
March,  1917.  In  April,  after  the  declaration  of  a  state  of  war  with  Imperial 
Germany,  it  was  federalized  and  detailed  to  guard  transportation  lines,  muni- 
tion depots  and  arsenals  in  Illinois  and  nearby  states.  The  command  remained 
with  Colonel  Davis,  as  it  did  when  General  Bell  organized  the  Thirty-third 
Division  at  Camp  Logan,  Texas,  and  the  old  Sixth  Infantry  became  the  123rd 
Heavy  Field  Artillery,  one  of  the  regiments  of  the  Fifty-eighth  Field  Artil- 
lery Brigade.  , 

The  123rd  received  intensive  training  at  Camp  Logan,  and  in  the  second 
week  of  May,  1918,  moved  to  Camp  Merritt,  sailing  from  Hoboken,  on  the 
Scotia,  the  26th  of  that  month.  The  regiment  landed  at  Havre,  June  8th, 
and  a  few  days  afterward,  with  other  units  of  the  Fifty-eighth  Brigade  was 
sent  to  Southeastern  France  for  a  two-months'  training.  Toward  the  end 
of  August  it  was  sent  to  Foret  de  la  Reine,  where  it  participated  in  the  offen- 
sive of  September  12th.  During  the  following  eight  months  it  served  with 
four  American  divisions — the  89th,  1st,  91st  and  32nd — and  participated  in 
the  St.  Mihiel,  Meuse-Argonne  and  other  offensives  which  tended  to  end  the 
war.  The  regiment  rejoined  the  Thirty-third  Division  on  January  8,  1919, 
not  far  from  the  City  of  Luxembourg,  and  sailed  from  Brest  on  the  Amer- 
ican, May  16,  1919.  The  transport  reached  Hoboken,  N.  J.,  on  May  24th,  and 
reached  Chicago,  on  the  5th  of  June.  With  the  third  contingent  of  the  divi- 
sion, it  paraded  through  the  streets  of  Chicago  in  review  before  Governor 
Lowden,  and  was  demobilized  at  Camp  Grant,  June  9,  1919.  Colonel  Davis 
had  been  in  command  of  the  regiment  throughout,  and  is  therefore  one  of 
the  leading  military  figures  connected  with  the  Rock  River  Valley  in  the  fight- 
ing operations  of  the  World  war.  He  left  the  service  with  three  decorations 
to  his  credit. 

The  123rd  Heavy  Field  Artillery  suffered  twenty-five  casualties — one  officer 
and  twenty-four  men  having  been  killed,  or  died  of  wounds  and  disease  overseas. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  365 

THE   SINEWS  OP  WAR 

The  world  now  realizes  that  one  of  the  vital  explanations  of  the  courage 
and  instinctive  push  shown  by  the  American  soldiers  in  the  field  was  the  knowl- 
edge which  came  to  them  everywhere  that  the  United  States  was  behind  them 
in  money,  food  and  spirit.  Great  sacrifices  were  made  at  home,  as  well  as 
the  supreme  test  at  the  front.  The  Red  Cross,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
the  Salvation  Army,  the  Knights  of  Columbus,  the  Jewish  Welfare  Board, 
and  hundreds  of  other  organizations,  gave  an  illustration,  North,  South,  East 
and  West,  and  everywhere  between  the  points  of  the  compass  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  of  the  submersion  of  sects  and  selfish  interests  in  the  one 
great  movement  of  "winning  the  war."  For  the  time,  politics  seemed  to  be 
forgotten. 

In  all  this  work  at  home,  the  Rock  River  Valley  was  active  and  sub- 
stantially united,  as  well  as  in  the  grim  duty  of  sending  its  men  to  the  front, 
or  getting  them  ready  to  go  there,  if  they  were  called.  The  eight  Illinois 
counties  indicated  that  for  the  period  of  the  war  more  than  63,000  of  their 
men  had  registered  for  service  and  over  7,000  been  accepted. 

The  eight  Illinois  counties  are  credited  by  the  Government  with  the  fol- 
lowing contributions  to  the  chief  war  funds: 

Rock  Island  County— Liberty  loans:  First  $1,996,700;  second,  $4,807,100; 
third,  $.'3,873,900;  fourth,  $6,976,450;  victory,  $4,399,550.  To  the  war  savings 
fund,  the  county  subscribed  $776,739.25;  Red  Cross,  $60,881.91,  and  United 
War  Work,  $140,095.34. 

Winnebago  County— Liberty  loans:  First,  $1,121,050;  second,  $2,740,000; 
third,  $3,229,950;  fourth.  $5,236,150;  victory,  $3,741,350.  To  the  war  savings 
fund  the  county  subscribed  $661,161.50;  Red  Cross,  $63,062.50,  and  United 
War  Work,  $100,178.22. 

Henry  County— Liberty  loans:  First,  $440,600;  second,  $1,680,150;  third, 
$1,963,450;  fourth,  $3,129,950;  victory-,  $2,035,150.  To  the  war  savings  fund 
the  county  subscribed  $489,413.25;  Red  Cross,  $66,063.23;  and  United  War 
Work,  $90,469.47. 

Stephenson  County— Liberty  loans:  First,  $347,000;  second,  $920,850;  third, 
$1,957,500;  fourth.  $1,999,600;  victory,  $1,455,500.  To  the  war  savings  fund, 
the  county  subscribed  $716,421.75;  Red  Cross,  $46,273.24,  and  United  War 
Work,  $56,376.96. 

Lee  County— Liberty  loans:  First,  $325,350;  second,  $1,136,900;  third,  $1,- 
053,200;  fourth.  $1,718,000;  victory,  $1,357,050.  To  the  war  savings  fund,  the 
county  subscribed  $606,309.25;  Red  Cross,  $38,023.62,  and  United  War  Work, 
$53,946.93. 

Whiteside  County— Liberty  loans :  First,  $370,450 ;  second,  $1,298,600 ;  third, 
$1,444,900;  fourth,  $2,232,750:  victory,  $1,595,750.  To  the  war  savings  fund, 
the  county  subscribed  $606,986.50;  Red  Cross,  $23,807.76,  and  United  War 
Work,  $92,298.3!!. 

Ogle  County— Liberty  loans:  First,  $136,500;  second,  $652,450;  third,  $1,- 
062,250;  fourth,  $1,568,700;  victory,  $1,209,450.  To  the  war  savings  fund,  the 
county  subscribed  $674,806;  Red  Cross,  $28,982.64,  and  United  War  Work, 
$43,569.46. 


366  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Boone- County— Liberty  loans:  First,  $122,600;  second,  $422,900;  third, 
$627,650;  fourth,  $777,200;  victory,  $599,400.  To  the  war  savings  fund,  the 
county  subscribed  $177,313.50;  Red  Cross,  $16,658.69,  and  United  War  Work, 
$22,184. 

The  Rock  River  Valley  of  Illinois  was  otherwise  distinguished  for  the  prom- 
inent part  it  took  in  the  war.  The  most  impressive  of  the  industries  mobilized 
for  service  in  the  war  was  perhaps  the  Rock  Island  Arsenal,  so  carefully 
guarded  from  enemy  mischief  makers  and  the  monthly  output  of  its  equip- 
ments and  munitions  was  raised  to  its  annual  production  in  times  of  peace. 

Frank  O.  Lowden,  the  war  governor,  a  resident  of  the  Rock  River  Valley, 
showed  unusual  ability  in  mobilizing  the  economical  resources  of  the  State 
in  the  cause  of  the  allies  opposed  to  imperialism,  and  the  Illinois  divisions 
of  the  United  States  food  and  fuel  administrations  were  noteworthy  for  their 
zeal  and  efficiency.  Neither  can  too  much  be  said  in  praise  of  the  Illinois 
Woman's  Committee  of  the  Council  of  National  Defense,  in  the  work  of  which 
many  women  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  were  prominent. 

As  the  maimed  and  otherwise  disabled  American  soldiers  came  back  from 
the  war,  ready  again  to  enter  peaceful  employment,  the  Government  endeavored 
to  meet  the  situation,  and  in  June,  1918,  Congress  passed  an  act  providing 
for  "vocational  rehabilitation  and  return  to  civil  employment  of  disabled  per- 
sons discharged  from  the  military  or  naval  forces  of  the  United  States."  In 
order  to  carry  out  the  intents  of  the  act,  the  United  States  was  divided  into 
fourteen  districts.  Illinois,  Michigan  and  Wisconsin  were  placed  in  District 
No.  8,  and  the  local  offices  of  the  Federal  Board  in  Illinois  were  designated 
as  Chicago,  Rockford,  Champaign,  Centralia,  Peoria  and  East  St.  Louis.  In 
view  of  this  designation,  the  Rock  River  Valley  became  prominent  as  a  center 
for  the  upbuilding  of  the  shattered  and  war-worn  soldiers  who,  after  having 
done  their  part,  had  returned  to  the  ways  of  peace. 

WISCONSIN    ENTERS   THE   WORLD   WAR 

When  the  United  States  entered  the  World  war,  in  April,  1917,  the  First, 
Second  and  Third  regiments  had  already  served  on  the  Mexican  border  and 
were  seasoned  troops,  and  in  August,  or  four  months  afterward,  Adjutant 
General  Orlando  Holway,  head  of  the  National  Guard,  had  recruited  that  force 
to  war  strength.  In  other  words,  15,266  men  were  already  available — six  regi- 
ments of  infantry,  one  regiment  of  cavalry,  one  regiment  of  artillery,  two 
battalions  of  signal  corps  and  engineers  and  four  hospital  and  ambulance  com- 
panies. On  the  2nd  of  August  the  mobilization  of  the  State  troops  began  at 
Camp  Douglas. 

Among  the  officers  thus  assembled  at  Camp  Douglas  waiting  to  be  called 
into  action,  who  hailed  from  the  Rock  River  Valley  of  Wisconsin,  were  Colonel 
John  P.  Joachim,  of  Madison,  who  commanded  the  First  Regiment,  one  of 
the  veteran  organizations  of  the  State;  Captain  George  F.  O'Connell,  of  the 
Supply  Company,  Madison ;  Arthur  R.  Langholff,  captain  of  Company  B, 
Fort  Atkinson ;  William  Smith,  captain  of  Company  G,  Madison ;  E.  Howe 
Allen,  captain  of  Compan,y  L,  Beloit;  and  Edgar  N.  Caldwell,  captain  of  Com- 
pany M,   Janesville.      Beaver   Dam  was  represented  by  Company  K,   Second 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  367 

Regiment,    which    was   commanded  by    Theodore   Parker,   and   Watertown,    by 
Company  E,  Fifth  Infantry,  of  which  Albert  P.  Solliday  was  captain. 

The  First  Brigade  was  made  up  of  the  First,  Second  and  Third  Infantry 
regiments,  known  as  the  veterans  and  nearly  eveiy  enlisted  man  of  which 
had  served  on  the  Mexican  border  and  many  of  whom  had  seen  years  of  serv- 
ice. While  these  troops  were  in  camp  in  August,  three  companies  of  the  Second 
Infantry  were  transferred  to  the  Forty-second,  or  Rainbow  Division,  and  or- 
ganized as  the  150th  Machine  Gun  Battalion.  They  were  sent  to  Camp  Mills, 
Long  Island,  for  preliminary  training  preparatory  to  shipment  to  France. 

THIRY-SECOND    DIVISION   AT    THE   FRONT 

Finally,  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  regiments  of  the  National  Guard  were 
sent  to  Waco,  Texas,  as  the  Thirty-second  Division  of  the  National  Army. 
There  they  were  completely  reorganized  under  the  French  military  system, 
and,  after  several  months  of  training,  they  were  sent  to  France,  the  month 
of  March  practically  finding  them  all  ready  for  action.  At  the  battle  front, 
the  Thirty-second  division,  as  part  of  the  Sixth  French  Army  won  high  words 
of  praise  from  its  greatest  leaders.  The  Meuse-Argonne  campaign,  the  Chateau- 
Thierry  zone  and  the  fierce  Oise-Aisne  offensive,  with  the  final  advance  upon 
the  River  Meuse  up  to  the  very  signing  of  the  armistice,  were  all  scenes  of 
the  unconquerable  spirit  displayed  by  the  men  of  the  Thirty-second  Division. 
In  this  fighting,  finely-disciplined  American  army,  many  men  from  the  Rock 
River  Valley  were  proud  to  be  enrolled. 

THE    HOME   DEFENSE 

Governor  B.  Philipp  was  equal  to  the  emergency  at  home,  and  the  Wis- 
consin State  Council  of  Defense  was  early  put  in  vigorous  motion  by  the 
appointment  of  Magnus  Swenson,  of  Madison,  as  its  chairman.  As  State 
food  administrator,  Mr.  Swenson  afterward  added  to  his  reputation  for  ability 
and  patriotism  and  helped  to  make  Wisconsin  a  leader  among  the  states  as 
long  as  the  war  lasted.  Each  county  of  the  State  had  its  own  council  and 
chairman.  John  S.  Donald  was  chairman  of  the  Dane  County  Council;  W.  H. 
Sherman,  of  Dodge;  William  D.  James  of  Jefferson  and  Simon  Smith,  of  Rock. 
It  is  said  that  Wisconsin  led  the  nation  in  putting  in  operation  the  selective 
service  draft;  in  fact,  that  Governor  Philipp  had  done  so,  under  authority 
from  the  secretary  of  war,  before  the  law  actually  wrent  into  effect.  By  the 
1st  of  May,  1917,  he  had  organized  the  local  boards  of  the  various  counties. 
In  Dane  County,  Dr.  Henry  V.  Bancroft  and  Nels  Holman  were  appointed 
chairman  of  the  two  divisions,  and  Harry  Marsh  and  C.  W.  Hathaway,  chair- 
men in  Dodge  County.  The  chairman  of  the  Jefferson  County  council  was 
Edward  T.  Hayhurst  and  the  chairmen  of  the  Rock  County  divisions  were 
Robert  Whipple  and  George  B.  Ingersoll.  William  L.  Dowling  was  also  named 
as  chairman  of  the  Madison  city  council. 

When  President  Wilson  directed  Herbert  Hoover  to  begin  the  mobilization 
of  the  food  economy  forces  of  the  United  States,  Wisconsin,  as  one  of  the 
great  producers  of  the  world,  immediately  got  into  action.     In  August,   1917, 


368  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Magnus  Sweuson,  chairman  of  the  State  Council  of  Defense,  was  appointed 
federal  food  administrator  for  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  and  he,  in  turn,  ap- 
pointed the  heads  of  various  divisions  and  counties,  who  were  largely  con- 
fined to  residents  of  Madison.  The  chairman  of  Dane  County  was  C.  B.  Chap- 
man of  Madison ;  of  Dodge  County,  A.  A.  Washburn,  of  Horicon ;  Jefferson 
County,  Fred  Prentiss,  of  Watertown,  and  of  Rock  County,  Fred  L,  demons 
of  Janesville.  The  wheatless  and  the  meatless  days  were  generally  observed 
through  the  pleas  of  the  national  and  state  administrations,  and  Wisconsin 
was  a  leader  in  the  expansion  of  the  acreage  of  land  devoted  to  the  raising 
of  sugar  beets.  The  acreage  allotted  to  Rock  County  was  the  largest  (1,950) 
of  any  of  the  counties  in  the  State,  and  Dane,  second,  with  an  acreage  of  1,600. 

Wisconsin  was  the  pioneer  State  in  the  conservation  of  fuel  and  the  han- 
dling of  this  product  which  entered  into  every  move  and  phase  of  the  World 
war.  The  administrator  appointed  for  Dane  County  was  George  E.  Gary,  of 
Madison ;  Dodge  County,  A.  B.  Chandler,  Beaver  Dam ;  Jefferson  County,  G.  J. 
Kispert,  of  Jefferson,  and   Rock  County,  Jesse  Earle,  of  Janesville. 

The  women  of  the  State  were  up  and  doing  before  the  men  were  fully  awake 
to  their  war  duties,  the  Red  Cross  having  commenced  its  work  before  the 
State  Council  of  Defense  was  created.  The  first  official  recognition  of  their 
part  in  the  State's  program  was  the  appointment  of  Mrs.  Henry  H.  Morgan 
of  Madison  as  the  woman  member  of  the  State  Council.  Early  in  July,  1917, 
a  conference  was  held  at  the  capital  at  which  thirty-six  counties  were  repre- 
sented and  fifty-three  women  war  workers  registered.  A  call  to  supply  women 
workers  for  the  pea  canneries  came  to  Mrs.  William  Kittle,  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Women  Industry,  and  the  emergency  was  met  with  the  coopera- 
tion of  women  in  the  counties  where  canneries  were  located.  The  executive 
committee  headed  the  various  departments  of  the  state  organization,  and  each 
county  was  fully  organized. 

When  the  Wisconsin  National  Guard  entrained  for  France  and  left  the 
State  in  September,  1917,  by  way  of  Waco,  Texas,  Wisconsin  was  left  with- 
out a  military  force  to  protect  her  home  soil.  The  Wisconsin  State  Guard, 
recruited  among  men  either  too  old  or  too  young  for  national  service,  was 
formed.  It  was  composed  of  four  regiments,  its  first,  the  Seventh,  numbering 
from  the  last  of  the  National  Guard  which  had  been  drafted  into  the  National 
Army.  The  Eighth  Regiment  was  commanded  by  Rolf  M.  P.  Rosman,  of  Beloit. 
Two  of  its  majors  were  James  W.  O'Connell,  of  Madison,  and  Robert  J.  Parks, 
of  Fort  Atkinson.  Captain  Jacob  E.  Kinzer,  of  Beloit,  was  quartermaster  of 
the  regiment,  and  among  its  first  lieutenants  were  Dean  B.  Becker,  of  Fort 
Atkinson,  and  Martin  J.  Olson,  of  Madison.  The  Eighth  was  therefore 
peculiarly  a  Rock  River  Valley  regiment.  Not  a  few  of  the  Wisconsin  State 
Guard  who  were  below  the  draft  age  entered  the  National  Army  after  they 
were  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  had  received  a  military  training  which  fitted 
them  for  active  service. 

WAR  FUND   CONTRIBUTIONS 

Wisconsin  was  generous  both  of  her  man-power  and  her  financial  resources. 
The  campaigns  for  war  savings  stamps  were  briskly  conducted.    Of  the  seventy- 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  369 

one  counties  in  the  Slate,  Jefferson  County  stood  twenty-third  in  the  total 
sales  ($408,000)  and  the  per  eapita  proportion  ($11.90).  Roek  County  was 
twenty-eighth — sales  $567,938  (per  eapita,  $9.67)  ;  Dane,  forty-second,  with 
sales  amounting  to  $755,154  and  per  capita,  $9.06,  and  Dodge  County,  sales 
$289,191,  with  a  per  eapita  of  $6.02. 

The  Liberty  loan  campaigns  were  thoroughly  conducted  and  the  responses 
in  dollars  and  cents  were  what  were  to  be  expected  from  those  who  so  freely 
gave  of  their  manhood.  The  Wisconsin  counties  in  the  Rock  River  Valley 
made  the  following  exhibit.  The  comparative  significance  of  the  loans  is  largely 
gauged  by  population  and  banking  resources,  as  follows: 

Dane  County — Population,  83,835;  banking  resources,  $26,712,394;  assessed 
valuation,  $99,211,721;  first  loan,  $1,470,600;  second,  $4,399,550;  third, 
13,016,000;  fourth,  $5,747,950.     Total,  $14,634,100. 

Dodge  County — Population,  48,081;  banking  resources,  $11,011,020;  assessed 
valuation,  $99,211,721 ;  first  loan,  $440,550 ;  second,  $1,451,900;  third,  $1,630,650; 
fourth,  $2,711,200.     Total  loans,  $6,234,300. 

Jefferson  County — Population,  33,919;  banking  resources,  $10,377,843;  as- 
sessed valuation,  $67,348,306.  Loans:  First,  $313,350;  second,  $939,800;  third, 
$1,272,190;  fourth,  $1,777,450.    Total,  $4,302,790. 

Rock  County — Population,  59,007;  banking  resources,  $17,101,607;  assessed 
valuation,  $98,958,401.  Loans:  First,  $598,950;  second,  $2,299,650;  third,  $2,- 
694,600;  fourth,  $3,771,400.     Total,  $9,364,600. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  conducted  three  campaigns  for  war 
funds  in  Wisconsin.  Much  of  the  work  of  organizing  and  inspiring  the  workers 
fell  upon  Dr.  J.  B.  Modesitt,  general  secretary  of  the  Milwaukee  association, 
and  C.  C.  Gittings,  president  of  the  state  organization.  Emerson  Ela,  of 
Madison,  and  N.  J.  Ross,  of  Beloit,  members  of  the  executive  committee,  were 
prominent  in  the  campaigns.  For  the  second  campaign,  Wisconsin  was  divided 
into  ten  districts,  with  their  chairmen  and  campaign  directors.  The  amounts 
raised  in  the  four  counties  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  in  Wisconsin  were  as 
follows:  Dane,  $53,448.95;  Dodge,  $8,596.49;  Jefferson,  $12,718.70;  Rock, 
$39,728.95. 

The  history  of  the  Red  Cross  in  Wisconsin  and  the  Rock  River  Valley  is 
simply  an  epitome  of  the  Red  Cross  work  throughout  the  Nation.  The  head- 
quarters of  the  Central  Division,  which  included  Wisconsin,  were  in  Chicago. 
The  first  War  Fund  drive  was  launched  in  the  spring  of  1917  before  the  State 
was  fully  organized,  but  this  fact  did  not  deter  Wisconsin  from  far  exceeding 
its  quota  of  $1,100,000;  the  State  contributed  $1,563,977.43  to  this  fund.  In 
May,  191S,  with  a  designated  quota  of  $1,500,000,  Wisconsin  subscribed  $2.- 
228,202  to  the  second  war  fund  of  the  Red  Cross. 

With  a  Catholic  population  of  about  600,000,  Wisconsin  contributed  $1,- 
122,000  to  Knights  of  Columbus  war  funds.  The  State  was  first  called  upon 
to  contribute  to  the  important  work  of  the  organization  at  a  meeting  held  in 
Chicago  in  1917,  at  which  W.  H.  Dougherty,  of  Janesville,  State  deputy,  re- 
ported that  Wisconsin  would  raise  $50,000  toward  a  national  fund  of  $1,000,000. 
In  the  Wisconsin  organization  Rev.  Joseph  E.  Ilanz,  of  Beloit,  was  chaplain 
of  the  Wisconsin  Knights  of  Columbus.     Contributions  to  the  war  funds  were 


370  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

made  both  through  councils  and  churches,  and  Madison,  Janesville,  Watertown, 
Beaver  Dam  and  Jefferson  were  generous  in  their  contributions. 

Through  the  Salvation  Army,  the  Jewish  Welfare  Board  and  other  fine 
and  tireless  organizations,  citizens  of  Wisconsin  and  the  Valley  also  poured 
their  contributions  into  the  vast  fund  raised  for  the  conduct  of  the  great  war 
for  democratic  principles. 

THE    COLLEGE    WAR    SPIRIT 

There  was  no  finer,  more  generous  and  enthusiastic  display  of  the  war  spirit 
in  Wisconsin  than  among  the  student  bodies  of  its  institutions  of  higher  learn- 
ing. Beloit  and  Rockford  colleges  sent  their  men  and  women  and  their  money 
into  any  field  at  home  or  abroad  where  their  services  were  of  most  value, 
and  at  the  head  of  the  system  the  University  of  Wisconsin  was  prodigal  of 
all  it  had  to  give.  During  the  war  180  members  of  the  faculty  of  the  State 
University  entered  actual  war  service  and  2,150  of  its  students  entered  the 
army  or  navy.  The  University  had  its  officers'  training  camp  in  operation 
six  weeks  before  the  national  camps  were  ready,  and  of  the  450  men  who  were 
trained  therein  nearly  all  received  commissions  and  some  gave  their  lives  for 
their  country. 

The  first  gold  star  on  the  University's  service  flag  was  announced  in  March, 
1918,  when  news  came  of  the  death  of  Clarence  0.  Docken,  of  Mount  Horeb, 
Dane  County,  class  of  '17,  who  died  of  spinal  meningitis  in  France. 

To  describe  in  detail  the  splendid  work  accomplished  by  the  men  and  women 
of  the  University,  by  the  members  of  the  faculty  and  every  unit  of  the  student 
body,  would  require  page  after  page  of  this  history  and  far  exceeds  the  bounds 
of  its  prescribed  subjects.  But  very  close  to  the  subject  and  to  the  hearts 
and  recollections  of  the  State  University  personnel  was  the  death  of  its  talented, 
energetic  and  beloved  president,  Charles  Richard  Van  Hise,  who  passed  away 
from  his  faithful  labors  on  November  19,  1918,  about  a  week  after  the  signing 
of  the  armistice.  As  he  was  the  first  graduate  of  the  University  to  be  called 
to  its  presidency,  his  demise  was  all  the  more  significant  and  bound  up  with 
the  history  and  fine  traditions  of  the  University. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
ROCK  COUNTY,  WISCONSIN 

GEOLOGICAL  ORIGIN  OF  THE  COUNTY TOPOGRAPHY  AND  DRAINAGE AVERAGE  ELEVA- 
TION  OF    THE   WATER   POWER WINNEBAGO    INDIANS,    FIRST   KNOWN    SETTLERS 

DISPUTED   INDIAN    CLAIMS    TO    THE    COUNTY FIRST    TREATY    FOR    LANDS    IN    THE 

VALLEY — SUBSEQUENT    TREATIES    SECURING    TO    THE    UNITED    STATES    COMPLETE 

POSSESSION    OF   THE  VALLEY THIBAULT,   FIRST   WHITE    MAN    TO    SETTLE   IN   THE 

COUNTY — THIBAULT  ON  SITE  OF  TURTLE  VILLAGE — FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  JANES- 

VILLE — HENRY     F.     JANES EARLY     HISTORY     OF     JANESVILLE LAND     CLAIMS 

.^(,)(TATTER    PRACTICES' JANESVILLE'S    DEVELOPMENT — ROCK     COUNTY    ORGANIZED 

IN  1839 — JANESVILLE  AS  COUNTY  SEAT — JANES,  THE  FIRST  POSTMASTER  OF 
JANESVILLE — COURTHOUSE,  1841 EARLY  SCHOOLS — CHURCH  HISTORY  OF  JANES- 
VILLE— FIRST  JANESVILLE  GAZETTE,  1845,  WHIG  NEWSPAPER. — STEAMBOAT  NAV- 
IGATION   OF    THE   ROCK JANESVILLE    IN    THE    '40s — JANESVILLE    INCORPORATED 

AS  A  CITY  IN  1853 GROWTH  TO  1861 JANESVILLE  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR POST- 
WAR   INDUSTRIAL    DEVELOPMENT — GROWTH    IN    THE     '90S — JANESVILLE    IN    THE 

TWENTIETH    CENTURY;    JANESVILLE    OF    TODAY FIRST    SETTLEMENT    OF    BELOIT, 

1835 CALEB  BLODGETT DR.  HORACE  WHITE  AND  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  EMIGRA- 
TION   SOCIETY — EARLY    BELOIT    FERRY ORIGIN    OF    THE    NAME,     BELOIT OTHER 

PROMINENT  EARLY  SETTLERS,  1837-1840 SEVERAL  "  FIRST  THINGS" BELOIT  IN- 
CORPORATED   AS    A    VILLAGE    IN     1846 EARLY    STATE    STREET    IN    BELOIT EARLY 

MANUFACTURES    OF     BELOIT — CHURCH     HISTORY EARLY     SCHOOLS    AND    SCHOOL 

TEACHERS BELOIT    COLLEGE    CHARTERED    IN    1846 — ITS    ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY — 

DEVELOPMENT  OF   BELOIT   AS  AN   INDUSTRIAL   CITY MANUFACTURING   PLANTS   OF 

YESTERDAY    AND    TODAY — BELOIT    BANKS — BELOIT    OF    THE    PRESENT — BELOIT    IN 

WAR OTHER   SETTLEMENTS  IN    THE  COUNTY CLINTON,   SHOPIERE,   FULTON   AND 

EDGERTON MILTON  AND   MILTON   COLLEGE EMERALD  GROVE  AND  EVANSVILLE — 

OTHER  VILLAGES. 

Tlie  beginning  of  Rock  County  was  naturally  its  appearance  above  the  ocean 
;is  a  part  of  Wisconsin's  geological  island.  Dr.  T.  C.  Chamberlain  gives  us  the 
details  of  its  geological  history  from  which  we  extract  the  essentials. 

Wisconsin  was  for  unknown  ages  a  shallow  arm  of  the  sea.  Deposits  were 
made  by  the  constant  washing  against  shores  farther  north  and  these  became 
hardened  into  sandstone,  shale  and  other  forms  of  sedimentary  rock.  Then 
the  cooling  of  the  earth's  crust  caused  contraction  and  a  wrinkled  surface, 
great  pressure  from  beneath  swelled  up  these  deposits,  crumpling  them,  solidi- 
fying and  crystallizing  them  and  elevating  them  above  the  ocean. 

Then  followed  for  untold  ages  successive  periods  of  the  wearing  away  and 
depositing  of  the  material  on  the  bed  of  the  shallow  sea  before  the  stone  founda- 

Vol.  I— 24 

371 


372  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

tions  of  our  state  and  county  were  laid.  Shales,  sandstone  and  limestones 
Math  combined  thickness  of  several  thousand  feet  accumulated. 

Special  upheavals  and  earth  heat  changed  these  shales  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  state  into  the  mineral  resources. 

Another  long  period  followed  the  Archaean  with  the  sea  wearing  down  the 
rock  still  more.  On  the  south  shore  of  the  Wisconsin  island  the  wave  action 
produced  a  light  colored  sand  and  sandstone  of  at  least  a  thousand  feet  in 
thickness.  This  deposit  was  widest  in  its  central  part  as  it  extended  across 
the  state.  It  underlies  all  of  the  later  formations.  By  the  water  from  the 
northern  half  of  the  state  soaking  continually  into  this  porous  rock  it  be- 
came, by  its  occasioned  water-bearing  formation,  a  lasting  source  for  the  artesian 
wells  and  pure  water. 

This  Potsdam  sandstone  was  followed  by  a  long  continued  deposit  of  mag- 
nesian  limestone  rock  of  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  fifty  feet  in  thickness. 
Then  later  the  ocean  formed  and  laid  down  silicious  sand  which  hardened 
into  rock,  filling  up  the  valleys  in  the  under  limestone  and  leveling  the  whole 
surface. 

Changes  in  ocean  conditions  deposited  a  layer  of  limestone  about  120  feet 
in  thickness,  alternating  with  clay  which  became  shale.  This  Trenton  lime- 
stone had  ultimately  built  on  it  a  bed  of  light  gray  crystalline  rock  called 
Galena  because  of  its  content  of  sulphide  of  lead.  This  deposit  occupied  the 
southwestern  part  of  the  state  and  a  broad  north  and  south  belt  in  east  central 
Wisconsin. 

Later  the  greatest  era  of  limestone  formation  occurred  with  the  Wisconsin 
island  gradually  emerging  from  the  ocean  and  enlarging  by  concentric  belts 
of  limestone,  sandstone  and  shale.  Here  Rock  County  again  appears  as  dry 
land  only  to  be  again  submerged. 

Then  followed  the  Devonian  era  of  fishes.  Therein  a  cement  rock  belong- 
ing to  the  Hamilton  age  of  the  great  Devonian  period  was  formed.  As  the 
ocean  retired  southward  Rock  County  became  permanently  dry  land  with  all 
its  rock  formations  laid. 

Geological  eras  followed  which  affected  other  parts  of  the  continent  but 
left  the  Wisconsin  island  with  its  level  unchanged  except  from  erosion.  Then 
the  glacial  period  began  its  mighty  work  of  ploughing  and  sculpturing  Wis- 
consin into  its  present  beauty,  fitness  and  fertility.  The  great  ice  mass  ploughed 
and  wore  down  all  the  rough  places  and  moved  the  broken  material  into  the 
hollows,  carried  southward  the  boulders,  and  melting,  spread  still  farther  south- 
ward over  the  state  the  finer  material  composed  of  pebbles,  sand  and  clay. 
The  third  of  the  three  glaciers  operating  over  the  state  ploughed  Green  Bay 
and  the  valley  of  Rock  River.  Then  with  the  continent  steadily  growing 
warmer  the  glaciers  melted  backwards  leaving  the  rock  and  earth  material 
heaped  over  the  surface  forming  new  hills  and  valleys. 

The  melting  of  so  much  glacial  ice  dug  out  the  valley  of  the  Wisconsin 
and  of  our  OAvn  Rock  River.  A  depression  of  the  continent  north  of  Wisconsin 
occurred  about  this  same  time  and  gave  changes  in  the  drainage  within  the 
state.  Storm  and  frost  and  other  erosive  forces  for  another  long  period  of 
time  ground  the   surface  more  finely   and  laid  the  basis  for  the  rise   of  the 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  :m 

present    vegetation.      The   decaying   remains  of  the   trees,   plants   and   grasses 
through  the  ages  became  the  rich  soil  of  southern  Wisconsin. 

A  great  glacial  valley  occupied  once  the  whole  eastern  half  of  Rock  County. 
Rock  County  was  completely  filled  with  boulders,  pebbles,  gravel  and  sand 
and  fertile  earth  formed  upon  the  surface  of  the  drift.  Over  this  face  Rock 
River  and  Turtle  ('reek  have  cut  their  channels  until  finally  the  river  has 
worn  its  way  to  the  limestone  ledges  at  the  west  edge  of  the  old  chasm.  Under 
the  surface  water  is  percolating  through  the  drift  material  from  the  Turtle 
valley  toward  and  into  the  bed  of  Rock  River,  furnishing  it  with  a  large 
number  of  springs. 

TOPOGRAPHY  AND  DRAINAGE 

The  general  inclination  of  the  surface  of  Rock  County  is  southward.  The 
valley  of  Rock  River  runs  southward  through  the  center  of  the  county  and 
the  surface  on  either  side  of  it  slopes  towards  it.  In  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  Rock  River  there  is  an  extensive  plain,  Rock  Prairie,  three  to  five  miles 
wide  with  prolongations  back  from  the  river  at  certain  points.  With  the 
exception  of  a  similar  level  area  bordering  on  Sugar  River  the  surface  of  the 
county  is  gently  undulatory  or  moderately  rolling.  There  are  at  some  points 
facing  the  streams  abrupt  cliffs  but  little  of  the  surface  is  too  steep  for  culti- 
vation. 

Sugar  River  rising  in  Dane  County  passes  through  the  southwestern  corner 
of  Rock  County  while  the  Yahara  (Catfish)  River  empties  into  the  Rock  in 
the  town  of  Fulton.  Flowing  out  of  Turtle  Lake  in  the  northeastern  corner 
of  the  town  of  Richmond  in  Walworth  County  a  stream  unites  near  the  west 
line  of  the  town  of  Delavan  with  the  outlet  of  Delavan  Lake  forming  bjr  this 
union  Turtle  Creek.  This  creek,  following  a  westerly  course,  enters  Rock 
County  in  the  town  of  Bradford,  flows  west  and  southwest  and  empties  into 
Rock  River  below  Beloit.  Numerous  creeks  and  several  small  lakes  in  various 
parts  of  the  county  with  the  above  mentioned  rivers  furnish  favorable  drainage 
to  the  county. 

The  average  elevation  of  the  water  power  of  the  Rock  River  is  about  155 
feet  above  the  surface  of  the  river  where  it  leaves  the  state  at  Beloit.  The 
main  river  itself  furnishes  an  estimated  20,000  horsepowrcr.  Abundant  water, 
in  consequence,  was  found  ready  for  early  manufacture. 

WINNEBAGO    INDIANS 

The  Winnebago  Indians  were  the  first  settlers  of  the  county.  From  the 
north  line  of  the  county  near  the  south  end  of  Lake  Koshkonong  to  the  State 
line  at  Beloit,  along  the  Rock  River,  an  almost  continuous  line  of  Indian 
Mounds,  villages  and  camp  sites,  testify  to  the  fact.  Before  1835  and  the 
advent  of  the  white  man  the  Indians  had  left  and  little  definite  information  is 
known  of  their  settlements.  A  Winnebago  village  certainly  once  stood  on 
the  site  of  present  Beloit  at  the  junction  of  the  Turtle  with  the  Rock.  The 
Winnebagoes  never  had,  however,  unassailed  possession  of  the  county.  The 
Sauk  and  Foxes  and  Pottawatomies  claimed  with  them  an  ownership  of  the 


374  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Rock  River  country,  while  the  Pottawatomies  disputed  the  possession  of  Rock 
County  with  them. 

The  first  treaty  made  by  the  United  States  for  any  of  the  lands  of  the  Rock 
River  was  made  with  the  Winnebagoes  January  30,  1816,  followed  by  those 
of  1826  and  1833.  The  remaining  part  of  the  county  was  secured  to  the  United 
States  by  the  treaty  with  the  Chippewa,  Ottawa  and  Pottawatomie  Indians  at 
Chicago  in  September,  1833.  All  doubt  as  to  title  was  removed  by  the  treaty 
with  the  Winnebagoes  in  1838  in  which  that  tribe  ceded  all  of  their  lands 
east  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  treaty  of  1832  with  the  Winnebagoes  secured  to  the  United  States  for 
settlement  the  western  half  of  Rock  County,  while  that  of  1833  with  the  Ottawas, 
Chippewas  and  Pottawatomies  secured  the  east  half  of  the  county. 

FIRST  KNOWN  SETTLERS 

Thibault,  a  French  Canadian  Indian  trader,  was  the  first  white  man  to 
settle  in  the  county  claiming  in  1836  to  have  been  living  in  this  general  region 
some  twelve  years.  There  was,  however,  no  evidence  of  his  habitation  when 
John  Inman  and  William  Holmes  visited  the  mouth  of  Turtle  Creek,  the  present 
site  of  Beloit,  on  July  14,  1835.  But  in  May,  1836,  Caleb  Blodgett  found  him 
living  there  with  his  two  squaws  and  a  grown-up  son.  In  the  spring  of  1837 
Thibault  sold  his  twelve-by-sixteen  log  cabin  to  Messrs.  Crane  and  Bicknell 
and  removed  to  Lake  Koshkonong. 

Ex-Congressman  L.  B.  Caswell  of  Fort  Atkinson,  Wisconsin,  writes  as 
follows  of  Thibault:  "I  knew  Thibault  (Tebo),  the  Indian  trader,  well.  He 
had  two  log  cabins  about  a  mile  and  a  half  above  the  mouth  of  Lake  Kosh- 
konong on  the  south  side.  Thibault,  I  should  judge,  was  about  fifty,  quite  tall 
and  slender.  He  kept  a  stock  of  goods  suitable  for  his  trade  with  the  Indians. 
*  *  *  He  was  said  to  be  a  fur  buyer  for  Solomon  Juneau  of  Milwaukee  and 
well  off,  and  we  always  found  him  honest  and  exerting  a  good  influence  among 
the  Indians.  He  kept  nothing  intoxicating  for  the  Indians  and  sold  them  only 
such  goods  as  they  needed.  Unfortunately,  however,  he  had  a  reckless  grown-up 
son,  Frank,  who  gave  him  no  small  amount  of  trouble.  Frank  and  the  young 
wife  were  greatly  attached  to  each  other.  In  the  winter  of  1839-40  the  old 
gentleman  disappeared,  which  fact  was  not  made  known  by  Frank  for  several 
weeks,  till  finally  he  came  to  our  house  and  told  us  his  father  had  been  missing 
for  some  time,  giving  no  intelligent  story  about  the  disappearance.  Suspicion 
at  once  rested  upon  both  the  young  people  and  extensive  search  was  made  for 
some  trace  of  foul  play;  but  without  success  and  the  search  was  finally  aban- 
doned. In  the  spring  of  1840  Frank  stored  some  of  their  household  goods  and 
articles  of  food  with  my  people  and,  with  the  two  wives,  went  away  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi River.  After  some  months  Frank  came  back  and  took  away  his  goods 
and  that  was  the  last  we  heard  of  them." 

The  first  settlement  in  the  county  was  made  in  1835  by  a  company  com- 
posed of  John  Inman,  George  Follmer,  William  Holmes,  Jr.,  and  Joshua  Holmes, 
and  Milo  Jones.  Coming  from  Milwaukee  they  erected,  November  18th,  a  small 
cabin  upon  the  southern  bank  of  the  Rock  River  opposite  the  "Big  Rock"  in 
present  Janesville.    During  the  same  month,  Samuel  St.  John  came  from  Ver- 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  375 

mont  with  his  wife  and  three  children.  During  the  winter  the  nine  persons 
all  lived  under  the  one  roof.  In  January,  1836,  an  infant  son  came  to  the 
family  of  Mr.  St.  John,  Seth  B.  St.  John,  becoming  the  first  white  child  born 
in  the  county.  Dr.  James  Heath  and  his  wife  joined  the  settlement  in  1836, 
while  Judge  William  Holmes  of  Michigan  City  moved  his  family  thereto  in 
March,  1836,  accompanied  by  John  Holmes  and  wife  and  Joshua  Clark.  Among 
the  several  who  came  in  the  spring  and  autumn  of  1836  we  find  prominently 
mentioned  Henry  P.  Janes  and  family,  his  brother,  Edward  Janes,  John  P. 
Dickson  and  wife,  W.  H.  H.  Bailey  and  wife,  Levi  Harness,  Curtis  Davies  and 
Levi  St.  John  and  family. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  Henry  P.  Janes  erected  a  cabin  sixteen  feet  square 
upon  the  spot  where  the  "Lappin's  Block"  stands.  This  became  the  tavern 
where  stopped  the  travelers  crossing  the  river  at  this  point.  Janes  first  kept 
the  house  himself,  but  was  succeeded  by  Charles  Stevens,  who  also  had  charge 
of  the  ferry  which,  in  the  meantime,  had  been  established  by  Mr.  Janes  and 
Aaron  Walker. 

Before  there  was  any  ferry  boat  at  this  point,  teams  forded  the  river  at 
"Big  Rock"  when  the  water  was  sufficiently  low.  When  this  could  not  be 
done  the  team  swam  the  river,  while  the  wagon  was  taken  over  upon  two  canoes. 
Judge  Holmes,  however,  by  sawing  out  lumber  with  a  "whip  saw"  soon  made 
a  scow  or  ferry  boat  for  crossing  the  river  just  below  the  large  bend,  some  dis- 
tance from  the  "Big  Rock."  A  few  months  later  Janes  and  Walker  built  their 
boat,  secured  a  charter  and  kept  their  ferry  in  operation  until  a  bridge  was 
I  milt  upon  the  same  spot  in  1842. 

In  1837  Hon.  E.  V.  Whiton,  Volney  Atwood,  Charles  Stevens  and  family, 
Dr.  G.  Stoughton  and  family,  Seymour  Stoughton,  Theodore  Kendall  and  wife, 
Harvey  Story,  William  and  Joseph  Spaulding,  Geo.  H.  Williston,  E.  J.  Hassard, 
Geo.  R.  Ramsey  and  Daniel  A.  Richardson  and  family,  were  among  the  settlers 
in  the  vicinity. 

The  lands  west  of  the  river  were  brought  into  the  market  in  1835,  while 
those  east  of  the  river  were  not  brought  in  until  September,  1839.  The  lauds 
on  the  west  side  were  all  entered  by  non-residents  who  speculated  on  "their 
corner  lots"  in  their  laid-out  towns,  but  those  who  settled  on  the  east  side  of 
the  river  where  the  commercial  business  of  Janesville  became  established  were 
bona  tide  settlers,  ready  to  endure  the  stern  realities  of  pioneer  life.  Unwilling 
and  unable  to  pay  the  advanced  price  asked  by  the  non-resident  owners  for 
the  land  west  of  the  river,  the  early  actual  settlers  had  to  become  squatters 
on  the  land  on  the  ea.st  side  of  the  river  still  unopened  for  sale  by  the  Gov- 
ernment. As  the  entire  community  came  to  hold  their  land  by  the  same  uncer- 
tain tenure,  regular  rules  gradually  developed  controlling  the  acquisition  and 
occupation  of  claims.  By  this  system  every  actual  settler  capable  of  a  day's 
work  was  entitled  to  a  claim,  one-half  section  (320  acres),  the  maximum,  and 
a  half  quarter  (80  acres),  the  minimum.  Men  with  families  were  allowed  an 
amount  varying  with  the  size  of  the  family.  After  establishing  definitely  the 
limits  of  the  tract  claimed  some  work  on  the  land  had  to  be  done.  Naturally 
some  difficulties  were  experienced  in  locating  claims  on  land  prior  to  the 
surveys  and  a  peculiar  squatters"  method  was  evolved.  As  "the  border  law" 
allowed  the  squatter  to  hold  a  fixed  number  of  acres  he  was  free,  upon  disposing 


376  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

of  a  half-quarter  or  squatter-section  to  a  new  corner  to  take  up  as  much  more 
and  repeat  this  as  often  as  a  sale  was  made,  providing  he  infringed  upon  no 
other's  claim. 

With  the  filling  up  of  the  settlements  the  lands  naturally  increased  in  value, 
causing  many  adventurers  to  become  anxious  to  secure  claims.  Often  attempts 
were  made  to  take  possession  of  claims  already  taken  up  insisting  that,  as  they 
were  neither  occupied  nor  cultivated,  the  simple  furrow  ploughed  around  them 
did  not  protect  them  from  occupation.  The  original  squatters  had,  therefore, 
to  protect  themselves  against  such  "jumping  of  claims."  They  formed  asso- 
ciations for  the  mutual  adjustment  of  all  disputes.  A  register  was  kept  of 
each  individual  squatter's  claim  and  they  together  enforced  the  decisions  of 
their  board  of  arbitration.  Their  success  in  organization  against  the  "jumpers" 
gave  them  assurance  when  their  lands  were,  in  1839,  at  Milwaukee  brought  into 
the  market  and  nonresident  speculators  sought  to  buy  them  up  at  a  much 
higher  price  than  the  minimum  fixed  by  the  Government.  They  called  meetings 
in  the  several  settlements  and  selected  one  individual  in  each,  to  attend  the  sale 
as  the  representative  of  the  settlement  and  bid  in  each  tract,  as  it  was  offered, 
at  its  minimum  price  in  the  name  of  the  squatter  who  had  claimed  it.  They 
threatened  with  a  fight  any  speculator  who  insisted  on  bidding.  When  neces- 
sary they  even  attended  the  sale  in  a  body,  with  arms  in  their  hands  to  overawe 
the  opposition. 

FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  JANESVILLE 

Henry  F.  Janes  first  surveyed  and  platted,  in  the  spring  of  1837,  the  town 
which  was  named  Janesville  in  his  honor.  It  was  replatted  by  the  county  com- 
missioners in  1840  after  the  land  was  brought  into  the  market. 

Rock  County  was  not  separately  organized  until  the  spring  of  1839,  when 
the  first  meeting  of  the  county  commissioners  was  held.  Before  that,  however, 
Mr.  Janes  had  at  the  session  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  at  Belmont  in  the 
winter  of  1836-37  secured  the  location  of  the  county  seat  upon  the  same  frac- 
tional quarter  section  on  which  he  had  located. 

In  1841  the  county  commissioners  secured  D.  A.  Richardson  as  the  contractor 
to  erect  the  courthouse  and,  by  January,  1842,  it  was  sufficiently  completed  to 
be  used. 

General  Wm.  B.  She"don,  a  member  of  the  Territorial  Legislature,  went  in 
1837  to  Washington  and  secured  the  location  of  a  post  office  at  Janesville. 
Henry  F.  Janes  became  its  first  postmaster.  On  the  23rd  day  of  April,  1837,  a 
single  horseman  appeared  on  the  bank  of  Rock  River,  from  Mineral  Point, 
it  being  Dr.  B.  B.  Carey,  the  veteran  postmaster  at  Racine  who,  with  the  mail 
for  Janesville  had  arrived  to  induct  the  newly  appointed  postmaster  into  office. 
Thereafter,  Postmaster  Janes  fastened  a  cigar  box  upon  a  log  in  his  bar  and 
in  that  for  some  months  were  deposited  the  mails  of  Rock  County. 

In  August,  1839,  Janes,  being  a  typical  frontiersman,  found  too  many  set- 
tlers gathering  around  him.  So  he  moved  westward,  perpetuating  his  name 
in  Janesville,  Minnesota  and  Janesville,  Iowa,  as  well.  In  a  letter  written  by 
him,  December  17,  1866,  to  the  Janesville  Gazette  from  Camp  Curtis,  Cal.,  and 
published  in  the  Gazette,  he  closes  a  narrative  of  his  experiences  in  settling 


*tA*i*.«.*i<l* 

at*' 


9R^^n^r^phSCa^UH8r ; 


JANESVILLE  IN  1862 
Hyatt  House  and  first  Tobacco  Warehouse 


378  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Janesville,  Wisconsin,  with  the  following  words:  "In  the  fall  of  1849  the 
Pacific  Coast  put  an  end  to  my  further  progress  towards  the  setting  sun,  and 
as  I  never  varied  much  from  north  to  south  my  wanderings  are  at  an  end.  I 
managed  to  keep  ahead  of  all  railroads  and  telegraphs,  and  now,  in  my  sixty- 
third  year,  I  have  never  seen  a  telegraph  or  railroad." 

JANESVILLE 's   DEVELOPMENT 

Janesville  early  established  a  prominence  in  commerce  and  trade  in  the 
section.  H.  F.  Janes  was  the  first  merchant,  keeping  for  some  months  a  small 
stock  of  groceries  and  drygoods  in  the  third  story  of  his  log  tavern.  Thomas 
Lappin,  however,  became  the  first  regular  merchant  with  sign,  shelves  and 
counters.  Becoming  bolder,  he  agreed  to  pay  one  hundred  dollars  for  the  lot 
on  which  his  block  was  later  built.  Before  the  advent  of  banks,  he  remitted 
his  funds  to  Chicago  or  Galena  by  stage  drivers,  or  "someone  going  in"  and 
received  in  return  a  piece  of  calico  or  factory  cloth,  a  bag  of  coffee  or  chest 
of  tea.    Daniel  A.  Richardson  opened  the  second  store. 

By  1834  Charles  Stevens  and  others  secured  the  charter  for  the  location  of 
a  dam  to  utilize  the  splendid  water  power  at  the  rapids.  The  dam  was  built  by 
H.  S.  Hanchet,  thereby  furnishing  such  extensive  water  power  that  before  1850 
several  mills  and  factories  began  operation.  The  town  which  began  in  1842  with 
a  population  of  215  steadily  increased  until  in  June,  1850,  it  had  a  population 
of  3,100.     It  became  an  incorporated  city  in  1853. 

Having  their  proper  New  England  belief  in  education,  the  villagers  estab- 
lished their  first  school  in  1838  in  the  log  schoolhouse  on  the  south  side  of  the 
bend  of  the  river  on  the  property  of  Abram  C.  Bailey.  Hiram  H.  Brown  was 
the  first  teacher  of  this,  the  first  school  opened  in  the  county.  This  log  school- 
house  of  rough  hewn  logs  and  seats  of  basswood  slabs  was  used  until  1843,  when 
another  log  house  was  used  until  the  erection  of  the  red  frame  schoolhouse  of 
the  joint  districts  of  Rook  and  La  Prairie  in  1844,  a  full  half  mile  east  of  the 
first  school.  Orrin  Guernsey  was  the  first  teacher  in  this  new  frame  building. 
The  settlement  near  Janes'  tavern  and  ferry  opened  a  school  in  a  log  house  in 
the  woods  near  North  Main  Street  three  rods  north  of  East  Milwaukee  Street. 
Miss  Cornelia  Sheldon  (later  Mrs.  Isaac  Woodle)  taught  the  first  terms  here 
in  1840.     In  1845  a  brick  building  was  erected  on  Division  Street. 

In  1843  a  charter  was  granted  to  A.  Hyatt  Smith,  E.  V.  Whiton,  J.  B.  Doe, 
Chas.  Stevens  and  W.  H.  Bailey  for  the  establishment  of  the  Janesville  Acad- 
emy. With  the  erection  of  a  stone  building  on  High  Street,  near  Milwaukee 
Street,  on  the  site  of  the  present  Lincoln  school,  the  academy  opened  in  1814 
with  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Ruger,  an  Episcopalian  clergyman,  as  principal.  Here 
many  of  the  business  men  of  an  earlier  generation  received  their  education. 
It  became  known  in  the  early  '50s  as  the  Janesville  Collegiate  Institution.  Pur- 
chased by  the  city  in  1855,  it  was  used  for  public  school  purposes  until  1876 
when  it  was  replaced  by  the  present  Lincoln  school. 

The  Methodists  were  the  first  to  establish  preaching  in  Janesville.  As  early 
as  1841  a  Methodist  class  was  formed  by  Rev.  Mr.  McKane,  preacher  on  this 
circuit,  and  J.  P.  Wheeler  established  as  leader.  Their  first  church  and  par- 
sonage were  erected  in  1842,  replaced  by  other  buildings  in  1848. 


ST.  MARY'S  CATHOLIC  CHURCH,  JANESVILLE 


380  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

The  Trinity  Episcopalian  Church  of  Janesville  was  organized  with  six  com- 
municants during  the  ministry  of  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Ruger.  A  new  house  of  wor- 
ship was  built  of  brick  in  1848. 

The  First  Baptist  Church  was  organized  in  1844  under  the  ministry  of  Rev. 
Jeremiah  Murphy.    Their  church  was  built  in  1851. 

Regular  preaching  was  begun  by  the  Congregationalists  in  1844  by  Rev. 
C.  H.  A.  Bulkley  who  on  Feb.  11,  1845,  assisted  by  Rev.  S.  Peet,  organized 
the  first  Congregational  Church  of  Janesville.  By  1850  a  brick  church  was 
erected  and  dedicated. 

While  the  community  received  occasional  visits  from  the  Catholic  priest  of 
Geneva,  Walworth  County,  the  first  Catholic  Church  was  not  organized  in 
Janesville  until  1850. 

Universalist  preachers  occasionally  visited  Janesville  as  early  as  1842  and 
in  1845  Rev.  C.  F.  La  Fevre  of  Milwaukee  delivered  a  series  of  discourses  while 
Rev.  F.  Whittaker,  the  next  year,  began  preaching  alternately  in  Janesville 
and  Beloit. 

In  1855  Rev.  M.  W.  Staples  assisted  by  Rev.  Messrs.  Savage,  Park  and 
Gardiner,  organized  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Janasville  with  twelve 
members. 

The  first  number  of  the  Janesville  Gazette,  the  earliest  newspaper,  appeared 
on  August  14,  1845.  It  was  published  by  Levi  Alden  and  E.  A.  Stoddard.  The 
firm  soon  changed  to  Alden  &  Thompkins  to  be  superseded  by  Alden  alone,  later 
by  Alden  and  Charles  Holt.  It  continued  a  stanch  whig  paper  until  the  organ- 
ization of  the  republicans  in  1854  when  it  became  the  organ  of  that  party. 

General  G.  W.  Crabb  established  the  Rock  County  Democrat  in  1846  but 
changed  its  name  to  the  Freesoil  Democrat  in  1848.  Later,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Crabb  &  Brown  it  became  Badger  State  to  become  later  the  Democratic 
Standard.  In  1853  the  Janesville  Free  Press  began  and  had  various  proprietors 
during  the  '50s. 

In  February,  1841,  the  contract  was  let  to  D.  A.  Richardson  for  the  building 
of  the  first  courthouse  which  was  completed  and  ready  for  occupancy  in  Decem- 
ber of  the  next  year.  It  was  located  back  of  the  present  courthouse.  A  log 
jail  was  erected  in  1842  on  Main  Street  opposite  the  Lewis  Knitting  Company's 
building,  remaining  there  only  a  few  years  when  another  jail  was  built  in  the 
Courthouse  park.  Charles  Stevens,  Thomas  Lappin  and  W.  H.  H.  Bailey  built, 
in  1842,  the  first  bridge  over  Rock  River  operating  it  for  the  tolls  for  nearly 
ten  years. 

Elbridge  G.  Fifield  began  the  first  lumberyard  in  1843,  since  which  time 
one  has  been  in  continuous  operation  by  the  same  Fifield  family.  Coming  from 
Arermont  in  1837,  Elbridge  G.  Fifield  presented  a  claim  about  three  miles  from 
Jefferson.  Working  in  the  winters  getting  out  logs  and  in  a  lumber  yard  at 
Bark  River,  he,  in  the  spring,  rafted  the  lumber  down  the  river  going  as  far 
south  as  Dixon,  Illinois.  Prior  to  his  establishment  of  his  yard  at  Janesville,  he 
sold  the  lumber  from  these  rafts  when  they  floated  through  Janesville. 

In  1844  Daniel  A.  Richardson  erected  the  first  brick  block  for  business  pur- 
poses, it  constituting  a  portion  of  the  block  where  M.  Bostwick  &  Sons'  store 
is  now  on  Main  Street. 

On  the  Fourth   of  July,   1844,   a  regular  Mississippi   River  boat  130   feet 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  381 

long  reached  Janesville,  where  it  took  on  the  major  part  of  the  population  for  an 
excursion  to  Jefferson.  Reaching  Fort  Atkinson,  the  proprietors  of  a  bridge 
across  the  river  were  induced  to  remove  a  portion  of  it  to  allow  the  boat  to 
pass.  The  excursion  party  stopped  over  night  at  Jefferson  and  returned  to 
Janesville  the  next  day.  The  boat  remained  at  Janesville  some  weeks,  running 
excursions  therefrom  but  in  the  fall  the  captain  returned  with  it  to  the  Missis- 
sippi, thereby  ending  navigation  from  the  Mississippi  up  the  Rock. 

The  Rock  County  House  was  opened  by  Volney  Atwood  in  1844  at  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Court  streets,  to  be  succeeded  soon  by  a  Mr.  Blood  who 
was  later  followed  by  Sol  Hudson,  who  ran  the  hotel  as  the  American  House 
until  it  burned  in  1868. 

As  early  as  1845,  brick-making  was  begun  in  Janesville.  The  Big  Mill, 
located  just  north  of  Milwaukee  Street  on  the  river  and  raceway,  was  erected 
thai  year  by  .James  McClurg  for  A.  Hyatt  Smith  and  others  to  be  operated  upon 
completion  by  the  firm  of  Smith,  Walker  &  Doe.  Its  initial  operation  on  Jan- 
uary 2(>.  1847,  was  a  great  event.  Grain  had  been  brought  from  many  distant 
points  in  the  state  to  be  ground  and  a  large  gathering  assembled  to  view  the 
first  working  of  the  machinery  which  performed  its  task  in  admirable  fashion. 
Tie1  mill  was  50x80  feet,  four  stories  high  and  attic,  with  six  runs  of  stone. 
In  1849  the  Parmer's  Mills  were  completed,  having  been  started  in  the  fall  of 
1847.  Other  mills  were  built  in  1848-41),  among  which  was  the  Whittaker  Woolen 
Mill  which  began  operation  in  1850. 

E.  V.  Whiton  became  Janesville 's  representative  at  the  second  State  Con- 
stitutional Convention  held  in  December,  1847,  at  which  a  constitution  was 
adopted  and  ratified  by  the  people  in  1848,  resulting  in  the  admission  of  Wis- 
consin into  statehood. 

In  1848  Charles  Stevens  built,  at  the  corner  of  Milwaukee  and  Franklin 
streets,  the  Stevens  House  which  was  operated  as  a  hotel  until  it  burned  in  1853. 

In  the  spring  of  the  year  1848,  James  Sutherland  opened  the  first  book  store 
in  Janesville.  It  has  been  run  continuously  by  the  father  and  sons  to  the  pres- 
ent day,  being  the  oldest  store  of  its  kind  in  the  state.  Twice  mayor  of  Janes- 
vilh.  .lames  Sutherland  was  also  a  State  senator,  member  of  the  School  Board 
and  the  author,  as  senator,  of  the  bill  under  which  Wisconsin  normal  schools 
were    established. 

At  the  first  State  election  held  in  1848  Edward  V.  Whiton  was  elected 
judge  of  the  First  Judicial  District  of  the  State,  comprising  Racine,  Walworth, 
Bock  and  Green  counties.  An  accomplished  lawyer  from  Massachusetts,  he 
had  moved  to  Janesville  in  1837  and,  despite  his  retiring  disposition,  had  had 
his  ability  discovered  and  been  forced  to  become  a  member  of  the  Territorial 
Legislature  in  1838,  continuing  therein  to  the  time  of  the  admission  of  the 
Slate.  He  was  the  principal  compiler  of  the  Statutes  of  1839  and  was  most 
largely  instrumental  as  a  member  of  the  judicial  committee  of  the  Second 
Constitutional  Convention  in  framing  the  adopted  constitution.  He  was  elected 
ehief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  1852,  continuing  in  that  position  until 
his  death,  April  12,  1889. 

In  1849  an  Asylum  for  the  Blind  was  established  in  Janesville,  first  by 
private  parties;  holding  its  first  term  in  one  of  Ira  Miltimore's  buildings  on 
Center  Avenue  near  the  Monterey  bridge.     Later  in  1850  it  was  transferred  to 


382  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

the  residence  of  Mrs.  H.  Hunter  on  Jackson  Street.  "With  the  donation  of  ten 
acres  by  Captain  Miltimore,  a  building  was  erected  on  its  present  site  and  soon 
thereafter  the  state  assumed  charge.  To  Josiah  F.  Willard,  the  father  of  Prances 
Willard,  the  famous  temperance  advocate  and  founder  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  is 
given  great  credit  for  securing  this  School  for  the  Blind  for  Janesville.  Mr. 
Willard  settled  on  a  farm  in  1846,  a  little  south  of  where  the  school  is  located, 
living  there  until  1858. 

By  October,  1849,  a  daily  mail  service  between  Milwaukee  and  Janesville 
was  established.  With  the  mails  all  carried  by  stage;  there  were  nine  mail 
routes  crossing  Janesville  so  that  the  arrival  and  departure  of  the  stages  gave 
a  lively  appearance  to  the  town.  By  1850  the  town  had  grown  to  a  population 
of  3,100,  having  increased  about  1,300  in  a  little  over  a  year. 

Much  building  was  done  in  1851.  Ensign  H.  Bennett  and  J.  F.  Clapp 
erected  a  three-story  building  on  Main  Street,  now  a  part  of  Bostwick's  store. 
The  Ogden  House,  a  five-story  building  on  the  northerly  side  of  Milwaukee 
Street  between  Main  and  Bluff,  was  built  by  J.  M.  May  to  be  used  as  a  hotel 
after  the  burning  of  the  Stevens  House.  S.  D.  Smith  and  William  M.  Tallman 
built  the  Tallman  Block  on  Milwaukee  Street.  In  the  same  year  the  first  State 
Fair  was  held  in  Janesville  on  the  prairie  east  of  the  courthouse  park  where 
the  George  McKey  and  C.  S.  Jaekman  residences  are  now  located.  At  least 
5,000  people  attended  and  the  net  receipts  of  $254  were  divided  equally  between 
the  State  and  the  County  associations. 

JANESVILLE  INCORPORATED   AS    A    CITY 

In  1853  Janesville  was  incorporated  as  a  city  with  practically  its  present 
boundaries,  including  four  sections  of  the  town  of  Janesville,  two  of  the  town 
of  Rock,  one  section  in  La  Prairie  and  two  in  the  town  of  Harmony.  At  the 
first  election  A.  Hyatt  Smith  was  elected  mayor.  From  his  arrival  in  1837  he 
became  unusually  prominent  in  all  activities  interested  in  waterpower  and  rail- 
road projects,  Becoming  attorney-general  of  the  territory,  he  held  the  office 
until  the  admission  of  the  state  into  the  union.  Owning  most  of  the  land  on 
the  west  side  of  the  river  and  much  property  in  Janesville,  he  was  estimated 
to  be  worth,  at  one  time,  over  $1,000,000. 

On  January  5,  1853,  the  city  celebrated  the  completion  of  the  Mississippi 
and  Milwaukee  Railway,  although  the  first  locomotive  did  not  arrive  in  Janes- 
ville until  January  10th  when  it  stopped  at  the  depot  on  the  bluff  east  of  the 
present  gas  works,  in  charge  of  Engineer  John  C.  Fox. 

The  plan  of  Mayor  Smith  for  a  railway  from  Janesville  to  the  Mississippi 
brought,  in  the  summer  of  1853,  two  delegations  to  Janesville ;  one  from  Galena 
and  the  other  from  Dubuque,  advocating  different  routes.  Judge  Fifield  reports 
that  the  teamster,  who  drove  the  wagon  that  brought  the  first  party,  registered 
at  the  old  American  Hotel  as  U.  S.  Grant  and  team,  Galena.  The  venerable 
city  clerk,  James  Birgess,  subsequently  said:  ''Whether  the  driver  of  the  team 
and  the  late  President  Grant  are  identical,  I  have  no  means  of  knowing.  After 
the  meeting  adjourned,  the  two  delegations  invited  me  to  a  dinner  which  lasted 
well  along  towards  daybreak.  Rumor  says  one  of  the  party,  when  the  time  came 
for  the  Galena  delegation  to  leave  for  home,  was  heard  to  propose  to  another 


JOSTAH  F.  WILLARD 
Father  of  Francos  Willard 


TIIK    WIL 


Ij.MiI'      II 


)M  E    N  EAi;    .IANKSVILLE 


384  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

that  they  should  send  for  Ulysses.  "Let  him  sleep"  was  the  reply,  "it's  better 
for  him  and  us  too. ' ' 

With  the  arrival  on  June  25,  1855,  of  the  two  hand  fire  engines,  the  first 
regular  parade  of  the  fire  department  occurred.  Parading  in  full  uniform 
of  leather  helmets,  red  shirts  and  black  pants  with  red  top  boots,  they  made 
an  attractive  appearance.  On  the  Fourth  of  July  the  Milwaukee  Fire  Com- 
pany No.  3  participated  with  them  in  the  celebration. 

In  October,  1855,  two  enduring  banks  were  started  in  Janesville.  The 
Central  Bank,  now  the  First  National,  began  with  0.  W.  Norton  its  first  presi- 
dent and  William  A.  Lawrence,  its  cashier.  The  Rock  County  Bank  organized 
as  a  state  bank  with  Timothy  Jackman  as  president,  Andrew  Palmer,  vice- 
president,  and  J.  B.  Crosby,  cashier.  It  became  a  national  bank  in  1865,  since 
which  time  it  has  been  the  Rock  County  National  Bank. 

William  Hutson  built  a  four-story  brick  block  north  of  McKey's  on  the 
east  side  of  Main  Street.  The  four-story  block  begun  by  Peter  Myers,  also  in 
1855,  was  not  finished  until  1858.  It  is  south  of  the  present  Myers  House.  A 
portion  of  the  five-story  building  on  East  Milwaukee  Street,  east  of  the  Ogden 
House,  was  built  by  Sanford  Williams;  the  balance  of  the  block's  two  stories 
was  built  by  Nelson  Hulburt  in  1849 ;  and  in  1855,  the  balance  raised  three 
stories,  making  the  whole  five  stories  in  height.  Janesville  certainly  took  on 
a  metropolitan  air  with  its  imposing  buildings  and  over  7,000  population. 

In  1856  two  new  bridges  were  erected.  The  Janesville  Gas  Company  com- 
menced operations,  the  fire  department  was  enlarged,  and  the  first  passenger 
train  on  the  Chicago,  St.  Paul  &  Fond  du  Lac  Railway,  now  the  Chicago  & 
North  Western,  arrived  in  Janesville. 

On  October  1,  1859,  Abraham  Lincoln  made  a  political  speech  in  Janesville 
in  Young  America  Hall.  Brought  to  the  city  from  Beloit  by  Hon.  A.  A. 
Jackson,  he  was  entertained  while  there  by  W.  M.  Tallman. 

By  the  beginning  of  1860  Janesville  had  a  population  of  over  7,000,  with  a 
well  built-up  Main  Street  and  East  and  West  Milwaukee  streets.  The  Myers 
House  was  being  built  and  the  large  Hyatt  House,  the  old  American  House  at 
the  corner  of  Court  and  Main  streets,  the  Ogden  House  and  other  smaller  hotels 
served  well  the  traveling  public.  Eleven  flour  mills,  with  a  total  of  24  runs 
of  stone  and  a  yearly  manufacturing  capacity  of  200,000  barrels  of  flour,  were 
located  on  the  upper  and  lower  power  plants.  A  plow  factory  and  foundry,  a 
sash  and  door  plant  and  two  woolen  mills,  were  also  active.  On  North  Frank- 
lin Street  a  steam  operated  plant  of  the  Western  Novelty  Works  had  been  built 
by  Joseph  H.  Budd ;  while  on  South  River  and  Center  streets  was  a  large  man- 
ufacturing plant  which  was  the  nucleus  of  the  later  Janesville  Machine  Company. 

A  number  of  fine  and  costly  residences  were  the  homes  of  prominent  citizens. 
On  the  east  side  Timothy  Jackman  had  a  large  brick  dwelling  east  of  the 
courthouse  park,  now  owned  by  George  McKey.  Morris  C.  Smith's  residence 
stood  south  of  the  park  on  the  east  side  of  Division  Street,  J.  J.  R.  Pease  owned 
the  house  on  the  knoll  on  the  corner  of  Prospect  Avenue  and  Cornelia  Street, 
while  at  the  top  of  the  hill  on  Milwaukee  Street,  stood  the  finished  brick  house 
of  A.  C.  Bates.  A.  Hyatt  Smith  had  his  residence  on  North  Bluff  Street;  and 
above  it  was  the  large  Isaac  Woodle  home.  Chas.  II.  Conrad  had  a  large  resi- 
dence on  South  Main  Street.     On  the  west  side  were  the  notable  residences  of 


THE  BOCK  RIVER  VALLEY  385 

Andrew  Palmer  on  the  corner  of  Academy  and  Pleasant  streets,  and  the  Wil- 
liam Tallman  home  on  the  north  end  of  Jackson  Street. 

Several  stage  lines  still  ran  through  the  city  although  railway  connections 
with  Milwaukee,  Chicago,  Monroe  and  Oshkosh  existed. 

JANESVILLE   IN   THE  CIVIL  WAR 

With  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war,  Janesville  naturally  became  engaged 
in  war  service.  .Many  volunteers  responded  to  Lincoln's  initial  call.  Two  army 
camps  were  located  at  Janesville — one,  Camp  Cameron  where  the  cavalry  was 
recruited,  was  located  on  the  old  Fair  Grounds  and  the  other,  Camp  Treadway, 
for  the  Infantry  at  the  Fair  Grounds  on  Milwaukee  Avenue. 

The  first  company  left  for  Camp  Randall,  at  Madison  on  May  6,  1861.  This 
company,  D,  Second  Regiment,  Wisconsin  Volunteers,  under  the  captaincy  of 
Geo.  B.  Ely,  passed  through  Janesville  on  the  way  to  Washington.  The  ladies 
of  the  city  provided  them  with  a  dinner  for  which  tables  were  set  in  a  grove 
occupying  the  site  of  Schaller  &  McKey's  lumberyard  on  Center  Avenue.  On 
.1  une  22nd  of  the  same  year,  Company  E  of  the  Fifth  Regiment  of  Wisconsin 
Volunteers,  with  II.  M.  Wheeler  as  captain,  composed  of  the  Janesville  Light 
Guards,  left  for  Camp  Randall.  Mustered  into  United  States  service  on  July 
13,  1861,  they  continued  until  July  16,  1865. 

Another  company,  G,  of  the  Eighth  Regiment  of  Wisconsin  Volunteers 
under  the  captaincy  of  W.  B.  Britton,  largely  constituted  from  the  Janesville 
fire  department,  left  the  same  year  for  Madison.  During  the  war  Captain 
Britton  became  colonel  of  the  famed  Eagle  Regiment  which  bore  "Old  Abe,"  the 
famous  Wisconsin  eagle. 

From  volunteers  from  Rock  and  Walworth  counties,  the  Thirteenth  Regi- 
ment was  recruited  and  entered  service  in  August,  1861.  Captain  Edward 
Ruger  of  Company  A,  Captain  E.  E.  Woodman  of  Company  B,  Captain  F.  F. 
Stevens  of  Company  F,  Captain  Pliny  Norcross  of  Company  K,  were  all  from 
Janesville.  Norcross  was  the  first  student  to  enlist  from  the  University  of 
Wisconsin. 

Company  E,  of  the  Third  Wisconsin  Cavalry,  went  into  camp  at  Spring- 
brook  in  December,  1861,  remaining  there  until  March  of  the  next  year.  It 
was  recruited  in  and  around  Janesville  with  Ira  Dustin,  Jr.,  as  captain.  Com- 
pany of  the  Second  Wisconsin  Cavalry,  had  Nathaniel  Parker  as  captain. 

With  Ex-Governor  William  A.  Barstow  as  colonel,  the  Third  Wisconsin 
Cavalry  left  the  Janesville  camp  for  the  southwest  in  March  of  1862. 

The  Twelfth  Wisconsin  Battery  of  sixty  men,  under  Lieutenant  E.  G. 
Harlow,  left  Janesville  August  20,  1862,  in  time  to  be  active  in  the  battle  of 
Iuka,  Mississippi,  September  19,  1862.  Leaving  the  city  on  September  29,  1862, 
Company  E  of  the  Third  Regiment  of  Wisconsin  Volunteers,  under  Ira  Milti- 
more.  were  mustered  into  service  at  Racine  October  18th. 

Company  A,  Fortieth  Regiment  Wisconsin  Volunteers,  under  Captain  S.  D. 
Lockwood,  was  the  last  regiment  to  leave  Janesville,  on  May  17,  1864.  Drs. 
Henry  Palmer  and  J.  B.  Whiting  were  also  army  surgeons. 

In  1861  the  Myers  Hotel  was  opened  for  service,  having  been  built  by 
Peter  Myers   who   at   first  personally    conducted   it.      Having   accumulated    a 


386  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

considerable  fortune  since  his  arrival  in  1845,  in  the  meat  and  packing  busi- 
ness, he  devoted  himself  to  the  development  of  the  city ;  building  in  addition 
to  the  hotel,  several  stores  on  Main  Street,  the  Opera  House  and  the  Armory 
building. 

In  the  closing  five  years  of  the  '60s,  an  epidemic  of  fires  seems  to  have 
seized  Janesville.  Beginning  in  1865  with  the  Roethinger  brewery  at  the  foot 
of  South  Main  Street,  fire  next  destroyed,  in  1867,  the  Hyatt  House,  in  1868 
the  American  House  and  the  Fredondall  block,  on  South  Main  and  Court 
streets.  Naturally  an  agitation  began  which  resulted  in  the  purchase  of  two 
steam  fire  engines. 

In  1869  Dr.  Wm.  P.  Duvalle  was  arrested  for  the  poisoning  of  his  wife 
at  the  boarding  house  where  the  Grand  Hotel  is  now  located.  He  was  con- 
victed and  sentenced  to  Waupun  for  life. 

In  1870  the  present  courthouse  was  finished  at  a  total  cost  of  about  $75,000. 

In  1874  there  was  launched  in  the  establishment  of  the  Janesville  Cotton 
Manufacturing  Company  an  enterprise  which  for  many  years  was  of  great 
importance  to  the  city.  The  company  was  organized  with  an  initial  capital  of 
$125,000  which  was  later  increased  to  $500,000.  The  suggestion  of  a  cotton 
factory  came  from  Frank  Whittaker  who  aided  greatly  in  its  establishment.  The 
officers  were  O.  B.  Ford,  president;  J.  J.  R.  Pease,  vice  president;  F.  S.  Eldred, 
treasurer,  and  William  A.  Lawrence,  secretary.  Two  large  buildings  were 
erected  and  fitted  with  the  necessary  machinery,  between  North  Franklin  and 
River  streets.  Later,  in  1883,  another  large  factory  building  and  power  plant 
southwest  of  the  woolen  mills  in  Monterey  on  the  lower  water  power,  were 
erected  at  an  additional  cost  of  $250,000.  Expert  cottonmen  from  North  Adams, 
Massachusetts,  in  the  persons  of  A.  J.  Ray  and  Chester  Bailey  were  secured ;  the 
latter  becoming  superintendent  of  the  mills.  Doing  a  large  business  for  many 
years,  they  made  in  1878  over  5,000,000  yards  of  sheeting  valued  at  $300,000, 
had  a  pay  roll  of  $70,000,  employing  nearly  400  hands.  Increasing  further 
their  output,  they  found  that  the  excessive  freight  rates  on  cotton  and  the  high 
price  paid  operatives  brought  them  financial  difficulties  resulting  in  the  forma- 
tion of  a  new  corporation,  the  Janesville  Cotton  Mills,  which  took  over  the 
business,  ran  it  for  some  years  only  to  be  compelled  to  succumb,  selling  the 
plant  to  the  Janesville  Electric  Company. 

A  great  social  event  in  the  form  of  a  charity  ball  was  held  upon  the  com- 
pletion of  the  main  building  in  1875.  According  to  the  "Gazette"  at  least  4,000 
people  attended  it,  February  9,  1875.  Beginning  with  exercises  held  on  the 
first  floor  at  which  Dr.  Palmer,  Pliny  Norcross,  Judge  Bennett  and  others  made 
speeches,  it  ended  with  the  ball  proper  on  the  third  floor  at  which  768  persons 
were  dancing  at  one  time. 

Additional  buildings  were  erected  during  these  years  and  changes  in  man- 
ufacturing interest  made ;  notably  the  acquisition  by  Geo.  C.  McLean  of  the 
Payne  and  Hastings  Woolen  Mills  and  his  operating  the  same,  with  an  increased 
output,  as  the  New  McLean  Manufacturing  Company.  The  mills  are  still 
running  as  the  Rock  River  Woolen  Mills. 

Colonel  Burr  Robbins  purchased  the  old  Doty  farm  and  old  fair  grounds 
at  the  bend  of  the  river  in  the  Southeastern  part  of  the  city  in  1874  and  estab- 
lished there  the  winter  quarters  for  his  Great  American  and  German  Allied 


(Through   the  courtesy   of   the  Rex   Studio,   Janesville) 

LAKE  KOSHKOXOXG,  UPPER  WATERS  OF  THE  ROCK  RIVER 


(ThrouEh   the  courtesy   of   the   Rex   Studio,   Janesville) 

PBANCES  WILLABD   SCHOOL,  THEEE   MILES  SOUTH  OF   JAXESVILLE 
Views  iii  the  Upper  Boek  River  Valley 


Vol.  1—25 


388  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Shows.  Here  his  circus  wintered  until  the  late  '80s.  Busy  in  its  winter  prep- 
arations for  the  coming  season,  the  animals  afforded  a  great  source  of  enter- 
tainment; while  the  first  performance  of  the  circus  was  always  given  in  Janes- 
ville. 

The  Merchants  and  Mechanics  Savings  Bank  was  organized  in  1875,  as  the 
first  savings  bank  in  Janesville.  Steadily  growing,  it  is  now  housed  in  a  remod- 
eled building  beautifully  finished  in  white  marble  and  mahogany. 

After  the  burning  of  the  Williams  House  in  1877,  David  Jeffris  built  in 
1879  the  present  Grand  Hotel  on  the  same  site.  Opening  for  business  in  1880, 
the  Grand  has  now  for  many  years  been  efficiently  conducted  by  J.  F.  Sweeney. 
Mr.  Jeffris  ran  a  lumber  yard  for  years  just  south  of  the  Grand  Hotel  building. 
He  is  reported  as  having  erected  over  four  hundred  buildings  in  the  city. 

In  1877  the  manufacture  of  cigar  boxes  and  cigar  box  lumber  was  begun  in 
Janesville  by  John  Thoroughgood  and  F.  Stevens;  other  factories  were  soon 
added. 

The  Janesville  Shoe  Manufacturing  Company  began  operations  in  1875  at 
the  corner  of  South  Main  and  South  Second  streets.  Incorporated  as  the  Wis- 
consin Shoe  Company  in  1878,  it  operated  for  several  years  doing  an  annual 
business  of  $200,000.  Other  shoe  factories  arose  experiencing  varying  vicissi- 
tudes.   One,  however,  owned  by  Mr.  Marzluff  is  still  running. 

With  the  '80s  the  handling  of  leaf  tobacco  began  to  assume  considerable 
importance  as  an  industry.  It  increased  steadily  until  today  several  firms 
have  millions  of  dollars  invested  in  it.  The  assorting  and  handling  of  the  crop 
gives  employment  to  over  a  thousand  men  and  women  for  several  months  of 
the  year.  In  more  recent  years,  the  stemming  of  the  lower  grades  of  leaf  for 
export  purposes  has  occasioned  the  erection  of  large  warehouses  by  M.  F.  Green 
Company  and  other  firms. 

The  electric  light  first  appeared  in  Janesville  in  1880  with  the  incorporation 
of  the  Light  Company  by  Dr.  Henry  Palmer,  W.  T.  Van  Kirk  and  others. 
Captain  Pliny  Norcross,  purchasing  it  later,  enlarged  the  plant,  but  sold  out 
in  1904  to  a  company  composed  of  M.  G.  Jeffris,  Lewis  Carle,  T.  O.  Howe, 
Stanley  B.  Smith  and  George  Sutherland  who  further  extended  the  plant.  Buy- 
ing the  water  power  and  buildings  of  the  old  Janesville  Cotton  Manufacturing 
Company,  the  Ford  Milling  Company  and  others,  they  secured  control  of  the 
major  portion  of  the  water  power  of  the  city.  They  built  a  modern  power 
plant  on  the  site  of  the  old  Ford  mill  at  the  west  end  of  the  upper  dam  and,  also, 
reconstructed  the  plant  on  the  lower  water  power.  The  company  later  estab- 
lished a  central  plant  for  the  furnishing  of  steam  to  a  number  of  business  blocks 
near  the  Milwaukee  Street  bridge. 

A  business  begun  by  Chester  Bailey  in  1880  as  the  Badger  State  Warp  Mills, 
after  some  changes  was  incorporated  in  1902  as  the  Rock  River  Cotton  Com- 
pany. It  occupies  nearly  a  whole  block  between  Franklin,  River,  Wall  and 
West  Bluff  streets,  owned  and  operated  by  T.  O.  and  Fred  Homer. 

In  1881,  James  Harris,  J.  B.  Crosby  and  others  incorporated  the  Janesville 
Machine  Company  with  an  initial  capital  of  $100,000.  They  took  over  the 
business  of  the  Harris  Manufacturing  Company  in  January,  1882.  Their  busi- 
ness of  manufacturing  agricultural  implements  has  grown  steadily,  causing 
several  increases  in  their  capitalization,  number  of  employees  and  output. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  389 

Prior  to  1SS0,  .lames  Harris  had  invented  a  safety  oil  lamp,  forming  with 
D.  P.  Smith  the  firm  of  Harris  &  Smith  for  its  manufacture.  They  were  soon 
shipping  an  annual  output  of  $30,000  of  the  lamps  to  various  parts  of  the 
world.  The  firm  in  1885  began  the  manufacture  of  barbed  wire  nails  and 
woven  wire  fencing.  Since  1903  it  has  been  conducted  by  the  Harrises  as  the 
Janesville  Barbed  Wire  Company. 

The  Janesville  Telephone  Company  opened  the  first  exchange  with  sixteen 
subscribers.  Upon  becoming  a  part  of  the  Wisconsin  Bell  Telephone  Company 
it  was  granted  a  city  franchise  in  1892;  since  wrhich  time  it  has  made  required 
improvements  and  enlargements. 

The  Chicago  &,  North  Western  Railway  Company  built  a  line,  in  1880,  from 
Janesville  to  Afton,  affording,  thereby,  better  connections  with  Madison  and 
the  northwest.  At  the  same  time  another  outlet  to  Chicago,  Racine  and  western 
Illinois  was  given  by  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railway  Company, 
building  a  line  from  Janesville  to  Beloit. 

The  Janesville  Municipal  Court  was  established  in  1881,  taking  over  the 
work  of  the  police  justices  with  an  increase  of  jurisdiction.  L.  E.  Patten  was 
the  first  judge  of  this  court,  followed  by  H.  A.  Patterson  and  M.  M.  Phelps. 
The  present  generation,  however,  knows  only  Judge  Charles  L.  Fifield,  first 
elected  in  1899. 

The  Janesville  Street  Railway  Company  was  granted  a  franchise  in  1885 
to  build  a  horse  railway.  The  line  began  the  operation  of  cars  in  1886,  con- 
tinuing as  a  horse  railroad  until  1892,  when  it  was  equipped  with  electric  mo- 
tive power. 

Work  on  the  building  of  a  railroad  line  from  Janesville  to  Evansville  was 
begun  in  1885  and  completed  the  next  year  when  it  was  deeded  to  the  Chicago 
and  North  Western.  Janesville  as  a  city  contributed  $40,000  and  found  it  a 
good  investment.  For  many  years  the  original  line  from  Chicago  to  Oshkosh 
was  considered  the  main  line  of  the  North  Western  system.  In  time,  however, 
the  line  running  through  Madison  by  way  of  Beloit  and  Afton,  became  the  main 
line  to  St.  Paul  and  the  northwest.  With  the  building  of  the  Janesville-Evans- 
villc  line,  the  distance  from  Chicago  to  St.  Paul  was  shortened  by  so  many 
miles  that  the  line  running  through  Janesville  has  become  the  highway  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  traffic.  The  running  time  to  Chicago  was  considerably  cut 
and  train  service  increased,  resulting  in  enlarging  greatly  the  importance  of 
Janesville  as  a  railroad  center. 

The  practice  of  erecting  buildings  over  the  Rock  River,  started  earlier  by 
Peter  .Myers,  was  continued  by  E.  P.  Carpenter  and  others  in  1887.  The  water 
power  owners  secured  a  State  law  declaring  building  over  the  river  a  nuisance; 
so.  when  Carpenter  undertook  to  erect  another  building  over  the  river,  court 
proceedings  were  begun  against  him  under  this  state  measure.  The  Supreme 
Court,  however,  in  1890  declared  the  law  unconstitutional  and  dissolved  the 
temporary  injunction  against  Carpenter.  The  building  was  then  completed,  to 
he  followed  by  several  others  similarly  placed.  An  effort  to  stop  such  building 
over  the  river  in  Beloit  has  likewise  failed. 

Turner,  Clark  and  Lawson  completed  acceptably  the  Water  Works  station 
in  1888.  In  the  '90s  the  city  voted  down  its  option  of  purchase  of  the  plant 
and,  in  consequence,  Janesville,  like  Beloit,  operates  under  a  private  company. 


390  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

With  1889,  flat  buildings  for  residential  purposes  began  with  the  erection  by 
Hiram  Merrill  of  the  Waverly  Block  on  North  Main  Street.  Since  that  time 
numerous  have  been  the  additions  of  apartment  buildings  in  various  sections  of 
the  city. 

During  the  early  '90s  a  building  boom  set  in  and  many  additions  to  the  city 
were  platted.  The  Carringtons,  George  L.  and  his  wife  Sarah  H.,  began  the 
Riverview  Park  addition  in  1889,  platting  also  several  others.  With  streets 
built,  sidewalks  laid  and  grading  done,  they  encouraged  the  building  of  homes 
by  selling  the  lots  on  easy  terms.  A  building  and  loan  association  was  formed 
to  facilitate  purchase,  but  the  panic  of  1893  stopped  the  operations  of  the  Car- 
ringtons in  Janesville. 

Previously  Janesville  men  platted  the  Forest  Park  addition  but  this  had 
developed  slowly.  On  the  west  side  of  the  river,  much  of  the  residence  portion 
was  platted  by  A.  Hyatt  Smith  and  others,  as  Smith,  Bailey  &  Stone's  addition, 
within  a  year  or  two  after  the  original  plat  of  the  village  was  made.  It  is 
stated  that  this  firm  bought  land,  previous  to  the  platting,  at  the  ridiculously 
low  price  of  twelve  dollars  per  acre. 

"  Get- rich-quick- Wallingford "  appeared  in  the  person  of  John  W.  Hamilton. 
Purporting  to  bring  large  factories  to  Janesville  from  Springfield,  Ohio,  large 
buildings  were  erected  in  different  parts  of  the  city  for  the  Champion  Shelf 
Manufacturing  Company,  the  Family  Friend  Publishing  Company  and  others, 
all  of  which  have  faded  into  nothingness  since  the  bubble  burst. 

In  1891,  George  S.  Parker  began  very  modestly  a  fountain  pen  company 
which  today  is  probably  more  widely  known  than  any  other  establishment  of 
the  city.  Associating  with  himself  W.  F.  Palmer,  the  concern  has  grown  enor- 
mously, having  been  compelled  frequently  to  enlarge  its  quarters.  It  is  today 
doing  an  annual  business  of  $5,000,000. 

In  1893  the  county  purchased  the  Barker  farm,  a  little  north  of  the  city, 
and  removed  from  Johnstown  the  county  insane  and  poor  inmates  to  the  newly 
built  quarters  in  1894. 

In  1895,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building  was  completed  and  a  new  high  school 
erected.  Ground  for  a  new  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  already  been  broken  to  be  erected 
with  the  $275,000  fund  contributed  by  the  citizens  of  Janesville.  The  city  has 
just  replaced  the  old  high  school  by  a  new  $1,000,000  model  building — the  pride 
of  the  city. 

In  October,  1896,  Superintendent  of  Schools  D.  D.  Mayne,  with  the  aid  of 
thirty  business  men,  founded  the  Twilight  Club  which  has  grown  to  a  member- 
ship of  160  and  a  waiting  list.  Meeting  monthly  from  October  to  April  with 
dinner  served  at  six  o'clock  and  a  discussion  of  topics  of  general  interest  under 
prominent  leadership,  the  club  has  become  the  parent  of  similar  clubs  in  other 
Wisconsin  cities. 

Golf  appeared  in  Janesville  in  1895,  the  credit  for  its  introduction  belonging 
to  Alexander  Galbraith.  He  had  brought  a  set  of  clubs  from  Scotland  in  1893 
but  did  not  succeed  in  interesting  others  until  1895.  Grounds  were  then  leased 
from  H.  S.  Woodruff,  the  Sinnissippi  Golf  Club  incorporated,  in  October,  1896. 
In  1898,  93  acres  of  ground  were  purchased  from  the  Woodruff  estate  and  a 
reincorporation  formed  under  the  name  of  the  Janesville  Country  Club.    With 


392  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

many  improvements  to  the  grounds,  Janesville  has  one  of  the  best  nine-hole 
courses  in  the  state. 

In  1899  the  Hayes  brothers,  Dennis  and  Michael,  purchased  the  Lappin 
block  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Main  and  Milwaukee  streets,  rebuilt  it  with 
elevator  service,  thus  giving  the  city  its  first  modern  building. 

This  led  to  the  remodeling  of  the  Jackman  block  at  the  east  end  of  Mil- 
waukee Street  bridge  across  from  the  Hayes  block  which  Timothy  Jackman 
had  erected  in  1860  as  a  four-story  building.  In  the  rebuilding,  another  story 
was  added.  To  these  two  new  office  buildings,  a  large  number  of  the  doctors 
and  lawyers  of  the  city  soon  came  to  have  their  offices. 

Beginning  with  1900,  Janesville  inaugurated  some  systematic  improvements 
in  its  streets.  Macadam  streets,  cement  gutters  and  curbs  were  thereafter  laid 
each  year,  while  cement  sidewalks  put  in  their  appearance.  Brick  paving  and 
brick  cross  walks  were  adopted  and  the  usual  worthlessness  of  block  paving 
for  heavy  traffic  was  shown.  The  past  few  years,  however,  have  been  those  of 
greatest  strides  and  today  the  streets  are  becoming  quite  generally  paved  with 
asphalt  or  concrete. 

The  new  county  jail  was  completed  in  1900  and  a  soldier's  monument  erected 
in  the  Courthouse  park  the  next  year.  Soon  after  the  public  library,  city  hall 
and  post   office   were   erected. 

As  early  as  1865  the  acquisition  of  a  library  was  started.  Growing  slowly 
until  it  consisted  of  2,500  volumes,  the  Women's  clubs  of  the  City,  in  1882,  suc- 
ceeded in  raising  sufficient  money,  through  the  help  of  Burr  Robbins  who 
donated  the  receipts  of  his  circus  at  Janesville,  to  buy  the  library  and  make 
it  a  free  circulating  one.  In  January,  1894,  the  city  adopted  it  as  a  city  library, 
undertaking  its  support,  with  Mrs.  L.  S.  Best  continuing  a.s  the  librarian.  With 
the  contribution  of  $30,000  by  Andrew  Carnegie  in  1901,  the  site  on  Main 
Street  opposite  the  Courthouse  park  was  secured  and  the  present  building 
erected. 

In  the  World  war  Janesville  responded  to  every  call  in  the  same  generous 
manner  as  did  the  county  generally.  Naturally  as  the  county  seat  city  its  enter- 
prising citizens,  both  men  and  women,  performed  innumerable  services;  loyally 
did  its  draft  board,  liberty  loan  and  other  committees  serve. 

FIRST   SETTLEMENT    OF    BELOIT 

The  first  steps  in  the  permanent  settlement  of  Beloit  were  taken  in  1835. 
Caleb  Blodgett  of  Randolph,  Vermont,  on  his  first  visit  found  Thibault  in  pos- 
session, claiming  an  indefinite  extent  of  territory.  He  purchased  for  $250  all  of 
Thibault 's  claims  on  the  east  side  of  Rock  River,  comprising,  as  Blodgett  thought, 
about  ten  sections  of  land.  Returning  in  1836  with  his  wife,  Phoebe  Kidder,  his 
sons,  Nathaniel  and  Daniel,  and  his  son-in-law,  John  Hackett,  he  constructed, 
with  the  aid  of  Indians,  who  still  lingered  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  near 
the  east  bank  (in  the  rear  of  what  is  now  322  State  street)  a  log  cabin  of  two 
rooms  separated  by  a  passageway ;  one  room  being  for  his  family,  and  the  other 
for  prospectors  and  help.  Blodgett,  assuming  that  his  squatter's  claim  would 
later  be  protected  by  purchase  from  the  Government,  sold  one-third  to  Charles 
F.  II.  Goodhue,  who,  in  turn,  sold  half  of  his  purchase  to  John  Doolittle  and 


T 1 1 E  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  393 

Charles  Johnson.  Blodgett  and  Goodhue  built  a  sawmill  and,  in  the  spring 
of  1837,  turned  the  water  into  the  mill  race  and  sawed  their  first  boards.  Their 
dam  was  built  on  Turtle  Creek  with  its  raceway  dug  along  under  the  south 
side  of  the  bluff  and  extending  southwestward  along  the  south  side  of  the  pres- 
ent, St.  Paul  Avenue  until  it  led  into  Turtle  Creek  at  the  site  of  the  mill  three 
or  four  rods  west  of  present  South  State  Street. 

Lucius  G.  Fisher  also  came  to  Beloit  in  1837.  He  had  started  from  Milwau- 
kee for  the  lead  region  but  meeting  at  Watertown  with  Goodhue,  a  former 
acquaintance,  he  was  induced  to  journey  with  him  in  a  dugout  to  New  Albany, 
now  Beloit.  Fisher  bonghl  one-fourth  of  Goodhue's  purchase  and  became  the 
owner  thereby  of  one-sixth  of  the  whole  Blodgett  claim. 

Goodhue,  about  this  time,  erected  a  grist-mill  on  Turtle  Creek,  believed  to  be 
the  tirst  similar  mill  ever  elected  in  the  state.  To  it  customers  came  from  dis- 
tances of  over  one  hundred  miles.  In  the  '50s  it  was  still  operated  by  the  son, 
William  T.  Goodhue. 

DR.   HORACE  WHITE  AND  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  EMIGRATION  SOCIETY 

With  the  arrival  in  Beloit  in  February,  1837,  of  Dr.  Horace  White,  the  agent 
of  the  New  England  Emigration  Company,  began  an  event  big  in  import  to 
the  beginning  of  Beloit.  In  Colebrook,  N.  H.,  in  October,  1836,  this  company 
was  formed  by  the  following  fourteen  members:  Cyrus  Eames,  0.  P.  Bicknell, 
Asahel  B.  Home,  Leonard  Hatch,  David  J.  Bundy,  Ira  Young,  L.  C.  Beech,  S. 
G.  Colley,  G.  W.  Bicknell,  R.  P.  Crane,  Horace  Hobart,  Horace  White  and 
Alfred  Field.  They  organized  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  in  the  emigration 
and  founding  in  the  AVest  of  an  agricultural  community  like  the  New  England 
village  from  which  they  sprang.  They  sent  their  agent,  Dr.  Horace  White,  to 
select  and  purchase  a  site  for  the  new  homes  of  the  company.  Thus  commis- 
sioned, Dr.  White,  then  in  his  twenty-seventh  year,  left  Colebrook  in  the  winter 
of  1836-37.  Promised  $100  a  month  and  all  of  his  expenses  and  the  use  of  a 
horse  and  cutter,  Dr.  White  set  out  and  drove  through  Canada,  arriving  at 
Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  on  January  25,  1837.  Here  he  found  R.  P.  Crane,  one 
of  the  company  who  had  started  westward  earlier  and  had  arrived  at  Detroit 
by  steamboat  from  Buffalo  in  company  with  0.  P.  Bicknell.  From  thence  the}' 
had  walked  to  Ann  Arbor.  Here  Crane  stopped  for  a  time  to  replenish  his 
exhausted  funds  by  hiring  out  as  a  carpenter.  Dr.  White  journeyed  on,  taking 
Bicknell  with  him  as  far  as  Calumet,  Illinois.  White,  reaching  Rockford, 
visited  the  territory  around  Turtle  Creek,  Des  Moines,  Iowa  and  Quincy,  Illi- 
nois. He  then  induced  Crane  and  Bicknell,  who  had  arrived  at  Rockford,  to 
join  him  on  another  tour  of  inspection  of  the  Turtle.  They  confirmed  his  favor- 
able impressions  of  the  landscape  and  advised  him  to  secure  a  purchase  there. 
On  March  14th  White  induced  Blodgett  to  sell  one-third  of  his  claim  for  $2,500. 
As  the  land  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the  Government,  what  was  purchased  was 
Blodgett 's  chance  that  later  the  Government,  under  the  preemption  laws,  would 
recognize  the  claim  and  give  a  patent  for  it  on  receiving  $1.25  per  acre.  The 
part  purchased  of  Blodgett  included  one  hundred  acres  already  under  the  plow 
and  ready  for  a  crop. 


394  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Dr.  White  then  returned  to  Colebrook  to  report  his  progress  and  dispose  of 
his  own  property  there  preparatory  to  taking  up  his  permanent  residence  in 
the  west.  Upon  reaching  Colebrook,  White  found  the  members  pleased  with  the 
prospects.  Several  prepared  to  start  westward ;  James  Cass  and  wife  going 
out  in  the  employ  of  Dr.  White. 

From  the  diary  of  Mr.  Crane  and  the  old  account  books  of  Dr.  White,  one 
learns  much  of  the  operations  of  the  company.  Not  a  single  dispute  ever  arose 
between  the  members  of  the  company  in  reference  to  money  matters  and,  ulti- 
mately, a  settlement  of  the  joint  enterprise  was  made  to  the  complete  satisfac- 
tion of  everyone.  During  the  first  years,  the  pioneers  were  often  in  want  of 
food.  The  arrival  of  Alfred  Field  in  July,  1837,  with  a  team  of  four  oxen 
and  a  load  of  four  barrels  of  flour  relieved  them  from  severe  distress.  On 
another  occasion,  with  their  provisions  running  low,  they  sent  one  of  their 
number  to  Rockford  to  purchase  a  barrel  of  pork  which  they  learned  was  there 
for  sale.  Travel  was  difficult,  due  often  to  the  almost  impassable  conditions  of 
the  roads.  Stage  drivers  carried  rails  with  which  to  pry  the  coaches  out  of 
the  mud  when  the  horses  could  no  longer  draw  the  loads.  Passengers  had  to 
assist  or  be  long  delayed  in  their  journey.  When  driving  alone  with  a  team, 
a  man  had  either  to  await  help  or  carry  his  load  by  piecemeal  on  his  back  to 
dry  land,  allowing  the  horses  to  draw  out  the  empty  wagon. 

Horace  White  related  the  experiences  of  one  emigrating  party  from  Cole- 
brook,  the  members  of  which  left  the  steamboat  at  Detroit  and  began  the  cross- 
ing of  the  state  of  Michigan  with  a  team  of  four  horses.  So  bad  were  the 
roads  that  one  of  the  horses  died  of  fatigue  before  one-half  of  the  distance 
across  the  state  had  been  traversed.  Another  horse  soon  afterwards  became 
so  exhausted  that  it  could  not  pull.  When  they  came  to  the  sandhills  at  the 
southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan,  the  load  had  to  be  lightened  in  every  possible 
way  to  save  the  other  horses.  Delicate  women  had  to  walk  in  the  sand  carry- 
ing their  infant  children  on  their  backs.  Little  opportunity  was  given  to  stop 
on  the  road  as  the  houses  were  ten  to  twenty  miles  apart.  With  the  threaten- 
ing storms  continuous  movement  was  the  price  of  life.  At  last  they  reached 
their  journey's  end  in  August,  1837.  Many  of  the  women  felt  the  effects  of 
the  trip  for  years  afterwards;  while  some,  as  Mrs.  Crane,  never  recovered 
their  health. 

Another  party  from  Bedfoi'd,  in  the  extreme  southern  part  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, Colebrook  being  in  the  extreme  northern  part,  came  early  to  Beloit  insti- 
gated, undoubtedly,  by  the  New  England  Company  as  S.  G.  Colley,  one  of  its 
original  members,  was  in  the  party. 

Dr.  Horace  White  returned  to  Beloit  in  November,  1837,  but  did  not  bring 
his  family  until  later.  Three  log  houses  only  stood  in  the  town  in  1837 ;  all  used 
by  male  workers  who  were  preparing  the  ground  in  readiness  for  the  coming 
of  their  families.  Caleb  Blodgett  erected  a  house  of  boards  in  1837,  making 
thereby  the  beginning  of  the  Rock  River  House,  which  occupied  the  site  of  the 
Goodwin  House  and,  later,  the  Goodwin  Block.  The  White  family  moved  into 
the  old  log  house  vacated  by  Blodgett.  Dr.  White  soon  moved  into  a  board 
house  on  the  west  side  of  State  Street,  about  half  way  between  Broad  and 
School  streets,  where  he  lived  until  his  death,  December  23,  1843. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VAT/LEY  395 

The  late  Dr.  W.  P.  Brown,  the  historian  of  Beloit,  relates  the  action  of  the 
ferry  across  the  Rock  River  before  the  building  of  the  central  bridge  in  1842. 
"A  large  tree,  jutting  out  from  the  bank  at  the  north  end  of  the  public  landing, 
north  side  of  Public  Avenue,  held  the  east  end  of  the  ferry  rope  which  was 
fastened  al  the  other  end  to  a  similar  tree  on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  The 
rectangular  flat-bottomed  ferry  boat  was  attached  at  both  ends  to  this  rope  by 
two  similar  arrangements  of  rope  and  pulley  and  grooved  wheel,  one 
for  each  end  of  the  boat,  both  wheels  moving  easily  on  the  long  ferry  rope  and 
affording  a  kind  of  movable  anchorage.  When  the  west  end  attachment  was 
shortened  up,  making  that  end  of  the  scow  diagonally  up  stream,  the  force  of 
the  current  would  slowly  push  the  boat  across  to  the  west  bank.  Then  after 
the  wheel  rope  at  the  west  end  was  lengthened  and  that  of  the  other  end 
shortened,  causing  the  east  end  of  the  boat  to  point  up  stream,  the  current  of 
the  river  flowing  southward  would  gradually  work  the  boat  back  to  the  east 
bank." 

Disliking  the  Indian  name,  Turtle  and  Blodgett's  name,  New  Albany,  the 
earlier  village  held  in  1838  several  meetings  to  decide  upon  another  name.  As 
related  by  L.  G.  Fisher,  one  of  the  committeemen  in  the  selection  of  a  name, 
the  suggestion  was  first  made  that  a  name  be  made  with  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet  drawn  by  lot.  Major  Johnson  then  proposed  Ballots  hinting  that  it 
was  the  French  for  beautiful.  Fisher,  because  of  their  many  pleasant  recollec- 
tions of  Detroit,  desired  a  name  sounding  like  Detroit.  He  thereupon  spoke  the 
words  Balloit,  Beloit.  The  committee  approved  the  latter  name.  Rock  County 
derived  its  name  from  the  famous  "Big  Rock"  on  the  north  side  of  Rock 
River  at  Monterey,  in  Janesville,  which  rock  marked  a  fording  place  and  was 
also  an  old  Indian  landmark. 

Prior  to  the  purchases  of  the  New  England  Company,  other  earliest  pioneers 
of  Beloit  included  .Major  Charles  Johnson,  -John  Doolittle  and  the  Goodhues, 
father  and  son,  William,  the  family  of  Chauncey  and  Mrs.  Tuttle  with  their 
four  sons,  Chester,  Frank,  William  and  George;  all  of  whom  were  induced 
by  Blodgett  to  come  from  Meecham's  Grove  in  January,  1837.  The  widow  of 
the  son,  George  Tuttle,  now  lives  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Church  and  Chapin 
streets. 

R.  P.  Crane  and  0.  P.  Bicknell  were  the  first  members  of  the  New  England 
Company  to  arrive,  coming  March  !),  1SI57.  Dr.  White  came  March  13th, 
Henry  Mears  and  wife  April  loth,  with  her  sister  Maria  and  brother  Horace 
Clark  coming  a  little  later.  Dr.  George  and  Edward  Bicknell  arrived  in  July. 
1837,  to  be  followed  soon  by  Mrs.  John  Ilackett,  Alfred  L.  Field  and  Ira  llersey, 
Horace  Ilobart,  Benjamin  I.  Tenny,  Asahel  1>.  Howe  with  wife  and  daughter, 
James  Cass  and  wife,  Israel  C.  Cheney,  Mrs.  R.  B.  Crane  and  infant  son,  Ellery; 
Thomas  Crosby,  wife,  child,  mother  and  brother.  After  building  for  himself 
the  third  log  house  in  the  place,  Crosby  moved  into  the  New  England  Com- 
pany's  boarding  house  which  he  and  Mrs.  Crosby  conducted  during  its  first 
year.  He  later  became  a  successful  farmer  and  located  about  five  miles  directly 
east  of  Beloit. 

Other  settlers  unconnected  witli  the  New  England  Company  came  in  1837. 
Among  these  were   Walter  Warner,   Benjamin  Cheney,   David  Noggle,  William 


396  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Jack,  Charles  McMesser,  surveyor,  and  Bradford  Colley  with  his  widowed  sister, 
Mrs.  Ann  Jane  Atwood,  the  skilled  nurse  of  many  of  the  pioneer  infants. 

Early  in  1838,  Samuel  B.  Cooper  and  family,  John  P.  Houston  (father  of 
the  late  John  E.),  Peter  R.  Field,  father  of  Alfred,  and  wife,  Mrs.  Nancy 
Crane,  mother  of  R.  P.,  and  John  Burroughs,  the  teacher,  all  came  to  Beloit. 
Israel  Cheney  with  his  wife  and  five  daughters  came  the  same  year. 

The  year  1840  brought  the  Rev.  Dexter  Clary,  the  first  pastor  of  the  First 
Congregational  church ;  Benjamin  Brown  and  wife  of  Framingham,  Mass.,  and 
Horace  Burchard  from  New  York. 

Brown  started  a  brickyard  east  of  the  village  and  opened  a  general  store 
about  where  321  State  Street  now  is.  In  1844  he  built  a  brick  house  facing 
east  at  the  foot  of  School  Street,  now  328  and  330  State.  Its  four  tall,  white 
Corinthian  columns  made  it  a  most  conspicuous  residence. 

It  is  impossible  to  overemphasize  the  influence  of  the  lives  and  character  of 
these  first  settlers  upon  the  early  development  and  future  destiny  of  the  com- 
munity. Many  descendants  of  the  Pilgrims  and  Puritans,  were  God-fearing 
men  and  women,  with  unusually  strong  love  for  home  and  country,  respect  for 
laws  and  belief  in  the  worthwhileness  of  all  that  is  enlightening  and  ennobling. 
They,  in  consequence,  wrought  into  the  very  fabric  and  life  of  the  young 
community  basic  qualities  which  displayed  themselves  thereafter  in  the  model 
homes,  effective  public  schools  and  college,  religious  organizations  and  business 
enterprises  strength  and  integrity. 

The  town  grew  with  the  development  of  the  farming  community  around 
it  so  that  the  Territorial  Legislature  passed  the  act,  February  24,  1846,  incor- 
porating the  village  of  Beloit.  On  Monday,  April  7th,  the  following  first  vil- 
lage officers  were  chosen:  President,  Thomas  A.  Power;  trustees,  Joseph  Colley, 
Thomas  Tuttle,  Tyler  H.  Moore,  Ashabel  B.  Moore;  assessors,  Charles  Mc- 
Messer, William  Stevens,  Henry  Mears;  constables,  Otis  P.  Bicknell,  Daniel 
Blodgett;  treasurer,  John  P.  Houston;  clerk,  John  B.  Burroughs. 

The  village  then  had  a  population  of  1,144  with  191  dwelling  houses;  340 
of  the  population  were  natives  of  New  York,  200  of  Wisconsin,  177  of  Ver- 
mont and  195  of  New  Hampshire,  40  of  Massachusetts,  24  of  Connecticut,  6  of 
Rhode  Island  and  28  of  Maine. 

To  the  late  Rev.  W.  F.  Brown,  son  of  Benjamin  Brown,  we  are  indebted 
for  the  listing  of  a  few  of  the  first  things  in  Beloit.  On  the  ground  now  occu- 
pied by  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  railroad,  stood,  in  1837,  the  first 
large  building  erected  as  a  lodging  and  boarding  house.  The  first  white  woman 
settler  was  Mrs.  Caleb  Blodgett,  who  arrived  in  December,  1837,  accompanied 
by  her  two  daughters,  thirteen  and  fifteen  years  of  age.  The  first  death  was 
that  of  Horace  Clark,  December  2,  1837.  The  first  girl  born  to  any  of  the 
New  England  Company  was  Alice  J.  Moore,  December  18,  1838,  at  what  is 
now  537  Public  Avenue.  John  Hackett  opened  the  first  store  in  his  house  at 
the  southeast  corner  of  State  and  School  streets  in  the  fall  of  1837.  David 
Noggle  was  the  first  lawyer.  The  first  survey  of  the  village  was  begun  in  1837 
and  finished  in  1838  by  Mr.  Kelson.  This  survey,  as  found  distinctly  photo- 
graphed in  W.  F.  Brown's  "Past  and  Present,"  p.  43  and  less  distinctly  in 
his  History  of  Rock  County,  Vol.  I.,  p.  152,  shows  the  lots  owned  by  Blodgett, 
Moore,  Field,  Eames  and  Cheney. 


- 
r 


a 


398  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

EARLY  STATE  STREET  IN  BELOIT 

From  the  account  of  Ellery  B.  Crane  of  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  the  son 
of  R.  P.  Crane,  one  is  able  to  visualize  State  Street,  the  main  business  street  of 
Beloit.  Beginning1  at  the  south  end,  blacksmith  shops  were  located  on  either 
side,  with  a  saloon  on  the  west  side  just  over  the  Illinois  line.  Proceeding 
northward  on  the  east  side  of  the  street,  came  Goodhue's  boarding  house,  not 
far  from  the  mill  race.  Then  John  C.  Burr's  tinshop;  after  which  the  home 
of  Mrs.  Crandall,  with  its  millinery  shop  in  the  front  room.  The  old  Beloit 
House  came  next  in  order  at  the  southeast  corner  of  present  State  Street  and 
St.  Paul  Avenue.  At  the  corner  on  the  north  side  of  St.  Paul  Avenue  was 
the  residence  of  R.  P.  Crane.  Crane's  stone  block  followed  next,  in  which  was 
the  office  of  Dr.  George  W.  Bicknell  and  where  Mathew  Carpenter  had  his  first 
law  office.  C.  0.  Green's  billiard  rooms  were  in  the  second.  A  tailor  shop, 
Carey  and  Gordon's  drug  store,  Hoskin?s  shoe  shop,  Hollister's  grocery,  Tibals 
&  Stocking,  George  Stocking's  harness  shop  followed  one  another  in  the  order 
named  with  the  latter  located  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Broad  and  State  streets. 
Mr.  Battin's  house  stood  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Broad  and  State  until,  in 
the  last  of  the  '50s,  Hanchett's  block  replaced  it.  It  was  in  Hanchett's  hall 
that  Lincoln  spoke  October  1,  1859.  Webster  and  Rogers  occupied  the  one-story 
building  next,  after  which  came  Allison's  shoe  store,  later  conducted  by  Lib- 
erty Rawson  and  Isaac  Thayer.  About  1849,  Pentland  &  Harmon  had  their 
grocery  business  next.  Several  small  wooden  stores  stood  along  the  street  con- 
taining for  a  time  a  printing  office  and  a  book  store.  A  stone  block  of  stores 
then  extended  to  School  Street,  occupied  by  Poole,  Manchester  &  Wadsworth, 
N.  Powell,  A.  Baldwin  and  others.  On  the  opposite  side  of  School  Street  stood 
the  Bushnell  House  with  Pierson  and  Janvrin  proprietors.  Built  on  the  site 
of  the  old  Rock  River  House,  it  was  kept  for  two  years  by  Mr.  Dunbar  while 
the  Rock  River  House  was  moved  to  the  southeast  corner  of  State  Street  and 
Public  Avenue  and  kept  as  a  hotel  for  a  few  years  longer  and  then  as  a  paper 
warehouse. 

On  the  west  side  of  State  Street,  proceeding  south,  Benjamin  Brown's  block 
of  stores  was  occupied  by  groceries  and  shoe  stores.  Brown's  residence  stood 
about  three  rods  back  at  what  is  now  328  and  330  State  Street,  the  block  of 
stores  being  north  of  his  front  yard.  South  of  the  yard  was  a  two-story  build- 
ing in  which  Brown  carried  on  a  general  mercantile  trade  up  to  1848.  Then 
it  became  Simm's  drug  store.  A.  P.  Waterman's  hardware  store,  Laramy's 
grocery,  Day  and  Andrew's  fruit  store  came  in  order  on  the  way  southward. 
Sherman's  jewelry  store,  later  so  long  to  be  Howard's,  was  followed  by  Wright 
and  Newcomb's  book  and  stationery  store,  C.  Thompson's  grocery,  H.  R.  Moore 
&  Son,  dry  goods,  David  Bundy  and  Alfred  Field's  drug  store,  with  the  Stone 
block  of  stores  reaching  to  Broad  street.  In  this  block  were  located  Clinton 
Babbitt,  Fisher,  Bundy  and  Cheney,  and  Fisher  and  Winchester's  hardware. 

Crossing  Broad  and  continuing  south  one  came  to  McElheny's  tailor  shop, 
later  Collin's  drug  store,  Nels  Howard's  restaurant,  Smith  &  Rust,  grocers; 
E.  D.  Murray,  dry  goods;  Benjamin  Selleck,  hats,  caps  and  furs;  Peters  and 
Jones,  photographers.    Then  the  post  office  was  reached,  later  to  be  the  location 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VAU,KY  399 

in  which  L.  C.  Hyde  started  his  bank.     Willard's  watch  and  clock  repair  shop 
was  at  the  corner  of  St.  Paul  Avenue. 

E.  I).  .Mu nay's  block  stood  on  the  corner  south  of  St.  Paul  Avenue.  Here 
stood  as  early  as  1841  the  store  of  Field  &  Lusk,  carrying  the  largest  stock  of 
dry  goods  in  town.  In  Murray  Hall  on  the  top  floor  of  the  building  was  held 
all  of  the  important  concerts  and  parties.  To  the  south  came  Collins  &  Son's 
drug  store,  then  A.  B.  Carpenter's  residence  adjoining  his  store  and  Hauser, 
the  baker,  on  the  other  side.  The  Goodhue  Block  and  a  wooden  store  came 
next  with  Frank  Salisbury's  coffee  house  the  last  place  on  the  west  side  of 
the  street. 

EARLY    MANUFACTURES 

Beloit  early  became  the  home  of  several  industrial  and  manufacturing  enter- 
prises. In  1856  Wright  &  Merrill  established  the  Beloit  Paper  Mill  Company 
which  absorbed  its  competitor,  the  Rock  River  Paper  Company  in  1868,  under 
the  corporate  name  of  the  Rock  River  Paper  Company,  with  S.  T.  Merrill, 
president;  A.  L.  Chapin,  vice  president;  H.  F.  Evans,  treasurer,  and  J.  M. 
Cobb,  secretary  and  superintendent,  with  their  plant  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river.  The  same  gentlemen,  Wright  and  Merrill,  started  about  the  same  time 
at  Rockton,  the  ultimately  widely  known  Northwestern  Paper  Company  with 
Wright  as  president,  resident  of  Beloit,  and  W.  H.  Wells  vice  president  and 
J.  C.  Xewcomb  secretary  and  treasurer,  with  offices  at  Chicago,  the  chief  dis- 
tributing point.  Booth-Hinman  &  Co.  began  their  wholesale  paper  mill  plant 
in  1871  to  see  it  grow  in  a  few  years  to  large  proportions  while  the  F.  N.  Davis 
Company  arose  in  1875,  manufacturing  building  paper,  pails,  etc.  This,  to- 
gether with  the  Beloit  Straw  Board  Company,  was  located  at  the  west  end  of 
the  dam. 

The  Merrill  &  Hinman  Iron  Works  of  1873  was  the  outgrowth  of  a  business 
begun  by  0.  E.  Merrill  in  1860. 

Parker  &  Stone,  as  early  as  1849,  began  the  manufacture  of  farming  im- 
plements as  did  later  the  Appleby  Twine  Binder,  the  invention  of  a  Beloit  man. 

X.  I).  Gaston,  in  1844,  began  the  manufacture  of  scales,  which,  with  en- 
largement and  changes  in  ownership,  has  continued  to  the  present  day. 

In  I860  John  Thompson,  with  the  manufacture  of  his  first  plows,  began 
the  establishment  of  the  business  of  J.  Thompson  &  Company,  which  long 
thrived  as  the  manufacturers  of  plows,  cultivators  and  other  farm  implements. 

With  the  manufacture  of  shoes  as  early  as  1870,  the  John  Foster  Com- 
pany advanced  rapidly  to  its  long  maintained  foremost  position  in  its  line, 
with  its  national   reputation  for  fine  workmanship. 

The  glove  and  mitten  factory  of  II.  J.  Leonard  &  Company,  begun  early 
and  reorganized  in  1866,  still  continues  as  the  Beloit  Glove  and  Mitten  Com- 
pany with  the  late  G.  Elmer  Thompson  long  its  manager. 

John  Ilackett  built  his  flour  mill  in  1848  and  was  succeeded  by  Blodgett 
&  Nelson  in  1857;  while  the  old  Brooks  mill  on  Turtle  Creek,  called  the  Stone 
Mill,  was  in  operation  about  1859. 


400  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


CHURCH    HISTORY 


While  public  religious  services  were  held  continuously  from  the  arrival 
of  the  New  England  Company  in  1837,  the  First  Congregational  Church  of 
Beloit  was  not  organized  until  December  30,  1838.  With  Rev.  W.  M.  Adams 
officiating,  this  took  place  in  the  kitchen  at  the  east  end  of  Caleb  Blodgett's 
house  on  the  northeast  corner  of  State  and  School  streets.  The  corner  stone 
of  their  first  church  "the  old  stone  church"  was  laid  July  6,  1842,  at  the 
northeast  corner  of  Broad  and  Prospect  streets  and  the  building  completed 
in  1842.  It  was  indeed  an  imposing  structure.  It  was  made  of  hammered 
limestone,  covered  with  a  simple  bell  tower,  having  in  front,  as  it  faced  Broad 
Street,  a  spacious  portico  adorned  with  four  Ionic  columns  and  steps  the 
whole  width  of  the  front,  leading  directly  up  from  the  sidewalk.  In  its  base- 
ment was  housed  for  a  time  Beloit  Seminary  and  there,  in  1847,  S.  I.  Merrill 
taught  the  first  freshman  class  of  Beloit  College.  The  building  was  modified 
and  enlarged  in  1852. 

The  present  church  edifice,  on  the  hill,  on  the  east  corner  of  Church  and 
Bushnell  streets,  was  dedicated  on  July  6,  1862,  and  continues  to  be  an  out- 
standing embodiment  of  old  New  England  in  the  Middle  West. 

Several  had  joined  the  First  Congregational  Church  with  the  understand- 
ing that,  whenever  it  became  possible  to  maintain  a  separate  Presbyterian 
church,  they  should  be  permitted  to  organize  one.  On  March  19,  1849,  ac- 
cordingly, seventeen  men  and  a  boy  met  at  the  home  of  Benjamin  Brown  at 
the  southwest  corner  of  State  and  School  streets  (now  East  Grand  Avenue) 
and  arranged  for  the  formation  of  the  church.  It  was  formally  organized  as 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  March  21,  1849.  Their  first  church  building, 
at  the  southeast  corner  of  Broad  and  Pleasant  streets,  was  dedicated  July  23, 
1850.  In  the  fall  of  1904,  lots  were  purchased  at  the  southwest  corner  of 
Public  Avenue  and  Prospect  Street  and  a  new  edifice  of  Norman  grey  brick 
and  cut  stone  built  and  dedicated  June  8,  1906. 

The  St.  Paul  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  was  organized  on  February  28, 
1841.  Services  were  held  for  several  years  in  schoolhouses,  but  in  1851  their 
present  building  was  completed  and  dedicated. 

While  Catholic  services  began  in  Beloit  as  early  as  1846,  the  first  Catholic 
church  was  not  built  until  1854.  This  was  used  until  1884  when  it  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire.  The  new  building,  now  known  as  the  St.  Thomas  Church, 
was  erected  in  1886. 

While  the  Baptists  seem  entitled  to  the  credit  of  holding  the  first  services 
in  Beloit,  the  First  Baptist  Church  was  not  actually  organized  until  1841  and 
their  house  of  worship  built  and  dedicated  in  1848.  Rebuilt  in  1874  with 
imposing  towers  in  front,  it  was  burned  down  April  12,  1884,  and  rebuilt 
the  next  year. 

The  Methodists,  like  other  organizations,  held  many  services  in  the  school- 
houses  until  they  erected  their  first  church  in  1846.  Remodelled  later,  it  served 
until  1904,  when  the  erection  of  the  present  building  was  completed  in  1905. 

The  Second  Congregational  Church  Society  was  organized  in  1859.  Serviees 
were  held  in  a  hall  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Bluff  and  Bridge  (now  West 
Grand  Avenue)   until  the  first  building  was  dedicated  in  December,  1859,  at 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  401 

the  corner  of  St.  Lawrence  and  Parker  avenues.  The  present  building,  at 
the  southeast  corner  of  St.  Lawrence  and  Bluff  streets,  was  begun  in  1904 
and  completed  the  following  year.  To  the  above  churches  in  existence  before 
the  Civil  war.  time  has  added  numerous  others  as  their  worthy  associates. 

To  the  late  Horace  White,  Beloit's  distinguished  townsman,  metropolitan 
editor  and  author,  we  are  indebted  for  the  account  of  educational  beginnings 
in  Beloit.  The  first  school  Avas  held  in  the  kitchen  of  Caleb  Blodgett's  house 
in  1S3S.  with  John  Burroughs,  of  Orange  County,  New  York,  as  teacher. 
The  following  year  a  schoolhouse  was  built,  by  private  subscription,  at  the 
northeast  corner  of  School  (East  Grand  Avenue)  and  Prospect  streets.  Here, 
under  the  teaching  of  Hazen  Cheney,  was  opened  the  first  public  school.  In 
L842  a  school  was  held  in  the  basement  of  the  First  Congregational  Church 
by  the  Rev.  L.  H.  Loss.  This  was  the  Beloit  Seminary,  the  charter  for  which 
Major  Charles  Johnson  and  Cyrus  Eames  had  journeyed  to  Burlington,  Iowa, 
to  obtain  in  November,  1837.  This  was  then  the  seat  of  the  Territorial  Gov- 
ernment of  the  country  now  embraced  in  Wisconsin,  Iowa  and  Minnesota. 
"Aunt  Jane  Moore,"  the  sister  of  Horace  White's  mother,  was  Beloit's  first 
beloved  "schoolma'am,"  holding  an  infant  school  at  what  is  now  No.  439 
St.  Paul  Avenue. 

Among  the  list  of  worthy  pioneer  teachers  must  always  be  included:  Sarah 
T.  Crane,  Frances  Burchard,  Emeline  Fisher,  Philomela  Atwood,  Eliza  Field, 
M.  F.  Cutting,  Alexander  Stone,  Daniel  Pinkham,  Leonard  Humphrey,  Mrs. 
Saxby,  Mrs.  Dearborn,  Mrs.  Carr,  Cornelia  Bradley,  Miss  Adelaine  Merrill, 
Jonathan  Moore.   Ackland  Jones  and  Horatio  C.  Burchard. 

The  first  school,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  was  opened  in  1848  in  one 
room  of  the  frame  house  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Third  Street  and  Roose- 
velt Avenue,  and  taught  by  Miss  Foot.  The  next  one  was  located  on  Fourth 
Street  where  the  fire  station  is  now  and  taught  by  Harriet  Burchard  and  later 
by  Sarah  Burchard.  In  1852,  Rev.  Mr.  Millet  and  wife  taught  on  Merrill  Street, 
while  later  a  school  was  held  in  the  house  of  John  Saxby,  on  Railroad  Street 
north  of  St.  Lawrence  Avenue.  In  the  stone  house,  now  631  Bluff  Street,  S.  L. 
James  was  an  early  instructor.  James  W.  Strong  taught  there  in  1854  and 
later  B.  C.  Rogers  and  his  wife.  Temporary  public  school  rooms  were  located 
in  the  old  Mansion  House,  now  the  Thompson  Block. 

The  first  public  school  buildings  were  erected  in  1851  on  each  side  of  the 
river.  In  the  brick  school  house  on  the  east  side,  James  W.  Strong  began 
teaching  January  12,  1852,  with  Mrs.  Emeline  Fisher  and  Mrs.  Carey  his 
associates.  The  building,  with  its  three  stories  and  a  basement,  had  corkscrew 
stairways  from  story  to  story;  one  for  girls,  on  the  south  side,  and  one  on 
the  north  side  for  boys.  No.  2  schoolhouse  of  cut  stone,  built  about  1855  a 
few  rods  north  of  the  present  Parker  school  was,  for  the  time,  an  imposing 
two  story  structure  with  a  basement. 

The  first  principal  of  the  High  School  was  Alexander  Kerr,  a  graduate 
of  Beloit  College.  Later,  for  over  thirty  years,  he  was  the  honored  Professor 
of  Greek  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin.  With  the  organization  in  1868  of 
the  initial  city  school,  Beloit  began  its  development  of  an  educational  system 
which  has  expanded  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  growing  city. 


402  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

HISTORY   OF   BELOIT   COLLEGE 

Inseparably  connected  with  the  early  history  of  Beloit,   is  the  account  of 
the  genesis  of  Beloit  College.     As  the  sons  of  New  England  began  from  1838 
to  pour  into  the  fertile  prairies  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  it  became  natural 
for  them   to  embody   their   ideas   of  higher   Christian   education  into   institu- 
tions which  would  perpetuate  them  in  the  future.     In  the  fall  of  1843,  in  the 
old  Stone  Church,  at  the  General  Presbyterian  and  Congregational  Convention 
of   Wisconsin,   the   twenty-eight  members   of   the   session   discussed   the   plans 
for  a  college.     Later,  in  the  early   summer  of  1844,  in  a  little  stateroom  of 
the  steamer  Chesapeake,  on  Lake  Erie,   Stephen  Peet,  Baldwin,  J.   J.  Miter, 
Gaston  Hicks,  Bulkley  and  Aaron  L.  Chapin,  returning  delegates  from  a  Cleve- 
land (Ohio)  Convention,  renewed  the  discussion.     The  Western  College  Society 
having  been  organized,  its  secretary,  Mr.  Baldwin,  asserted  that  a  hand  from 
the  East  would  be  stretched  out  to  help  on   the   establishment  of  a  genuine 
Christian  College  in  the  West.     Stephen  Peet  enlarged  on  the  point  so  effec- 
tively that  his  words  kindled  hope  and  enthusiasm  in  the  rest.     After  earnest 
consultation   and  fervent   prayer,  Beloit  College  became   a   living  conception. 
The  seven  took  the  responsibility  of  calling  a  meeting  of  the  friends  of  Christian 
education  in  Illinois,  Wisconsin  and  Iowa.     To  that  meeting,  held  in  the  old 
Stone  Church  in  Beloit,  August  6,  1844,  came  four  from  Iowa,  twenty-seven 
from  Illinois  and  twenty-five  from  Wisconsin.     For  two  days  they  talked  and 
prayed,  closing  with  the  decision  that  a  college  and  a  female  seminary  should 
be  established,  each  near  the  border  line.     The  committee  of  ten,  appointed  for 
consideration  and  report,  met  in  October  of  the  same  year  with  fifty  members. 
Action    was   deferred,    however,   until   a   third    convention   was   held   in   May, 
1845,  at  which,  with  only  one  dissenting  vote  among  its  sixty-eight  delegates, 
the  college  was  located  in  Beloit.    In  October,  1845,  a  fourth  convention  adopted 
a  charter  and  elected  the  first  Board  of  Trustees,  as  follows:     Arastus  Kent, 
Stephen  Peet,  Dexter  Clary,  Aaron  L.  Chapin,  Flavel  Bascom,  Calvin  Water- 
bury,  J.   D.   Stevens,   Ruel  M.   Pearson,   George   W.   Hickok,    Augustine   Ray- 
mond, Charles  M.  Goodsell,  Ephraim  H.  Potter,  Lucius  G.  Fisher,  Wait  Tal- 
cott,  Charles  S.  Hempstead,  and  Samuel  Hinman.     Of  the  sixteen,  eight  were 
ministers,  eight  from  Wisconsin,  and  eight  from  Illinois;  eight  Presbyterians 
and  eight  Congregationalists.     While  the  equality  in  denominational  distribu- 
tion  was  accidental,   the   geographical   location    was    studied.     A   majority   of 
the  ministers  were  graduates  of  Yale,  whose  influence  continued  in  the  sub- 
sequent history  of  the  college. 

The  trustees  met  immediately.  Displeased  at  first  with  the  charter  granted 
them,  which  restricted  the  operation  of  the  college  to  the  town  of  Beloit  and 
forbade  religious  tests,  they  later  in  April,  1846,  accepted  the  charter  on  these 
terms.  The  town  of  Beloit  pledged  a  site  of  ten  acres  and  raised,  for  the 
erection  of  the  first  building,  $7,000.  At  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of 
Middle  College  on  June  24,  1847,  Mr.  Peet  announced  the  gift  of  $10,000  in 
western  lands  by  Hon.  T.  W.  Williams,  of  New  London,  Connecticut,  for  the 
endowment  of  a  professorship.  Unwilling  to  await  the  completion  of  a  build- 
ing or  the  engagement  of  professors,  a  class  of  five,  prepared  by  S.  T.  Merrill, 
was  admitted  November  4,  1847.     Their  examination  for  entrance  as  freshmen, 


BELOIT  COLLEGE  IX  1870 


EMEBSON   HALL,  WOMEN'S  CAMPUS,  BELOIT  COLLEGE,  BELOIT 


Vol.  1—26 


404  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

made  by  Mr.  Merrill  and  the  trustees  was  upon  a  course  of  study  drawn  up 
exactly  on  the  existing  Yale  plan. 

The  late  Horace  White  at  the  semi-centennial  of  the  college,  celebrated 
June  23,  1897,  gave  his  vivid  remembrances  in  the  following  words:  "Under 
Mr.  Merrill's  tuition  I  began  the  study  of  algebra  and  of  Latin  and  Greek. 
In  1845  my  mother  married  Mr.  Samuel  Hinman  of  Waukesha,  Wisconsin. 
His  election  as  superintendent  of  the  first  building  erected  for  Beloit  College 
brought  us  back  here  in  the  spring  of  1845.  This  was  the  year  in  which  the 
first  freshman  class  was  formed,  the  year  in  which  the  corner  stone  of  Middle 
College  was  laid. 

"I  remember  the  time  when  the  young  men  constituting  the  first  fresh- 
man class  studied  alongside  of  us  younger  ones  in  the  old  basement,  under 
Mr.  Merrill,  who  was  acting  president  and  professor  of  all  departments  in 
Beloit  College  until  the  advent  of  Professors  Bushnell  and  Emerson  in  the 
month  of  May,  1848.  I  remember  the  coming  of  those  two  seers  of  Israel 
and  the  laying  of  the  aforesaid  corner  stone.  The  college  building  was  in 
course  of  construction  for  a  long  time,  and  the  five  freshmen  (grown  to  be 
sophomores)  recited  their  lessons  in  a  room  of  Lucius  G.  Fisher's  house  down 
on  the  river  bank.  It  was  a  severe  struggle  on  all  hands  to  get  that  building 
under  a  roof.  We  children — that  is,  the  Hinman  children  and  the  White 
children — had  these  troubles  served  to  us  daily  because  Deacon  Hinman  had 
charge  of  the  work  for  which  he  received  a  salary  of  $500  per  year;  and  this 
was  all  that  a  family  of  ten  had  to  live  on.  We  thought  we  lived  pretty  well, 
however. 

"We  produced  our  own  vegetables  and  poultry,  our  own  pork  and  milk 
and  butter.  The  cows  grazed  freely  on  the  open  prairie  roundabout,  and  were 
lured  homeward  by  an  enticement  of  bran  at  the  close  of  each  day.  We  had 
a  wood  lot  which  supplied  our  fuel  and  I  cut  down  the  trees.  Tea  and  coffee 
were  unknown  luxuries  to  us,  sugar  was  scarce,  but  we  had  more  of  it  than 
Julius  Ceasar  had.  There  was  abundance  of  fish  in  the  streams,  and  of  game 
in  the  woods  and  fields.  Prairie  chickens,  wild  ducks,  wild  pigeons,  and  wild 
geese  were  to  be  had  in  the  greatest  profusion  during  their  season,  together 
with  an  occasional  deer  and  an  occasional  bear.  During  my  senior  year  in 
college  (1853)  it  was  not  an  uncommon  occurrence  to  find  a  flock  of  quails 
in  our  dooryard  picking  up  crumbs  in  competition  with  the  chickens.  Black- 
berries, strawberries,  wild  plums,  wild  grapes,  hickory  nuts,  hazel  nuts  and 
black  walnuts  were  to  be  had  for  the  trouble  of  gathering  them,  and  as  for 
wild  flowers  I  cannot  begin  to  tell  you  how  the  prairies,  the  woods  and  the 
river  banks  glowed  with  them.  The  habitat  of  many  of  these  flowers  extended 
to  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the  west  and  to  the  headwaters  of 
the  Saskatchewan  on  the  north,  as  I  discovered  a  few  years  since  while  making 
a  journey  to  the  Pacific  coast  by  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway. 

"So  you  see  that  a  salary  of  $500  for  a  family  of  ten,  plus  the  bounties 
of  nature  and  our  own  industry,  was  not  a  niggardly  allowance.  Yet  I  fancy 
that  the  salaries  offered  to  Professors  Bushnell  and  Emerson,  of  $600  per  year, 
coupled  with  the  proviso,  'if  we  can  raise  it'  did  not  constitute  the  moving 
consideration  with  them.  Ah,  those  nobleminded,  high-principled  men!  What 
can  I  say  in  their  praise?    What  can  I  not  say  of  them  and  of  those  who  came 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  405 

a  little  later  President  Cliapin,  Professor  Lathrop,  Professor  Porter?  These 
five  constituted  the  faculty  during  my  undergraduate  course.  Two  of  them 
are  still  alive,  thank  God,  to  see  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  institution 
to  which  they  gave  their  lives.  Prof.  Porter,  according  to  my  recollection, 
came  hither  a  victim  of  consumption,  and  was  not  expected  to  live  more  than 
three  years.  If  Beloit  were  as  good  for  all  invalids  as  it  has  been  for  him, 
it    would  be  the  most   popular  health  resort  in  the  United   States." 

The  original  ten  acres  of  land  which  constituted  the  initial  campus  of 
Beloit  College  was  given  by  the  following  men  who  were  the  owners  of  the 
lots  composing  it :  L.  G.  Fisher,  A.  L.  Field,  James  Lusk,  H.  Hobart,  Hazen 
Cheney,  R.  P.  Crane,  P.  Kearney,  S.  G.  Fisher,  R.  P.  Field,  and  Field  &  Lusk. 
Additions  were  acquired  by  gift  and  purchases  at  various  times  later,  so  that 
now  the  campus  proper  is  thirty  acres. 

The  day  of  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  Middle  College,  when  two 
thousand  persons  assembled  and  marched  to  the  southeast  corner  to  witness 
it.  was  an  auspicious  one.  With  John  M.  Keep  presiding,  Rev.  A.  L.  Chapin, 
then  but  a  trustee,  read  a  sketch  of  the  origin  of  the  College;  Rev.  Stephen 
Peet  spoke  of  the  slender  resources,  while  others  uttered  their  unfaltering 
faith  in  the  undertaking.  Depositing  the  lead  box,  filled  with  articles  of  cur- 
rent interest,  in  its  place  and  sealing  it,  Mr.  Kent,  the  president  of  the  board, 
set  the  corner  stone,  June  24,  1847. 

With  the  coming  of  Professors  Bushnell  and  Emerson  the  next  year,  the 
instruction  was  divided  between  them,  Professor  Bushnell  taking  the  mathe- 
matics and  Professor  Emerson,  the  ancient  languages.  Almost  immediately 
Mr.  Bushnell  had  to  become  business  and  financial  manager,  spending  for 
years  much  time  in  the  canvass  for  funds. 

When  the  walls  of  Middle  College  had  risen  as  high  as  the  $4,000  sub- 
scribed would  pay  for,  the  building  was  stopped — floorless,  windowless  and 
roofless.  As  no  more  help  could  be  secured  abroad  until  Middle  College  was 
finished  by  the  people  of  Beloit,  a  public  meeting  was  anxiously  called.  As 
the  village  then  contained  only  about  1,700  people,  with  few  living  on  the 
College  bluff,  only  the  most  faithful  expected  success  from  the  meeting.  A 
second  $4,000  was  subscribed  and  the  greatest  crisis  of  the  College  was  passed. 
To  the  initial  gift  of  the  site,  the  citizens  of  Beloit  subscribed  $12,000  in  money 
or  labor  and  made  the  completion  of  the  first  building  possible.  By  the  end 
of  the  first  ten  years,  gifts  amounting  to  $125,000  had  been  secured,  $25,000 
of  which  had  been  given  by  the  citizens  of  Beloit. 

In  the  early  days,  in  humble  quarters  the  students  and  faculty  began  their 
work  with  prayers  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Almost  immediately  the 
Btudents  expressed  their  initiative  in  the  voluntary  organization  of  the  Mis- 
sionary and  Archaean  Debating  societies.  The  early  students  camo  predom- 
inantly with  the  intention  of  preparing  themselves  for  the  Christian  Ministry, 
so  appealingly  did  the  conditions  of  the  newly  settled  country  demand  the 
message  of  the  Gospel. 

Rev.  A.  L.  Chapin  came  from  his  pastorate  in  Milwaukee  to  be  the  first 
president  and  was  inaugurated  July  24,  1850.  His  "life  was  identified  with 
the  College  from  its  first  inception  as  a  founder,  trustee  and  president.  From 
the  time  of  the  first  consultation  of  the  friends  on  the  steamer  'Chesapeake,' 


406  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

he  was  inspired  with  the  need  and  the  practicability  of  establishing  in  this 
new  West  a  Christian  college  which  would  in  time  become  a  worthy  peer  of 
the  best  Eastern  colleges.  He  gave  his  after-life,  at  the  call  of  duty,  to  the 
planting  and  upbuilding  of  such  an  institution.  His  thirty  years  of  admin- 
istration as  president  of  the  College  and  forty-seven  years  service  as  a  trustee, 
and  member  of  the  executive  committee,  attest  his  ability  and  success  in  the 
responsible  work  committed  to  his  hands.  He  outlived  all  those  associated 
with  him  on  the  first  Board  of  Trustees,  and  was  privileged  to  witness  and 
rejoice  in  the  already  blessed  fruitage  of  their  united  labors."  President 
Chapin's  name  and  deeds  will  ever  be  held  in  honored  and  loving  remem- 
brance while  the  College  exists. 

With  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war,  the  College  gave  itself  over  to  the 
saving  of  the  Union.  Drilling  squads  filled  the  Campus  at  the  recreation  hour. 
The  College  furnished  more  than  400  to  the  Union  army  and  forty-six  martyrs 
whose  names  can  still  be  read  on  the  marble  tablet  in  Memorial  Hall.  One 
commencement  had  to  be  omitted  because  its  professor  of  rhetoric,  J.  J.  Blais- 
dell,  and  the  senior  class  were  in  camp  at  Memphis,  Tennessee. 

With  the  resumption  of  peace,  the  students  returned  in  increasing  num- 
bers to  their  studies  and  the  preparation,  for  many,  for  the  continuance  of 
their  soldier  spirit  by  "the  following  of  the  flag  over  the  breastworks  of 
the  enemy  of  souls  in  Turkey,  China,  India  and  Japan." 

Memorial  Hall  was  erected  by  the  gifts  of  donors  who  responded  to  the 
appeal  for  $100  for  each  man  who  had  enlisted  from  the  College.  At  its 
dedication  in  1869,  "the  soldiery  in  uniform,  'Old  Abe,'  Wisconsin's  War 
Eagle,  the  glowing  oratory  of  Senator  Carpenter,  the  classic  eloquence  of  Pro- 
fessor Emerson,  the  booming  of  the  minute  guns  fired  by  the  student  veterans 
in  honor  of  the  dead — all  bespoke  what  the  College  had  learned  and  suffered, 
given  and  gained  through  the  war." 

The  period  from  1873  to  1886,  the  close  of  President  Chapin's  administra- 
tion, was  one  of  intensive  growth.  The  college  began  to  strengthen  its  faculty 
by  the  addition  of  some  of  its  own  alumni.  The  course  of  instruction  was 
enlarged  by  the  addition  of  the  natural  sciences  and  modern  languages  to  the 
classics,  and  the  scientific  equipment  increased  in  many  ways,  among  others 
by  the  gift  of  the  Smith  Observatory  dedicated  in  1883.  Undergraduate  ac- 
tivities became  more  diversified.  In  1875  the  "College  Monthly"  established 
in  1853  expanded  into  the  semi-monthly  "Round  Table,"  now  issued  twice  a 
week.  Beloit  in  1875  began  its  interstate  oratorical  victories,  developing  by 
1925  its  enviable  record  of  having  won  more  first  and  second  places  than 
any  other  college.    In  1885  the  first  Greek  play  was  given. 

Field  days  were  begun  as  early  as  1880,  baseball  leagues,  lawn  tennis, 
mandolin  and  Glee  clubs  organized  in  the  early  '80s.  A  tie  game  of  base- 
ball with  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  May  2,  1884,  gave  origin  to  the  college 
yell  whose  seven  syllables  form  the  basis  of  the  chorus  of  today. 

Through  the  generosity  of  Beloit  citizens,  Middle  College  was  remodelled 
in  1880  with  its  adornment  of  mansard  roof  and  colonnaded  front.  By  1886 
the  endowment  had  increased  to  $200,000. 

With  this  year  Rev.  Edwin  Dwight  Eaton,  a  worthy  son  of  old  Beloit, 
became  its  second  president.     Under  his  leadership  an  era  of  rapid  expansion 


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408  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

began.  Several  new  buildings,  elective  courses,  laboratory  methods  in  all  science 
departments  and  art  and  music — all  helped  in  the  furtherance  of  a  more  lib- 
eral Christian  education. 

In  1889  D.  K.  Pearsons  began  his  gifts  which  ultimately  totaled  $500,000 
to  the  College  besides  drawing  forth  generous  contributions  from  others.  North 
College,  built  in  1854,  long  a  dormitory  and  college  boarding  club  was  given 
over  to  recitation  rooms.  Scoville  Hall,  erected  in  1889  from  the  gift  of  $25,000 
of  J.  W.  Scoville,  became  long  the  home  of  the  Beloit  Academy  from  whose 
halls  entered  the  college  many  students  excellently  prepared  under  the  super- 
vision of  that  masterful  teacher  and  character  builder,  Professor  A.  W.  Burr, 
now  honored  far  and  wide  by  men  who  have  become  famous  in  various  walks 
of  life. 

Chapin  Hall  was  built  and  named  by  D.  K.  Pearsons  in  1891;  while  the 
beautiful  Chapel  was  opened  for  use  the  next  year.  This  permitted  a  new 
use  to  be  given  to  the  old  chapel  which  thereafter  became  known  as  the  Art 
Hall.  To  the  late  Mrs.  Joseph  Emerson  came  the  conception  of  the  Art  Hall 
in  1892.  Its  beginning  came  with  the  procuring,  in  1893,  of  the  112  casts 
sent  by  the  Greek  government  as  its  exhibition  to  the  World's  Fair  in  Chicago. 

A  strange  triumphal  procession  rolled  into  Beloit  one  summer  day  in  1894, 
as  the  flag-decked  train  chugged  up  the  grade  from  Roscoe.  On  the  dirt  road 
beside  it  jogged  its  frail  escort,  a  little  buggy  carrying  Professor  and  Mrs. 
Joseph  Emerson  to  their  hour  of  triumph.  They  were  bringing  home  the 
fruits  of  months  of  labor,  the  Fisher  collection  purchased  by  Lucius  G.  Fisher, 
Jr.,  from  the  Greek  government  and  given  to  the  College  in  honor  of  his  father. 

Then  Professor  Emerson  supplied  a  sense  of  permanence  to  his  wife's  con- 
ception of  an  Art  Hall,  by  securing  from  the  family  of  his  classmate,  Azariah 
Eldridge  of  Norfolk,  Connecticut,  an  endowment  of  $10,000.  With  this  in- 
come, Mrs.  Emerson  through  an  indomitable  resourcefulness  of  mind  and  will 
to  the  very  year  of  her  death  in  1920,  assembled  marbles,  bronzes,  art  books 
and  treasures,  and  over  one  hundred  oil  paintings  towards  the  realization 
of  her  plan  to  make  the  Art  building  a  Memorial  Hall  of  the  founders  of  the 
College,  the  prominent  graduates  and  leading  trustees  and  benefactors  of  Beloit. 
However  beautifully  remodelled  and  enriched  since  her  day,  Mrs.  Helen  Brace 
Emerson  must  always  be  recognized  as  its  master  spirit.  "Her  brain  planned 
it,  her  soul  inspired  it  and  her  will  achieved  it."  All  connected  with  the 
college  now  recall  with  loving  forgiveness  the  innumerable  times  when  this 
autocrat  insisted  and  secured  the  readjustments  of  Commencement  programs 
to  accommodate  her  in  her  arranged  hour  for  the  unveiling  of  her  new  art 
treasures.  With  what  wonderful  definiteness  she  husbanded  her  meager  funds, 
supplementing  them  by  her  own  savings  secured  from  frugal  living  and  un- 
ceasing and  not-to-be  denied  supplications  to  her  friends!  Never  deflecting  a 
hair's  breadth  from  her  purpose,  she  achieved,  however,  much,  as  the  years 
went  by  her  step  became  slower  and  her  form  more  bent,  her  lonely  vigils 
more  frequent.  In  1913  her  bodily  presence,  but  more  undaunted  spirit,  was 
constantly  presiding  over  the  College  campaign  in  which  the  citizens  of  Beloit 
subscribed  $50,000  for  her  new  Art  Hall.  The  war,  however,  caused  such  an 
upsetting  of  values  that  the  trustees  decided  to  delay  the  building.  In  con- 
sequence death  came  to  its  founder  ere  the  edifice  could  arise.     With  the  ac- 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  409 

cumulated  interesl  and  additions,  the  day  is  near  at  hand  when  the  new  Art 
Hall  will  grace  the  Campus.  No  other  name  than  that  of  Helen  Brace  Emer- 
son can  appropriately  he  carved  over  its  entrance.  Meanwhile  the  present 
Hall  has  developed  into  a  charming  gallery  of  numerous  delightful  cultural 
opportunities.  Loan  collections,  lectures,  afternoon  teas,  gallery  talks  and  re- 
ceptions have  made  the  Beloit  College  Art  Hall  an  educational  opportunity 
for  town  and  gown. 

With  the  gift  of  $63,000  by  D.  K.  Pearsons  in  1892,  the  Science  building 
became  possible  when  supplemented  by  an  endowment  gift  of  $50,000  from 
William  E.  Hale.  With  the  completion  of  Pearsons  Hall  of  Science,  improved 
scientific;  methods  became  possible  so  that  Beloit  carried,  its  high  standards 
of  scholarship  into  the  fields  in  which  it  has  maintained  its  preeminence. 

Nothing  stands  out  more  unique  than  the  Logan  Museum  now  well  housed 
in  Memorial  Hall.  Its  founder,  Frank  Gr.  Logan,  of  Chicago,  originally  planned 
a  collection  of  archaeological  material  of  the  American  Indian  with  his  initial 
gift  to  the  College  of  the  Major  II.  N.  Rust  exhibition  at  the  World's  Fair. 
His  numerous  later  gifts  have  continually  enlarged  the  scope  and  usefulness 
of  the  museum.  Several  large  collections  illustrating  the  archaeology  of  Wis- 
consin have  been  secured,  valuable  treasures  in  copper,  1,400  pieces,  stone 
axes,  1,500  specimens,  celts,  1,000  specimens,  pipes,  ceremonial  stones,  pendants, 
gorgets,  etc.,  numbering  700  specimens.  A  choice  collection  of  Peruvian  pottery, 
axes  and  pottery  from  Ecuador,  Colombia,  and  the  provinces  of  Chiriqui  in 
Central  America. 

Notable  collections  in  bead  and  shell  necklaces  have  been  added  while  the 
Museum  displays  in  well  arranged  cases  the  life  of  the  Great  Plaines  Indians  with 
excellent  collections  of  baskets  from  the  Pacific  coast  and.  notably  from  the 
Pomos.  With  a  splendid  collection  of  implements  in  wood,  chiefly  bows,  arrows, 
spears,  mortars,  bowls,  drills,  etc.,  together  with  a  small  but  useful  collection 
of  shell  articles,  an  invaluable  teaching  collection  in  anthropology  is  obtained. 

The  museum  acquired,  in  1925,  the  oldest  necklace  in  the  world.  It  is 
composed  of  one  hundred  thirty-eight  beads  made  of  bone,  stone  and  ivory. 
Estimated  to  be,  at  least,  seventy-five  thousand  years  old,  it  was  found  in  an 
Anrignaciau  deposit  in  the  cave  La  Blanchard  near  Perigueux,  France.  Pur- 
chased by  Mr.  Logan  in  the  face  of  keen  competition  of  English  collectors  it 
is  now  the  permanent  possession  of  the  Beloit  college  museum. 

Prom  funds  generously  supplied,  by  Mr.  Logan,  new  collections  are  con- 
tinually received.  Having  endowed  the  department  of  anthropology,  with  Dr. 
•  ieorge  L.  Collie  as  its  head,  Mr.  Logan  has  also  secured  a  field  in  Southern 
France  for  a  five  year  period  of  excavation,  the  materials  found  to  become 
the  property  of  the  museum.  He  has  also  commissioned  a  party  to  explore 
Northern  Africa  for  valuable  material  on  anthropology.  Due  to  financial  aid 
given  by  Mr.  Logan  to  Roy  Chapman  Andrews,  in  his  expedition  into  Central 
Asia,  the  museum  will  receive  duplicates  of  all  specimens  secured. 

Mr.  Logan  has  also  had  the  walls  of  the  Museum  decorated  with  twelve 
large  Murals  showing  the  progress  of  human  life  from  the  first  half-human 
anthropoid  apes  to  the  higher  primitive  culture  shown  in  Mexico  and  the 
lucas  of  Peru. 

The  College  was  for  fifty  years  a  boy's  college  when,  in  1895,  women  were 


410  THE  KOCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

admitted  and  first  graduated  in  1898.  While  remaining  thereafter  coeduca- 
tional, the  college  has  always  been  particularly  considerate  in  its  care  of  the 
women  by  restricting  them  to  residence  in  the  dormitories  under  college  super- 
vision. 

President  Eaton  served  the  College  from  1886  to  1917.  During  his  efficient 
administration,  the  College  developed  steadily  along  material  lines;  the  en- 
rollment increased  five  hundred  per  cent;  the  endowment  one  thousand  per 
cent;  and  the  addition  of  ten  new  buildings  gave  great  improvement  in  the 
physical  equipment  of  the  institution.  In  hearty  sympathy  with  the  Christian 
spirit  of  its  founders  and  firm  in  his  determination  to  continue  their  aims  of 
developing  a  college  devoted  exclusively  to  the  liberal  arts,  leaving  to  the 
universities  the  task  of  furnishing  training  in  the  vocations  and  professions, 
President  Eaton  built  securely  upon  the  firm  foundations  laid.  In  conse- 
quence, in  "Old  Beloit"  there  is  found  an  atmosphere  of  sturdy  faith  which 
steadies  and  guides  effectively  youth  in  its  preparation  for  life. 

In  June,  1923,  President  Eaton  returned  to  serve  as  ad  interim  president 
during  the  time  intervening  between  the  departure  of  his  own  successor  and 
the  oncoming  of  the  present  president.  He,  in  a  remarkable  manner,  became 
again  a  harmonizing  and  constructive  force  on  the  Campus,  enlisting  the  co- 
operation of  all.  He  gave  the  present  generation  of  students  an  acquaintance 
with  the  early  history  of  the  College  and  enlisted  them  in  their  determination 
to  respond  enthusiastically  to  the  leadership  of  his  successor.. 

With  the  coming  of  Dr.  Melvin  A.  Brannon  in  1917  to  be  the  third  pres- 
ident of  the  college,  an  incident  occurred  which  was  doubtless  unique  in  history. 
At  the  first  Convocation,  September  26,  1917,  marking  the  commencement  of 
President  Brannon 's  administration,  Professor  William  Porter,  though  long  in 
retirement  after  fift}r  years'  service  as  Professor  of  Latin,  was  present.  Pro- 
fessor Porter,  then  in  his  97th  year  and  the  oldest  living  graduate  of  Williams 
College,  occupying  his  honored  seat  with  the  faculty,  rose  with  the  rest  to 
salute  the  new  executive  and  thus  placed  the  benediction  of  the  past  upon  the 
Beloit  of  the  future. 

Dr.  Brannon  proved  himself  invaluable  in  leading  the  College  through  the 
trying  days  of  the  World  war  and  the  period  of  reorganization  that  followed. 
His  dynamic  democratic  spirit  and  great  business  ability  sustained  and  led 
the  College  still  forward,  imbued  with  the  new  spirit  of  the  age.  With  marvel- 
ous resourcefulness,  he  overcame  numerous  difficulties  concomitant  with  the 
times  and  pressed  ever  onward  towards  the  realization  of  his  ideals  for  the 
College. 

Called  to  a  wider  field,  that  of  the  Chancellorship  of  Montana  in  charge 
of  all  of  its  higher  educational  institutions,  Beloit,  after  the  short  interim 
presidency  of  Dr.  Eaton,  called  again  one  of  its  own  alumni,  Irving  Maurer, 
of  the  class  of  1904,  to  be  its  fourth  president.  Dr.  Maurer  assumed  direction 
of  the  College  in  January,  1924.  Bringing-  to  the  College  the  full  vigor 
of  manhood  ripened  in  an  environment  of  culture  and  Christian  idealism, 
President  Maurer  has  a  splendid  opportunity  to  realize  his  ideal  of  a  Greater 
Beloit.  He  has  already  expressed  that  ideal  in  the  following  words:  "Beloit 
has  always  cultivated  a  spirit  of  truth-seeking;  yet,  in  this  adventure,  Beloil 


OLDEST  NECKLACE  IN  THE   WORLD 


412  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

has  had  a   great  hopefulness,  a  keen  appreciation  of  spiritual  values.     True 
knowledge  and  pure  faith  are  both  manifestations  of  genuine  culture. 

' '  But  the  Beloit  of  the  future,  loyal  to  this  fundamental  fact,  will  be  greater 
in  the  expansion  of  its  equipment,  of  resources,  of  student  body,  of  teaching 
staff.  It  will  be  a  College  in  which  student  life  will  have  vigorous,  intel- 
lectual contacts.  In  an  enlarged  dormitory  system,  capable  of  housing  the 
entire  freshman  class,  with  a  freshman  commons,  Beloit  will  invite  a  body 
of  men  and  women  whose  fellowship  will  center  in  frank  interpretations  of 
modern  life  problems.  It  will  be  a  College  of  vigorous  athletic  spirit,  where 
the  development  of  the  body  will  be  honored  not  in  the  person  of  athletic 
teams  alone,  but  by  the  entire  student  body,  as  a  personal  achievement.  *  *  * 
It  will  be  a  college  where  teachers  will  have  an  opportunity  in  every  way  to 
throw  their  best  powers  in  the  classroom  work,  with  enough  leisure  to  do  the 
research  work  requisite  for  the  better  teaching  and  with  every  stimulation 
possible  to  make  teaching  the  finest  game  in  the  world.  It  will  be  a  College 
where  an  honest  approach  to  truth  by  teacher  and  student  will  be  everywhere 
respected. 

"And  it  will  be  a  school  in  which  religion  is  cherished  as  the  heart  of  life 
and  devotion  to  a  task  will  be  the  outstanding  mark  of  Beloit  men."  In  June, 
1925,  he  said:  "Beloit  closes  its  78th  year,  clear  as  to  its  meaning  and  pur- 
pose. To  be  a  college  where  intellectual  interests  have  the  intensity  of  a 
spiritual  fervor,  to  be  a  school  where  young  men  and  women  catch  the  contagion 
of  a  great  faith  in  the  possibilities  of  our  race,  to  be  a  college  where  life  is 
nurtured  in  its  best  and  noblest  things,  this  is  her  work  and  in  this  may  God 
help  us  carry  on." 

Time  has  naturally  wrought  many  changes  in  the  personnel  of  the  faculty. 
Professors  Emerson,  Bacon,  Whitney,  Chapin  and  his  son  Robert  C,  long 
professor  of  economics;  Porter,  Pearsons,  T.  A.  Smith  and  Salisbury  have 
passed  away.  Professor  Burr  and  E.  G.  Smith  are  in  retirement  on  the  Carnegie 
foundation.  The  latter,  after  his  forty  years  of  service  as  professor  of  chem- 
istry, is  now  renewing  his  youth  by  serving  another  term  as  mayor  of  the 
city,  having  held  the  office  twice  in  earlier  days. 

The  College  has  now  a  productive  endowment  of  over  $2,000,000,  a  student 
body  of  550,  and  a  faculty  of  fifty.  Its  alumni  list  includes  a  total  of  over 
4,000  men  and  women,  of  whom  3,584  are  living.  Into  the  various  fields  of 
life  this  college  continues  to  send  leaders  well  trained  for  service  in  the  world. 

A    STEADY    GROWTH 

Steady,  but  never  rapid  was  Beloit 's  growth.  In  1872  it  had  reached  a 
population  of  4,600  with  a  city  government  with  yearly  running  expenses  of 
$3,000.  While  having  two  volunteer  fire  departments  with  two  hand  engines, 
it  was  without  water  works,  paved  streets,  electric  lights,  or  telephone  service. 

In  that  year  Joseph  Hendley  and  sons  established  a  gas  plant  which  gave 
service  on  a  few  streets  and  in  part  of  the  homes.  The  kerosene  oil  lamps, 
however,  continued  to  be  more  universally  used  for  sometime  later. 

Two  restaurants  and  ice-cream  parlors  served  the  city;  one  was  operated 
by  Ed.  Day  and  the  other  by  Hank   Talmadge.     The  latter  is  still,  in  1925, 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  413 

a  well  known  local  character  seen  daily  on  the  streets  with  his  ever  present 
button-hole  bouquet. 

The  seven  physicians,  then  serving  the  city  unassisted  by  any  hospital,  were 
Strong,  Taggart,  Bell,  Johnson,  Brenton,  Hunt  and  Merriman.  There  were 
three  drug  stores:  Fenton's,  Strong's  and  Gregory's  and  three  hotels:  the 
Goodwin,  the  American  House  and  Frank  Salisbury's.  The  legal  profession 
was  represented  by  six  of  its  members:  Hon.  S.  J.  Todd,  Alfred  Taggart, 
Horace  Dearborn,  Judge  .Mills  and  Richard  Tattershall.  At  that  time  one 
readied  Janesville,  the  county  seat,  by  rail,  changing  at  Clinton  Junction. 

The  pastor  of  the  Firsl  Congregational  Church  was  then  Dr.  George  Bush- 
uell,  while  Rev.  II.  P.  Higley  was  at  the  Second  Congregational,  Rev.  John 
McLean  at  the  First  Presbyterian,  and  Dr.  Fayette  Royce  at  St.  Paul's,  Rev. 
Levi  Parmerly  a1  the  Baptist,  Father  Sullivan  at  St.  Thomas,  and  a  supply 
at  the  Methodist. 

Several  disasters  befell  Beloit  in  the  early  '80s.  The  first  was  the  tornado 
of  June  11,  1883.  As  described  by  a  prominent  resident  at  the  time,  it  struck 
the  city  at  5 :30  P.  M.  Coming  from  the  southwest,  it  rushed  up  the  river 
valley,  tore  off  the  cover  of  the  Noii^h  Western  Railroad  bridge  and  then  divided 
into  two  branches.  One  branch  continuing  up  the  river  demolished  the  East 
side  Paper  .Mill,  splitting  a  stone  wall,  throwing  down  one  side  of  the  build- 
ing hut  leaving  the  other  side  standing.  There  Edward  Hollaran,  a  mill  hand, 
was  killed.  The  other  branch  of  the  tornado  turned  to  the  northeast  and  sent 
its  main  force  against  Benjamin  Brown's  three  blocks  at  the  southwest  corner 
of  State  and  East  (hand  Avenue.  It  tore  off  two-thirds  of  the  metal  roofs, 
crumpling  them  up  like  paper  and  dashing  them  into  the  street.  The  high 
brick  cornice  was  pushed  oft'  as  was  part  of  the  brick  front.  Then  the  tornado 
leaped  in  its  journey  northeastward,  passing  the  bodies  of  the  buildings  but 
shearing  off  the  church  steeples  of  the  First  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  Methodist 
and  First  Congregational.  A  heavy  rainfall  following  for  half  an  hour  added 
to  the  damage. 

In  the  spring  of  1884,  the  dam  was  torn  out  at  the  west  end  which  resulted 
in  making  a  hole  of  forty  to  fifty  feet  in  depth.  The  loss  of  water  power  and 
delay  in  repairing  caused  great    expense  to  the  paper  mill. 

Within  the  following  year,  the  .Merrill  &  Houston  Iron  Works,  the  Rock 
River  Paper  Company,  and  Booth,  Hinman  &  Company,  failed.  President 
A.  L.  Chapin  of  the  College  and  S.  T.  Merrill  lost  heavily  in  the  second  of 
these  failures.  More  than  $200,000  of  the  savings  of  Beloit  people  were  lost, 
it  is  claimed,  in  the  failure  of  Booth,  Hinman  &  Company. 

INDUSTRIAL    BELOIT    OF    VKKTKKDA  V     AM)    TODAY 

The  middle  of  the  '80s  came  and  passed  with  Beloil  discouraged  as,  strug- 
gling under  a  great  burden  of  railroad  bonds,  it  saw  no  prospect  of  recupera- 
tion. Capital  and  enterprise,  both  seemed  lacking.  Then  a  few  men  grasped 
the  situation  and  formed  a  Business  .Men's  Association  which  paved  the  way 
for  a  revival  that  has  been  permanent.  Within  the  first  twelve  months  of 
its  existence  the  energetic  secretary  of  the  organization  had  enlarged  the  num- 
ber of  workers  so   that    the  original   eleven    had  grown   to  nearly  one    hundred. 


414  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Thousands  of  his  circulars,  disclosing  the  advantages  of  Beloit,  were  distributed 
far  and  wide.  So  effectively  did  this  organization  set  the  industrial  wheels 
of  Beloit  in  prosperous  motion  that  its  prominent  members  deserve  to  be  men- 
tioned. They  were  E.  J.  Adams,  the  first  president;  J.  B.  Dow,  its  secretary; 
Professor  E.  G.  Smith,  B.  M.  Malone,  David  S.  Foster,  Fred  Messer,  C.  C. 
Keeler,  L.  H.  Parker,  John  Foster,  William  H.  Wheeler,  C.  D.  Winslow,  W.  M. 
Brittan,  E.  T.  Hansen,  C.  B.  Salmon;  President  E.  D.  Eaton,  of  Beloit  College; 
A.  N.  Bort,  C.  F.  Rau,  Dr.  Samuel  Bell,  E.  S.  Green,  Cham  Ingersoll,  T.  F. 
Livermore,  C.  W.  Merriman,  C.  F.  Hardy,  C.  A.  Smith. 

This  organization  of  determined  business  men  brought  new  industries  to 
the  city,  serving  efficiency  the  city  before  the  advent  of  the  modern  Chamber 
of  Commerce.  Their  greatest  accomplishment  was  the  inducement  of  P.  B. 
Yates  to  remove  his  Berlin  Machine  Company,  then  operating  in  a  small  way 
at  Berlin,  Wisconsin,  to  Beloit.  This  factory  started  in  Beloit  with  the  em- 
ployment of  only  forty  men.  From  that  small  start,  with  only  one  model  of 
machine  as  the  complete  output  of  his  factory,  P.  B.  Yates  and  his  engineers 
devised  and  perfected  scores  of  different  types  of  machinery  now  used  in 
practically  every  lumber  and  woodworking  mill  in  the  country.  The  far-seeing 
vision  of  Mr.  Yates  early  disclosed  to  him  the  coming  need  for  conservation 
of  the  forests.  He  set  out  to  secure  engineers  and  designers  who,  under  his 
direction,  would  construct  machinery  which  would  handle  the  lumber  with  the 
least  possible  waste.  He  determined  that  his  company  should  be  the  leader 
in  the  movement  of  conservation  in  the  manufacture  of  lumber.  Firm  in  his 
beliefs,  his  dominating  mind  ruled  every  phase  of  the  plant  in  its  struggle  for 
the  most  efficient  manufacturing  methods. 

In  the  early  years,  J.  R.  Thomas  was  brought  from  Boston  to  become  the 
designer  of  Yates'  cabinet  surfacers,  moulders,  glue  jointers,  planers  and 
matchers  and  the  original  Double  Surfacer.  F.  L.  Lane  and  Harry  Mitchell 
perfected  the  Royal  Invincible  Sanders  which  were  placed  on  the  market  at 
the  close  of  the  year  1896.  Later,  Harry  Ross,  as  designer,  added  possibly 
the  largest  number  of  new  machines  to  the  Yates  line  in  his  fourteen  years 
of  efficient  service.  The  Yates  line  of  band  resaws,  which  began  coming  out 
about  1904,  were  designed  by  B.  D.  Stevens  who  was  brought  to  the  plant 
from  Saginaw,  Michigan. 

The  Lumber  Trade  Journal  of  April  1,  1923,  asserted  that  P.  B.  Yates 
of  Beloit,  Wisconsin,  more  than  all  other  men,  had  shaped  the  destiny  of 
lumber  dressing  as  a  principle  of  forest  conservation.  He,  then,  was  ascribed 
the  greatest  woodsman  of  the  age.  "Rare,  gorgeously-grained  hardwoods  and 
the  commonest  low-grade  soft  woods  alike  have  come  under  the  influence  of 
this  man.  Jewelled  burls  of  satin-wood  and  black  walnut  which  are  handled 
almost  like  precious  stones,  figuratively  speaking,  have  felt  the  touch  of  his 
hand  alike  with  ragged  yellow  pine,  seconds  and  thirds  cut  in  million-foot 
quantities  for  building  rough  scaffoldings  and  sheds.  All  the  various  woods 
of  the  United  States  and  foreign  countries  have  been  sawed  and  surfaced  in 
unbelievably  tremendous  quantities  for  nearly  four  decades  on  wood  working 
machines  conceived  and  built  in  the  great  factories  which  bear  his  name — 
P.  B.  Yates  Machine  Company,  Beloit,  Wisconsin." 

Today  more   than   1,200  men   are   employed   at   the   Beloit  plant   and   500 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  415 

more  at  the  Hamilton,  Ontario,  branch.  The  company  has  a  sales  force  of 
over  300  men,  :'."»  branch  offices  in  the  United  States  and  more  than  50  branches 
in  foreign  countries.  Today  over  125  types  of  machines  are  made  at  the  Beloit 
factory,  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  While  running  until  1917  under 
tlie  name  of  Berlin  Wood  Working  Machine  Company,  P.  B.  Yates  was  a'most 
entirely  the  owner  and  clearly  the  dominating  constructive  mind  of  the  or- 
ganization. With  a  marvelous  grasp  of  all  the  details  of  the  business,  an 
unerring  ability  in  the  estimating  of  manufacturing  costs,  a  financial  acumen 
amounting  almost  to  "second  sense,"  a  marvelous  accuracy  in  his  judgment 
of  men,  and  a  constant  interest  in  his  employees,  Mr.  Yates  built  up  a  great 
organization  of  men  who  became  permanent  assets  of  the  city.  Incalculable 
became  the  services  of  Mr.  Yates  to  Beloit  as  its  great  city  builder. 

Mr.  L.  M.  Forbes,  his  brother-in-law,  and  F.  L.  Lane,  were  prominently 
associated  with  Mr.  Yates.  Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Yates  April  27,  1923,  the 
entire  business  became  the  property  of  his  only  daughter,  Florence  Argall 
Yates,  a  minor.  A  reorganization  of  the  company  followed  with  H.  A.  von 
Oven,  president  and  trustee  of  the  estate.  In  1925  the  industry  was  sold  to 
a  group  of  men  who  had  long  held  leading  positions  in  the  company.  The 
plant  is  now  operated  under  the  name  of  the  Yates- American  Machine  Company. 

The  Eclipse  Windmill  Company  is  noteworthy  for  the  manner  of  its  origin, 
its  own  development  and  the  great  industry  of  today  of  which  it  was  the  fore- 
runner. The  Rev.  L.  H.  Wheeler,  while  a  missionary  to  the  Indians  in  northern 
Wisconsin,  experienced  as  early  as  1844  the  need  for  some  power  to  pump 
water  and  grind  corn  and  wheat  for  the  Indians.  Being  of  an  inventive  turn 
of  mind  he  contrived  in  1865,  a  crude  self-regulating  pumping  windmill  for 
raising  water  in  place  of  hand  carriage.  A  patent  was  secured  in  1867,  and 
the  first  full-sized  Eclipse  Windmill  was  exhibited  that  fall  at  the  State  Fair 
at  Madison  and  sold  to  a  farmer  of  Albany,  Wisconsin.  Mr.  Wheeler  later 
patented  what  is  known  as  the  "offset  link"  used  in  windmill  pumps.  The 
firm  of  L.  H.  Wheeler  &  Son  began  the  manufacture  of  the  windmill.  To 
the  son,  W.  H.  Wheeler,  however,  fell  the  task  of  developing  the  business, 
as  the  father  lived  only  a  few  years  after  the  invention  was  patented.  Amidst 
early  failures,  incomplete  successes,  and  almost  constant  struggles  with  poverty, 
the  business  slowly  increased.  In  1873,  the  firm  was  reorganized  under  the 
name  of  the  Eclipse  Windmill  Company,  with  S.  T.  Merrill  president  and 
Charles  B.  Salmon,  as  secretary  and  manager.  Mr.  Wheeler  continued  to  be 
the  partner  to  whom  is  assigned  the  credit  for  the  improvements  of  the  mill 
and  enlargement  of  the  scope  of  the  industry  by  the  inclusion  of  the  manu- 
facture of  machinery  and  equipment  directly  connected  with  the  windmill. 
The  Eclipse  windmill  captured  the  first  prize  medals  at  the  Expositions  at 
Philadelphia,  in  1876,  and  at  Paris,  in  1878. 

With  the  retirement  of  Messrs.  Merrill  and  Salmon  from  the  business  in 
1880,  a  reorganization  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  Eclipse  Windmill 
Engine  Company,  with  W.  II.  Wheeler  as  president.  Then  Wheeler  added 
other  developments  of  his  own,  such  as  the  friction  clutch  and  the  Williams 
engine.  The  company,  thereupon,  assumed  the  name  of  the  Williams  Engine 
and  Clutch  Works.     Towards  the  rebuilding  of  the  plant  at  two  different  times 


416  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

during  the  period  between  1880   and   1890,  the  citizens  of  Beloit  contributed 
$10,000. 

In  1893,  Charles  H.  Morse  of  Chicago  became  prominently  identified  finan- 
cially in  the  work.  He  consolidated  in  1894  the  several  departments  under 
one  organization,  known  thereafter  as  Fairbanks,  Morse  &  Company.  Pore- 
seeing  the  future  development  in  the  manufacture  and  use  of  gasoline  for 
power  this  company  began  the  building  of  a  plant  which  has  grown  to  be 
one  of  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  Today  the  Beloit  one  is  the  larg- 
est of  the  seven  factories  of  the   Fairbanks,  Morse  &  Company. 

A  condensed  description  of  the  display  of  the  company's  products  shown 
at  Beloit  in  December,  1925,  will  disclose  somewhat  the  extensiveness  and 
variety  of  the  line  of  its  products.  Three  of  the  company's  railroad  motor 
cars  were  exhibited.  These  are  used  by  signalmen,  section  foremen,  bridge 
gangs  and  officials  on  road  inspection  trips.  Furnished  with  six  to  ten  horse- 
power gasoline  engines  they  have  a  carrying  capacity  of  ten  men  and  a 
running  speed  of  35  miles  an  hour.  The  pumps,  while  now  manufactured  at 
Three  Rivers,  Michigan,  were  developed  in  Beloit  and  manufactured  here  until 
recently.  They  are,  in  consequence,  inseparably  associated  with  any  history 
of  the  Beloit  plant.  These  pumps,  today,  vary  in  size  from  the  high-speed 
direct-connected  centrifugal  pump  of  one  and  a  half  inch  capacity  to  the  huge 
fifty-four  inch  screw  pump  which  can  be  connected  to  a  180-horsepower  Fair- 
banks, Morse  &  Company's  oil  engine.  This  large  pump  has  a  pumping  ca- 
pacity of  156,000  gallons  per  minute  and  is,  therefore,  able  to  empty  two  of 
the  big  oil  tank  cars  in  less  than  a  minute's  time.  Numerous  are  the  variety 
of  pumps  now  produced  and  innumerable  are  their  uses.  Great  pumps,  used 
in  sewerage  disposal  plants,  pick  up  stones  as  large  as  a  man's  head,  tin  cans 
and  trash  of  all  sort.  Others  are  used  in  handling,  without  injury,  the  sugar 
beets.  Then  there  are  those  made  for  use  in  water  plants,  city,  household,  farm 
or  golf  course.  No  one,  through  this  service  of  the  company,  need  be  without 
running  water. 

Today  the  Beloit  plant  has  revolutionized  the  manufacture  of  magnetos. 
Desiring  a  better  magneto  for  its  farm  engines  the  company  engaged  Henry 
G-.  Cox,  a  magneto  expert,  to  reorganize  its  magneto  division.  In  consequence 
of  his  able  efforts,  supported  by  capable  assistance,  the  company,  today,  places 
on  the  market  a  high  tension  rotating  magneto  using  also  the  company's  own 
impulse  coupling.  Hereafter  every  Fairbanks,  Morse  engine  using  electric 
ignition  will  be  equipped  with  the  magneto  made  at  the  Beloit  plant. 

Not  only  has  the  inventive  genius  of  Mr.  Cox  won  recognition  but  also  his 
organizing  ability  in  rearranging  his  department  for  the  efficient  manufacture 
of  the  improved  magnetos.  By  a  clever  scientific  grouping  of  the  machinery 
and  the  use  of  an  overhead  conveyor,  by  means  of  which  the  parts  are  carried 
automatically  to  the  operator  the  waste  motion  has  been  reduced  to  a  minimum, 
resulting  in  a  great  saving  in  time  and  space.  Specially  designed  machinery 
has  also  been  perfected. 

The  plant  is  most  noted  for  its  manufacture  of  engines.  In  consequence, 
a  brief  description  of  the  engines  exhibited  will  be  enlightening.  On  the  floor 
of  the  plant  oil  engines  totalling  more  than  3,000  horsepower  were  seen  in 
operation.     There  were  35  engines  of  60-horsepower  and  over,  ranging  from 


THE  HOCK  RIVER  VALLEY  417 

the  LO-horsepower  Diesel  marine  engine  to  the  great  720-horsepower  unit — the 
"last,  b  six  cylinder  single  acting,  port  scavenging,  airless  injection  Diesel." 
Engines  were  seen  which  are  used  in  cotton  gins,  in  municipal  light  plants, 
greal  Irrigation  projects,  and  in  numerous  marine  services.  From  the  manu- 
factnre  of  the  semi-Diesel  type,  the  Beloit  plant  has  advanced  now  to  the  pro- 
duction of  what  is  now  known  as  the  full  Diesel.  One  of  the  very  interesting 
line  of  products  is  that  of  the  Z  engines,  ranging  from  two  to  twenty  horse- 
power with  their  modifications  to  take  care  of  every  known  need  of  the  farmer 
and  contractor.  The  Z  engine  furnishes  the  power  for  the  standard  light 
plants  and  home  water  systems.  A  Z  engine  is  mounted  on  a  30  inch  lawn 
mower,  while  another  one  is  used  as  a  hoisting  apparatus.  Among  the  new 
products  of  the  company  are  washing  machines,  feed  grinders  and  new  direct- 
connected  light  plants. 

By  a  wonderful  system  of  automatic  conveyors,  now  miles  in  extent,  over 
the  factory,  everything  is  timed  so  that  the  parts  reach  the  operator  at  just 
the  right  moment  and  pass  similarly  on  to  the  next  workman.  The  engine, 
moving  along  the  same  conveyor,  is  tested,  washed,  painted,  retested  and  crated 
for  shipment.  Fifteen  working  hours  from  the  time  the  first  rough  casting 
is  received  at  the  beginning  of  the  line,  the  completed  engine  is  on  the  car 
and  awaiting  shipment.  The  conveyor  system  for  the  heavy  engines  is  similar. 
Xo  more  complete  system  is  found  in  any  industrial  plant  in  the  country. 

The  company  has  also  one  of  the  largest  and  most  efficiently  equipped 
foundries  in  the  country.  In  securing  this  recent  improvement  to  their  fac- 
tory the  company  utilized  the  practical  experience  of  Robert  J.  Barr  who 
continues  as  the  highly  capable  superintendent  of  the  foundry.  The  laboring 
and  time  saving  devices  employed  here  demonstrate  again,  not  only  the  com- 
pany's constant  concern  in  the  reduction  of  cost  of  production,  but  also  their 
desire  to  conserve  the  strength  and  safeguard  the  health  of  its  men. 

Humanely  interested  in  its  employees,  the  company  has  always  kept  in  ad- 
vance of  the  legal  requirements  regarding  safety  appliances  and  the  care 
of  the  health  of  its  men.  Pearly  it  secured  the  services  of  Dr.  C.  F.  Schram, 
a  well  trained  factory  physician  and  directed  him  to  inaugurate  a  complete 
first-aid  hospital  service  within  the  plant.  From  time  to  time  this  has  been 
developed  scientifically  'until  today  the  plant  has  its  own  visiting  nurses,  hos- 
pital for  the  immediate  assistance  and,  best  of  all,  a  thoroughly  practical  system 
for  the  prevention  of  accidents  and  sickness.  Every  possible  provision  is 
furnished  which  will  encourage  greater  attention  to  cleanliness  and  health  on 
the  part  of  the  men  and  even  their  families.  Thoroughly  interested  in  the 
well  being  of  its  employees  the  company  has  provided  within  the  plant  recrea- 
tional facilities.  Nationally  known  baseball  and  basket-ball  teams  are  main- 
tained and  the  beginning  of  a  9-hole  golf  course  has  been  made  on  the  grounds 
belonging  to  the  factory.  A  hall  splendidly  arranged,  not  only  for  the  use 
of  basket-ball  but  also  for  conceits  and  all  kinds  of  gatherings,  is  on  the  second 
floor  of  the  new  building,  housing  on  the  first  floor  one  of  the  most  thoroughly 
fitted  factory  cafeterias  and  restaurants  in  the  Middle  West. 

While  the  plant  today  is  a  monument  to  the  munificence  and  business 
sajracity  first  of  the  late  Charles  H.  Morse,  Sr.,  and  more  recently  of  his  son, 
diaries  Morse,  Jr.,  its  realization  and  present  success  are  unquestionably  due, 


418  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

in  the  greatest  degree,  to  the  organizing  genius  of  its  general  manager,  W.  S. 
Hovey.  Mr.  Hovey,  an  honor  man  of  Cornell  University,  came  first  to  Beloit, 
after  about  fifteen  years  experience  elsewhere,  to  become  the  manager  of  the 
local  plant.  With  a  remarkable  steadiness,  tact  and  persistency,  Mr.  Hovey 
began  the  readjustments  seen  necessary  from  time  to  time  to  fit  the  plant 
for  its  enlarging  opportunities.  Building  always  upon  the  accomplishments 
of  his  predecessors,  appreciative  of  their  real  worth,  he  disclosed  unusual  con- 
structive ability.  Soon  his  charming  personality  and  ability  to  advance  equi- 
tably both  the  interests  of  the  company  and  its  employees  won  whole-hearted 
cooperation  from  both  the  company  and  the  employees  in  every  department 
of  the  plant.  Through  him  and  the  helpful  services  of  many  department 
heads  a  Fairbanks-Morse  loyalty  has  been  established  which  has  now  become 
nationally  recognized  as  unusual.  Advanced  to  the  vice-presidency  in  charge 
of  all  production  in  all  of  the  plants  of  the  company,  Mr.  Hovey  earned  so 
merited  a  recognition  of  his  services  that  he  has  been  made  general  manager 
of  all  the  departments  of  the  company,  both  sales  and  production.  He  has 
just  perfected  a  world-wide  reorganization  of  the  sales  department  of  the 
company  and  the  sales  methods,  and  so  connected  it  harmoniously  with  the 
plants  engaged  in  the  production  as  to  make  the  present  united  organization 
of  Fairbanks,  Morse  &  Company  the  wonder  and  envy  of  its  competitors.  To- 
wards this  accomplishment  numerous  men  have  aided.  Among  these  certainly 
must  be  mentioned  F.  G.  Hobart,  for  thirty-six  years  connected  with  the  com- 
pany here  and  for  many  years  its  chief  engineer;  W.  C.  Heath,  now  manager 
of  both  the  Beloit  and  Three  Rivers  plants ;  George  Ingersoll,  the  capable 
secretary  of  the  company ;  Lloyd  Yost,  now  chief  engineering  adviser  to  General 
Manager  Hovey,  and  Charles  B.  Janke,  recently  advanced  to  be  chief  engineer. 

Today  the  plant  covers  over  105  acres  of  ground,  with  some  1,500,000  square 
feet  of  floor  space  under  cover,  and  employs  over  3,000  people  in  the  Beloit 
plant  alone.  By  the  constancy  of  its  growth  and  steadiness  of  the  employ- 
ment given  to  so  many  families  of  the  city  and  its  persistent  practice  of  ad- 
vancing its  men,  the  company  has  become  a  great  factor  in  the  growth  of 
the  city. 

The  Beloit  Iron  "Works  was  the  first  factory  west  of  New  York  to  build 
paper-making  machinery.  It  had  its  origin  in  the  little  factory  started  in  1858 
by  O.  E.  Merrill  which,  reorganized,  became  the  Merrill  &  Houston  Iron  Works. 
This  firm  built  up  a  large  business,  but  financial  difficulties  caused  them  to 
make  an  assignment  in  1882 ;  and  the  shops  were  closed  by  the  Receiver  in 
1884.  Then  four  men,  Beloit  workmen,  Fred  Messer,  Alonzo  Aldrich,  Noble 
J.  Ross  and  William  H.  Grinnell,  with  a  combined  capital  of  only  $9,100, 
purchased  a  part  of  the  old  Iron  Works  property.  In  July,  1885,  they  or- 
ganized the  Beloit  Iron  Works  and  began  operations  with  seven  men.  In  the 
forty  years  which  have  followed,  the  company  has  had  phenomenal  success; 
enlarging  and  improving  their  plant  until  now  they  employ  over  400  men  and 
their  products  are  shipped  to  all  parts  of  the  United  States  and  to  many  for- 
eign countries.  The  Beloit  Paper  Machines  are  recognized  as  superior  to  all 
others.  The  designers  of  the  company  are  constantly  improving  the  machines 
as  new  kinds  of  paper  are  required.  As  early  as  1904  a  solid  freight  train  of 
twenty-five  cars,  loaded,  left  the  Beloit  factory  with  a  paper  mill  to  be  erected 


Vol.  1—27 


420  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

on  the  Thames  near  London.  Several  Beloit  mills  are  now  in  operation  in 
Japan  and  China.  The  plant  continues  to  return  the  largest  dividends  of 
any  Beloit  plant  owned  exclusively  by  Beloit  citizens. 

For  years  the  J.  Thompson  &  Sons  Company  gave  employment  to  many 
citizens  of  Beloit  and  added  to  the  wealth  of  the  city.  John  Thompson,  the 
founder,  beginning  as  a  lone  blacksmith  in  1860,  advanced  to  a  manufacturer  of 
plows  and  farm  implements  in  1870.  He  enlarged  his  plant  in  the  '80s,  in- 
corporated in  1886  with  a  capital  of  $200,000  and  the  employment  of  150 
men.  Adding  gas  and  gasoline  engines  to  the  output,  the  business  increased 
up  to  the  retirement  of  the  father,  John  Thompson,  in  1903.  Then  fire  and 
flood,  in  1904,  entailed  a  heavy  loss  upon  the  son  who  continued  the  business. 
Rebuilt  with  improved  equipment  in  South  Beloit,  it  continued  somewhat  longer. 
Eventually,  changing  conditions  altered  its  rank  among  the  industries  of  the 
city. 

The  John  W.  Foster  Shoe  Company  is  another  of  Beloit 's  former  notable 
industries.  Beginning  in  1870  the  manufacture  of  ladies'  fine  shoes,  it  was  in- 
corporated in  1901  with  an  initial  capital  stock  of  $150,000.  Under  the  man- 
agement of  John  Foster,  W.  D.  Hall  and  Frank  Kunz  with  W.  D.  Hall,  the 
designer  and  inventor  of  its  enlarging  number  of  styles,  the  Foster  Shoe  be- 
came well  known  all  over  the  United  States.  With  the  retirement  of  the 
firm  the  plant  was  taken  over,  recently,  by  the  Freeman  Shoe  Company. 

In  the  late  '70s,  R.  J.  Dowd  began  the  manufacture  of  machine  knives. 
Continuous  has  been  the  growth  of  this  company,  which,  upon  the  death  of 
the  founder,  continued  under  the  management  of  the  two  sons.,  G.  A.  and 
R.  I.  Dowd. 

Beloit  is  justly  proud  of  one  of  its  youngest  factories,  the  Warner  Instru- 
ment Company.  Beginning  in  1904,  its  output  was  the  invention  of  its  owners, 
Arthur  and  Charles  Warner,  both  Beloit  boys.  The  Warner  Speedometer  soon 
became  well  known  as  "not  the  cheapest,  but  the  best"  auto  meter  on  the 
market.  The  factory  became  the  largest  manufacturer  of  speed  indicators 
in  the  world.  Continually  improving  its  plant,  enlarging  its  production,  and 
extending  its  sales,  it  so  pushed  its  competitors  that  the  company  was  at  last 
purchased  by  the  Stewart  Company  for  $2,000,000. 

With  the  invention  by  another  Beloiter  (F.  N.  Gardner)  of  his  disc  grinder, 
the  Charles  H.  Besly  Company  began  its  development  under  the  management 
of  Mr.  Gardner.  Steadily  increasing  its  products,  the  plant  was  enlarged, 
giving  employment  to  many  men  and  returning  fine  profits  to  its  principal 
owner,  Charles  H.  Besly  of  Chicago.  The  factory  continues  successfully  in 
its  employment  of  150  men,  though  losing  the  services  of  Mr.  Gardner  some 
years  before  his  death. 

Having  perfected  several  other  devices  and  seeing  a  splendid  opportunity 
for  their  manufacture  along  with  an  enlarged  list  of  his  disc  grinders,  Mr. 
Gardner  organized  the  Gardner  Machine  Company  in  1906.  Under  a  reorgan- 
ization of  the  company,  with  Waldo  Thompson  as  manager,  the  new  plant 
was  built  in  South  Beloit  and  a  large  demand  created  at  home  and  abroad 
for  the  products  before  the  death  of  Mr.  Gardner.  Since  then  the  company 
has  had  a  remarkable  success  under  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Thompson  in  as- 
sociation with  the  sons  of  Mr.  Gardner  and  W.  C.  Ackley. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  421 

Prominent  among  the  other  factories  of  the  city,  are  the  Racine  Feet  Knit- 
ting Company,  giving  employment  to  200;  the  Freeman  Shoe  Company,  fur- 
nishing labor  for  450  and  still  growing;  the  Wright  &  Wagner  Dairy  Company; 
the  Consumer's  Company;  the  Beloit  Box  Board  factory,  glove  factories,  numer- 
ous foundries,  the  Lipnian  Refrigerator  Company;  the  Badger  Tool  Company; 
the  Handle?  &  Whittemore  Iron  Working  Machinery  and  the  Warner  Mal- 
leable Casting  Company,  employing  175  men. 

Beloit  today  is  the  leading  manufacturing  center  of  the  county  with  over 
forty  large  concerns,  employing  a  steadily  increasing  number  of  men,  and 
turning  out  a  diversified  line  of  products.  Due  to  the  fact  that  so  many  of 
the  plants  are  manufacturing,  in  some  form  or  other,  iron  and  steel  products, 
the  average  waget  scale  is  unusually  high;  equaled  only  by  three  other  cities 
in  the  state.  This  has  meant  much  in  the  growth  of  Beloit  as  a  city  of  com- 
fortable homes  owned  by  its  workers. 

This  increase  in  its  manufacturing  facilities  and  commercial  opportunities 
has  caused  a  steady  growth  in  the  population  and  wealth  of  the  city.  As  a 
consequence,  1925  finds  Beloit  with  a  population  of  over  25,000,  exclusive  of 
South  Beloit,  a  city  of  steadily  improving  business  and  residential  districts. 
Its  fifty  miles  of  paved  streets  and  its  location  on  State  and  inter-state  high- 
ways enables  it  to  fulfil,  with  increasing  success,  its  function  as  the  Gateway 
City  of  the  Valley. 

I3ELOIT   BANKS 

Noteworthy  are  certain  features  in  the  history  of  banking  in  the  city.  In 
the  Hyde  &  Brittan  Bank  Beloit  has  the  oldest  banking  institution  in  southern 
Wisconsin,  with  a  continuous  existence  since  1854.  Having  an  even  earlier 
origin  in  the  private  banking  business  conducted  by  its  founder,  Louis  C.  Hyde, 
in  a  little  office  on  the  west  side  of  State  Street,  it  became  located  in  1854  on 
the  east  side  of  the  same  street  where  the  Branigan  Hotel  block  now  stands. 
Later  associating  his  son-in-law,  Walter  M.  Brittan,  in  the  business,  it  became 
in  1874  the  First  National  Bank  of  Beloit.  In  1884,  it  discontinued  its  national 
charter  and  continued  as  a  private  institution.  With  the  death  of  Louis  C. 
Hyde  in  1899,  it  was  reorganized  with  Walter  M.  Brittan  as  president;  E.  S. 
Green,  cashier;  and  R.  K.  Rockwell,  assistant  cashier.  Since  1904  it  has  been 
located  on  the  north  side  of  East  Grand  Avenue,  now  beautifully  remodeled, 
interiorly  and  exteriorly,  and  equipped  with  fine  safety  vaults.  The  last  reor- 
ganization, occasioned  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Brittan,  has  placed  the  bank  under 
the  control  of  Mr.  Brittan 's  son-in-law,  R.  K.  Rockwell,  his  wife  and  his  son, 
Harold,  who  continue  the  business  under  the  old  name. 

The  Beloit  Savings  Bank  took  its  origin  in  1881  under  the  direction  of  S.  T. 
Merrill  who  became  the  first  president.  It  has  grown  to  be  one  of  the  most  sub- 
stantial savings  banks  in  the  valley.  Besides  having  an  enviable  record  of  ef- 
fectively increasing  the  thrift  of  the  community,  this  bank  has  the  unique  honor 
of  being  the  originator  of  the  School  Savings  plan  in  the  United  States.  To  its 
founder,  Hon.  S.  T.  Merrill,  belongs  the  credit  of  originating  the  idea.  Under  his 
direction,  forty  years  ago,  the  bank  started  a  school  savings  plan  in  conjunction 
with  the  public  schools  of  Beloit.    The  records  of  the  Department  of  Education 


422  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

officially  recognize  this  bank  and  city  as  being-  the  first  to  start  such  a  move- 
ment in  the  United  States.  "While  the  plan  was  dropped,  after  a  few  years,  due 
to  its  cumbersomeness  in  operation,  it  was,  at  the  urgent  request  of  the  superin- 
tendent of  schools,  F.  E.  Converse,  resumed,  under  improved  arrangements,  in 
1922.  Each  report  since  discloses  increased  success  of  the  plan.  The  schools, 
the  parents,  the  children  and  the  bank  itself  are  firm  upholders  of  the  success 
of  the  undertaking.  Constant  enlargement  in  school-saving  deposits,  which  are 
transferred  to  regular  savings  accounts  and  continued  by  an  increasing  num- 
ber of  the  boys  and  girls  after  their  school  days  are  passed,  confirms  this  belief. 
The  bank  continues  under  the  efficient  management  of  E.  G.  Smith,  as  presi- 
dent ;  E.  F.  Hansen,  secretary  and  treasurer;  and  George  Frederick,  manager 
of  the  loan  department. 

The  Second  National  Bank  took  its  rise  in  1882,  was  organized  in  1899  with 
William  B.  Strong,  its  president;  his  son,  F.  M.  Strong,  vice  president;  and 
B.  P.  Eldred,  cashier.  Today,  after  a  steady  growth,  the  bank  continues  to  serve 
an  enlarging  number  of  depositors  under  the  presidency  of  B.  P.  Eldred. 

Today  the  Beloit  State  Bank  is  housed  in  its  own  beautiful  building  with 
interior  arrangements  for  banking  facilities  which  equal,  if  not  surpass,  those 
of  any  other  bank  in  the  valley.  This  bank  had  its  origin  in  1892,  with  John 
Paley  as  its  president.  At  his  death  in  1904,  H.  A.  von  Oven  became  associated 
with  Mr.  Paley 's  widow  and  daughter  in  the  continuance  of  the  bank.  Since 
then,  the  bank,  under  the  presidency  of  Mr.  von  Oven,  has  had  a  remarkable 
growth.    It  is  today  one  of  the  strongest  banks  of  the  valley. 

BELOIT 'S  PART  IN  WAR 

To  the  late  Rev.  W.  F.  Brown,  himself  a  veteran,  we  owe  the  following  con- 
cise account  of  Beloit 's  participation  in  the  Civil  war:  "The  first  company  to 
volunteer  and  enlist  in  Rock  County  was  the  Beloit  Guards,  in  April,  1861. 
The  first  man  to  put  down  his  name  (at  a  meeting  in  Hanchett's  Hall)  was  Dick 
Adams.  After  those  early  three-months'  men  had  served  their  terms,  most  of 
them  re-enlisted  for  three  years.  In  July,  1861,  a  company  was  recruited  mainly 
in  Beloit,  as  Company  K,  Seventh  Regiment,  Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry, 
which  later  became  a  part  of  the  celebrated  'Iron  Brigade.' 

"The  captain  was  Alexander  Gordon  and  the  first  lieutenant,  Frank  W. 
Oakley.  On  August  23,  1862,  while  standing  up  to  encourage  his  men,  crossing 
a  river  in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  brave,  young  Captain  Gordon,  but  recently 
married,  was  killed  almost  instantly  by  a  sharpshooter.  Lieutenant  Oakley  was 
wounded  at  Rappahannock  Station,  Virginia,  August  23,  1862,  losing  his  right 
arm.  Until  recently,  when  death  called  him,  he  went  with  genial  face  about 
his  duties  in  Madison  as  clerk  of  the  United  States  Court  for  Wisconsin ;  but  his 
empty  sleeve  recalled  the  dread  realities  of  war. 

"James  E.  Ross,  enlisting  in  1862,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  was  captured 
and  confined  in  the  notorious  Libby  prison  in  March,  1863.  Exchanged  and 
transferred  to  Fighting  Joe  Hooker's  army  corps,  the  Twentieth,  he  was  Avounded. 
Recovering  from  this  he  was  made  first  lieutenant  of  the  123d  U.  S.  Colored 
Infantry,  and  served  through  the  war  until  September  30,  1865.  Joseph  Horace 
Leonard,  a  Beloit  boy,  enlisted  in  Company  L.,  First  Iowa  Cavalry,  June  13, 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  423 

1861,  and  served  continuously,  without  ever  being  wounded  or  ill,  until  April 
1,  1866.  This  four  years  and  nine  months'  service,  with  five  battles  and  many 
skirmishes,  is  believed  to  be  the  longest  term  served  by  any  man  from  Beloit  or 
Rock  County."' 

In  the  front  vestibule  of  Logan  Museum  and  Memorial  Hall  of  Beloit,  else- 
where described,  are  two  marble  tablets  hearing  the  names  of  eighty-eight  Beloit 
City  and   College  men   who  died  during  that  terrible  struggle. 

The  late  Spanish-American  war  added  nine  more  names  to  the  casualties  of 
soldier  hoys  who  eidisted  in  Beloit. 

With  the  necessary  entrance  of  the  United  States  into  the  World  war  in 
1!)17.  Beloit  gave  a  remarkable  response  to  every  call.  Under  the  efficient  draft 
hoard  composed  of  George  B.  Ingersoll,  C.  A.  Still,  H.  A.  Moehlenpah,  James  J. 
Brittan,  William  O'Neil  and  Owen  Rutland,  1,500  men  were  inducted  into  the 
army.  The  city  exceeded  its  assigned  quota  in  each  Liberty  Loan  drive.  The 
women  participated  in  numerous  services  of  incalculable  value.  Beloit  nurses 
and  physicians  entered  the  war  service  abroad;  while  each  factory,  as  requested, 
responded  with  increased  production.  Many  workmen  eagerly  placed  them- 
selves at  the  disposal  of  the  government  to  be  sent  anywhere  to  assist  in  any  of 
the  varied  services  required. 

The  Four  Minute  men,  under  the  chairmanship  of  Professor  R.  B.  Way  of 
Beloit  College,  spoke  at  the  theaters,  ball  parks  and  churches ;  in  loyal  further- 
ance of  the  government  plans  of  development.  Judge  J.  B.  Clark,  Uuane  Arnold, 
W.  II.  Arnold,  J.  II.  McNeel,  Professor  E.  G.  Smith,  J.  II.  Burns,  R.  K.  Rock- 
well, Rev.  E.  J.  Evans  and  Lloyd  Yost  were  the  other  members  of  the  or- 
ganization. 

Beloit 's  Service  Flag  contains  forty-one  Gold  Stars.  Eighteen  of  the  number 
were  killed  in  action. 

CLINTON 

Clinton,  occupying  the  extreme  southeast  corner  of  the  county,  was  settled 
by  Deacon  Chauneey  Tuttle,  Dr.  Dennis  Mills,  Milton  S.  Warner,  Charles  Tuttle 
and  Wm.  S.  Murray  in  1837.  In  April  of  that  year,  they  started  from  Meacham's 
Grove  in  Illinois  for  some  suitable  place  on  or  near  Rock  River  in  Wisconsin. 
After  five  days  of  arduous  toil  through  the  mud  and  unhridged  creeks  and 
rivers  they  reached  Blodgett's  place,  now  Beloit. 

Piloted  by  Mr.  Blodgett,  they  visited  Jefferson  Prairie  where  they  deter- 
mined to  settle.  Recrossing  Turtle  Creek  with  their  goods,  they  commenced  a 
settlement  on  the  west  side  of  Jefferson  Prairie  within  the  present  limits  of  the 
town  of  Clinton.  Arriving  about  sundown  on  April  9th,  they  began  the  erec- 
tion of  a  frail  structure  which  served  their  purposes  as  a  house  for  eight  days 
and  nights.  "It  consisted  of  four  crotches  set  in  the  ground,  on  which  were 
placed  cross  poles,  and  a  brush  roof:  sided  up  on  three  sides  with  Indian  blan- 
kets and  fronting  on  a  log-heap  fire  by  which  was  cooked  the  first  settlers'  sup- 
per in  Clinton." 

As  the  land  thereabouts  was  not  then  in  the  market,  they  made  further  exam- 
ination the  next  day.  marked  off  a  few  sections  and  took  possession  of  them  in 
the  name  of  the  Jefferson  Prairie  Company.  Csing  their  horses  at  once  for  the 


424  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

collection  of  materials  for  a  more  permanent  house,  the  body  of  the  structure 
was  raised  by  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  when  Charles  Tuttle  started  with  the 
team  for  Rockford,  the  nearest  point  where  grain  could  be  procured.  There  the 
horses  were  exchanged  for  oxen  and  a  breaking  plow.  About  one  hundred  acres 
were  broken  that  season,  most  of  which  was  put  under  crops  of  corn,  potatoes, 
oats,  buckwheat  and  turnips. 

Daniel  Mills  joined  the  company  about  the  middle  of  June,  as  did  Stephen 
E.  Downer,  Daniel  Tasker  and  their  wives.  These  were  the  first  white  ladies 
to  settle  on  Jefferson  Prairie.  In  July,  Oscar  H.  Pratt  and  Franklin  Mitchell 
came  from  Joliet,  Illinois,  and  made  claims  at  Summerville ;  building  a  log 
house  in  October  which  was  occupied  that  fall  and  winter  by  Stacy  L.  Pratt, 
his  three  sisters  and  father. 

Henry  L.  Warner,  Henry  Tuttle,  Albert  Tuttle,  Griswold  Weaver,  Mrs.  Mil- 
ton Warner,  Mrs.  Daniel  Mills  and  Miss  Harriet  Warner  joined  the  settlement 
in  1837  on  the  west  side  of  the  prairie.  The  log  houses  erected  very  soon  by 
Milton  S.  Warner  and  Daniel  Mills  furnished  accommodations  for  boarders  and 
travelers.  As  Chicago  was  the  nearest  provision  market,  prices  were  high  on 
the  prairie ;  flour  selling  then  from  $10  to  $12  per  barrel  in  Chicago  and  pork 
$6  to  $8  and  $9,  "in  the  hog." 

Very  early  in  the  settlement  when  but  eight  Americans  had  "claimed"  on 
the  prairie  came  a  Norwegian  named  Ole  Knudson  Natesta,  who  settled  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  town.  His  arrival  marked  the  first  Norwegian  settlement  of 
Wisconsin,  and  the  fourth  in  the  United  States.  He  was  born  in  Vaegli,  Norway, 
December  24,  1807,  and  died  in  Clinton,  May  28,  1886.  In  1837  he,  together  with 
a  party  of  his  countrymen,  started  for  America  very  much  as  the  Mayflower 
group  did  and,  like  them,  were  men  of  strong  and  deep  religious  convictions. 
They  were  men  of  firmness  and  marked  individuality,  willing  to  sacrifice  home, 
friends  and  fatherland  for  freedom  of  thought.  They  could  read  and  write 
their  own  language  and  a  number  of  them  were  teachers  and  graduates  of  higher 
institutions  of  learning. 

On  July  1st,  1838,  Ole  K.  Natesta  staked  his  claim  and  in  his  own  words: 
"I  built  a  little  log  hut  and  in  this  residence  received  in  September  (1839)  a 
number  of  my  own  parish  in  Norway.  Most  of  these  settled  on  Jefferson  Prairie 
and  in  this  way  the  settlement  got  a  large  population  in  a  comparatively  short 
time." 

The  Norwegian  immigrants  came  over  rapidly  when  they  heard  of  this  won- 
derful land  and  spread  all  through  the  county,  but  especially  settling  in  the 
townships  of  Rock,  Newark,  Avon,  Spring  Valley  and  Plymouth — these  occupy- 
ing largely  the  southwestern  part  of  the  county.  Each  succeeding  year  brought 
additions  and  by  1843  the  great  wave  of  Norwegian  immigration  was  fairly  on. 
In  1838-39,  considerable  additions  were  made  to  the  settlement  on  Jefferson 
Prairie  and  much  time  was  spent  by  all  most  cheerfully  in  the  numerous  log- 
house  raisings.  The  first  load  of  grain,  consisting  of  buckwheat  and  corn,  sent 
to  mill  from  the  town,  was  taken  by  Griswold  Weaver  to  a  mill  on  the  Piscasaw 
Creek,  below  Belvidere,  Illinois,  in  January,  1838.  Roscoe  was  the  nearest  post 
office  in  1838. 

Amusing  is  the  account  of  the  first  political  speech  given  in  the  town.  The 
orator,  elevated  by  his  admirers  into  a  lumber  wagon,  in  front  of  Charles  Tuttle 's 


THE  ROCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  425 

house,  began  thus:  "Gentlemen:  To  begin  with,  I  am  roughshod;  fourteen 
ribs  mi  a  side,  and  am  hard  to  handle.  If  I  go  to  Madison,  I  expect  to  go  on 
my  own  hook,  and  get  back  the  best  way  1  can.  I  have  no  hobby  upon  which 
to  ride  into  office.  My  hobby  horse's  head  and  tail  is  down.  Some  men  will 
promise  you  a  canal,  fitted  up  in  every  little  ravine  and  rivulet  for  steam- 
boats to  ply  on,  with  a  glibness,  Some  one  thing  and  some  another;  but,  gen- 
tlemen, I  can't  say  what  I  shall  do  when  I'm  elected." 

The  town  was  organized  in  1842  and  was  then  nine  miles  square,  taking  in 
what  has  since  become  parts  of  Bradford  and  Turtle. 

The  first  birth  in  the  town  was  that  of  Lucy  Downer,  the  daughter  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  S.  S.  Downer,  in  the  year  1838.  Religious  services  were  conducted 
in  1838  at  the  home  of  Charles  Tuttle.  The  first  school  was  taught  by  Miss  Eliza 
Baker  in  1843  at  Willis  Corners  with  twenty  pupils. 

As  an  agricultural  town,  Clinton  is  hardly  surpassed  by  any  in  the  state. 
It  is  traversed  by  many  beautiful  little  spring-fed  streams  furnishing  water  for 
many  farms.  Limestone  quarries  are  abundant,  furnishing  good  building  stone. 
Surrounded  by  this  prosperous  farming  community,  the  village  of  Clinton  with 
a  population  of  almost  one  thousand,  has  become  an  up-to-date,  thriving  center, 
with  splendid  residences,  churches  and  schools.  Most  of  its  streets  are  paved 
and  the  boulevard  running  through  the  main  part  of  the  town  is  a  joy  to  the 
beholder's  eye  as  he  motors  along. 

SHOPIERE 

The  village  of  Shopiere,  though  very  small,  is  worthy  of  attention.  Lying 
peacefully  on  the  banks  of  Turtle  Creek  a  few  miles  northeast  of  Beloit,  it  has 
a  story  all  its  own  as  told  by  one  of  its  early  pioneers,  which,  because  of  its 
humor  and  historic  value,  should  be  preserved.  In  its  settlement  is  typified  the 
real  "Borderers,"  showing  also  the  courageous  though  ludicrous  part  that  women 
apparently  could  be  relied  upon  to  play  in  those  early  days. 

Its  first  settlers  consisted  of  three  men,  William  Smith,  Horace  Rice  and 
Hudson  Cass,  who  came  from  Beloit  in  1836;  Mr.  Smith  "claiming"  on  the 
south  side  of  the  creek,  Mr.  Rice  and  Mr.  Cass  on  the  north.  Soon  after  this 
settlement  was  commenced,  however,  a  Dutch  family  by  the  name  of  Meeker 
"claimed"  and  built  a  shanty  where  Shopiere  now  stands.  The  family,  which 
consisted  of  father,  mother,  five  sons  and  five  daughters,  was  most  remarkable 
for  size — the  number  averaging  about  200  pounds  each.  They  belonged  to  the 
class  known  in  the  western  country  as  "Borderers" — a  sort  of  connecting  link 
between  civilization  and  barbarism — "always  moving  on."  From  Pennsylvania 
originally,  they  moved  to  Ohio,  then  to  Indiana,  then  to  Illinois  and  now  had 
landed  in  Wisconsin  ;  always  keeping  a  little  ahead  of  civilization. 

•fust  about  this  time,  a  company  from  Connecticut  came  and  claimed  on 
the  north  side  of  the  creek  just  opposite  Shopiere.  Here  were  two  distinct 
groups  with  but  a  creek  running  between  them;  the  Meekers  kind  beyond  meas- 
ure to  friends,  but  merciless  to  foes;  the  Connecticut  colony  composed  of  people 
of  an  entirely  different  character  and  disposition,  having  brought  along  with 
them  many  of  those  peculiar  notions  for  which  that  state  is  noted.     Imagine 


426  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

the  consequences  resulting  from  such  proximity  of  two  settlements  with  such 
contrasting  characters. 

The  Meekers  were  not  slow  in  nick-naming  the  Connecticut  people  and  other- 
wise annoying  them  in  little  ways,  but  "no  open  rupture  occurred  until  the 
latter  part  of  the  summer  of  1837  when  both  parties  commenced  cutting  hay 
on  the  bottoms  of  the  north  side  of  the  stream.  The  Yankees  proving  to  be  the 
smartest  workers,  were  likely  to  monopolize  all  the  hay,  and  thus  rob  old  Brin- 
dle — the  only  stock  possessed  by  the  Meekers — of  her  rights  and  subject  her 
to  a  winter  of  browsing.  This  was  too  much  for  a  generous  nature  to  bear,  with 
any  degree  of  equanimity.  Uncle  John  from  his  cabin  door  discovered  the  true 
state  of  things,  and  sounded  the  bugle  for  a  general  parade  of  the  colony. 
They  got  together  all  of  the  firearms  about  the  premises — charged  them  heavily 
— and  a  log,  extending  from  one  corner  of  their  cabin  eight  to  ten  feet,  served 
as  a  resting  place  for  their  muskets  and  rifles — all  ready  for  a  discharge  upon 
the  offending  Yankees — while  he,  with  stentorian  voice,  worthy  of  a  general 
officer,  ordered  them  to  disperse  and  leave  the  hay,  or  in  case  they  neglected  to 
obey,  he  would  discharge  a  broadside  into  them.  The  Yankees,  reckless  of  conse- 
quences, did  not  heed  the  threat,  but  continued  the  work  of  raking  and  carting 
off  the  hay. 

"Matters  were  now  coining  to  an  'awful'  crisis.  It  was  thought  best  to  hold 
a  council  of  war  at  the  'Meeker  fort'  when  it  was  thought  best  to  dispatch  a 
detachment  consisting  of  the  old  lady  and  her  five  daughters  to  attempt  to  drive 
the  marauders  from  the  ground,  while  Uncle  John  and  the  five  sons  were  to 
keep  possession  of  the  'fort.'  The  old  lady,  armed  with  a  long-tined  pitchfork, 
the  daughters  each  with  a  fish  spear,  actuated  by  the  strongest  sympathy  for 
'poor  old  Brindle, '  presented  no  mean  battle  array  on  the  south  bank  of  the 
Turtle,  each  one  fully  six  feet  in  her  shoes.  Having  arrived  at  the  stream 
the  heroine  thus  addressed  her  daughters :  '  The  infernal  Yankees  are  the  pest 
of  our  lives.  We  left  Pennsylvania  for  Ohio  to  get  away  from  them ;  again  we 
left  Ohio  for  Indiana ;  and  then  to  Illinois,  and  at  last  have  arrived  at  this 
place,  and  here  they  are ;  and  now  I  am  determined  to  make  a  stand  and  fight, 
for  I  will  not  go  any  further. '  '  Go  it,  mother,  we  will  follow  you, '  was  the 
unanimous  response ;  when,  brandishing  their  weapons,  they  started  to  ford 
the  stream. 

"The  Yankees  observing  the  warlike  movements  on  the  opposite  side  had 
not  been  idle ;  but  heroically  acting  up  to  the  exigency  of  the  circumstances, 
made  choice  of  'Whale'  to  command  the  defense.  He  at  once  ordered  the 
hay  wagons  to  be  arranged  for  a  breast-work,  and  thus  addressed  his  confreres : 
'I  sincerely  thank  you  for  the  honor  conferred,  in  making  choice  of  me  for 
your  commander — you  who  in  old  Connecticut  have  been  brought  up  to  clam 
digging  and  wooden-nutmeg  manufacture — who  came  all  the  way  from  "away 
doAvn  east"  to  claim  the  little  territory  of  Wisconsin — now  prepare  yourselves 
to  defend  your  rights;  to  fight  the  Meekers  individually  and  collectively — males 
and  females.  If  in  this  fearful  contest,  I  should  be  slain,  Oh,  fail  not  to  bear 
Hie  mournful  tidings  to  my  disconsolate  widow  and  fatherless  children,  and 
assure  them  that  I  fell  nobly  defending  my  rights  and  those  of  my  fellow 
citizens ! ' 

"By  this  time  the  assailants  had  approached  the  breastworks.     The  old  lady 


THE  ROCK  RIVEK  VALLEY  427 

ordered  her  valiant  daughters  to  charge  upon  the  company,  while  she  made  an 
individual  onset  upon  the  Captain,  which  she  did  by  approaching  him  with  the 
long-tined  fork.  The  Captain  drew  a  pistol  and  ordered  her  to  stand — to  ad- 
vance at  the  peril  of  her  life;  but  she  was  well  aware  of  her  safety  under  cover 
of  the  guns  at  the  "fort'; — so,  nothing  daunted,  she  pricked  him  out  from  behind 
the  ramparts — he  continuing  to  step  backwards  as  she  advanced — still  threat- 
ening to  tire  if  she  advanced  'another  bach,'  until  ere  he  was  aware,  he  backed 
off  the  hank  of  a  bayou  of  the  stream,  into  eight  feet  of  water.  She,  observing 
her  advantage,  gave  him  a  severe  thrust  as  he  went  down  the  bank,  when  he 
dove  and  swam  beyond  the  reach  of  her  fork. 

"The  rest  of  the  company — assailed  by  the  girls — stood  their  ground,  cou- 
rageously defending  themselves,  until  they  saw  their  Captain  fall;  and,  supposing 
that  lie  was  killed,  hastily  retreated,  and  left  the  field  to  the  undisputed  victors. 
They  hurried  to  the  settlement  to  break  the  sad  news  to  the  widow,  who,  being 
just  in  the  act  of  fainting,  was  joyfully  relieved  by  the  presence  of  the  Captain, 
all  dripping  with  mud  and  water.  The  trophies  consisted  of  three  rakes,  one 
fork,  one  pail  of  rations,  containing  four  Yankee  johnny  cakes,  eight  cold  pota- 
toes, one  jug  of  whiskey,  etc." 

The  battle  just  described  gave  to  the  place  the  name  of  Waterloo.  When  a 
post  office  was  established  and  it  was  found  that  there  was  another  town  in  the 
state  by  that  name,  it  was  changed  to  its  present  name  of  Shopiere — a  corrup- 
tion of  the  French  word  "Cheaux,"  meaning  lime — pierre  signifying  stone;  so 
named  because  of  the  abundance  of  excellent  limestone  found  in  the  village. 

governor  harvey's  war  work 

As  was  their  custom,  the  Meekers  soon  moved  on  and  in  1837  Blodgett  pur- 
chased the  Meeker  claim  and  built  a  sawmill.  The  first  importation  to  Shopiere 
was  a  distillery ;  the  first  exports  from  this  place,  a  load  of  whiskey,  sent  to 
Janesville.  But  L.  P.  Harvey  coming  to  Shopiere  some  time  in  1850,  purchased 
the  water-power,  tore  down  the  distillery  that  had  cursed  the  village,  building 
in  its  place  a  stone  flour  mill,  four  stories  high  and  a  retail  store.  Largely 
through  his  influence  and  gifts,  a  neat  stone  Congregational  Church  was  built, 
his  uncle.  Rev.  0.  S.  Powell  becoming  the  pastor. 

In  1853  Mr.  Harvey  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  Wisconsin;  later  became 
secretary  of  state  and  finally,  in  1861,  was  made  governor  by  a  large  majority. 
Governor  Harvey's  message  following  his  inauguration,  the  first  annual  message 
after  the  opening  of  the  war,  was  said  to  have  equaled  that  of  any  executive 
Wisconsin  had  ever  had.  He  was  a  good  public  speaker  and  a  man  of  great 
practical  sense. 

Immediately  after  the  bloody  battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing,  Governor  Harvey 
gathered  ninety  boxes  of  the  most  serviceable  supplies  for  the  soldiers — sixty- 
one  from  .Milwaukee,  thirteen  from  .Madison,  nine  from  Janesville,  six  from 
Beloit  and  one  from  Clinton — and  personally  accompanied  them  to  see  that  the 
supplies  were  properly  distributed  to  the  wounded  and  sick  Wisconsin  boys. 
At  Cairo,  Mound  City  and  Paducah  and  in  the  hospitals  and  on  the  hospital 
boats,  his  kind  words  of  cordial  sympathy  warmed  and  comforted  the  hearts  of 
these  brave  soldiers.     His  coming  to  Savannah,  where  more  than  two  hundred 


428  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

wounded  soldiers  were  suffering  from  neglect,  and  his  kindness  and  care  over 
them  caused  scenes  so  affecting  that  the  feelings  of  both  governor  and  men  were 
often  too  strong  for  words.  Upon  the  governor 's  arrival  at  the  camp  at  Pittsburg 
Landing  where  hundreds  of  men,  who  had  been  rushed  into  battle  only  a  few 
weeks  after  leaving  their  state,  lay  sick  and  wounded,  he  worked  unceasingly 
among  them,  endeavoring  in  every  conceivable  way  to  relieve  their  suffering  and 
to  renew  their  courage  and  hope.  He  was  a  manly  Christian  and  wherever  he 
went  he  left  behind  him  a  thrill  of  joy. 

On  Saturday  morning,  April  19,  1862,  Governor  Harvey  went  ten  miles  down 
the  Tennessee  River  to  Savannah  to  take  the  steamer  there  the  next  morning  for 
Cairo.  About  ten  o'clock  that  evening  as  the  boat  that  he  was  on,  the  "Dun- 
leith,"  was  passing  another  boat,  the  "Minnehaha,"  he,  with  others,  stood  near 
the  edge  and  fore  part  of  his  steamer.  The  governor,  stepping  to  one  side  as 
the  bow  of  the  "Minnehaha"  swung  around  close  to  the  party  on  the  "Dun- 
leith, "  slipped  and  fell  overboard  between  the  two  steamers.  In  spite  of  the 
frantic  efforts  of  his  friends,  the  current  being  strong,  he  must  have  been  drawn 
under  by  the  boats  and  was  drowned.  It  was  some  days  before  his  body  was 
found  about  sixty-five  miles  below  where  he  fell.  The  remains  were  hastily 
buried  there,  but  later  taken  to  Madison  and  there  interred  with  public  services 
in  Forest  Hill  Cemetery.  A  day  of  rest  was  set  aside  by  Lieutenant  Governor 
Salomon  to  commemorate  Governor  Harvey's  death  and  great  was  the  grief' of 
the  people  that  their  much-loved  governor  had  been  taken  from  them  when 
but  forty-two  years  of  age. 

FULTON  AND  EDGERTON 

As  early  as  1836,  Robert  and  Daniel  Stone,  not  satisfied  with  Michigan,  to 
which  they  had  gone  from  Parishville,  New  York,  continued  their  course  west- 
ward until  they  reached  Rock  River  Valley.  Pushing  up  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Yahara  (Catfish)  River,  they  found  a  spot  such  as  their  adventurous  spirits 
were  seeking.  So  they  stopped  here  on  this  prairie  with  its  rich  soil,  beside 
the  fine  stream,  with  its  abundant  water  power,  and  made  their  claims.  The 
following  year  they  broke  eight  acres  of  land,  planting  it  with  beans  and  corn, 
and  in  1838  they  built  the  first  log  house  in  the  town  of  Fulton  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  present  city  of  Edgerton. 

Other  settlers  were  not  slow  in  coming  who  took  up  claims  and  turned  their 
attention  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  It  was  not  long  before  Foster's  ferry 
was  established  by  Wm.  B.  Foster  on  his  place  in  the  southern  part  of  the  town- 
ship of  Fulton  and  the  Goodrich  ferry,  located  near  the  foot  of  Lake  Kosh- 
konong,  was  established  and  run  by  the  man  bearing  that  name. 

In  1841  a  dam  was  built  across  the  Yahara  and  a  sawmill  erected.  In  1845 
Dr.  Guy  Stoughton  contracted  with  Mr.  Hanchett  of  Beloit  to  build  a  dam  on 
the  river  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Koshkonong.  When  this  was  completed  a  sawmill 
was  built  which  was  operated  for  several  years  and  then  converted  into  a 
grist  mill. 

About  the  same  time  the  first  bridge  was  built  across  the  river  at  Indian  Ford 
by  private  subscription  and  in  1848  the  first  railroad  was  put  through. 

The  pioneers  early  realized  the  importance  of  stock  raising  as  a  means  of 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  429 

preserving  their  Lands;  thus  they  were  among  the  first  to  work  up  a  system  of 
farming  adapted  especially  to  their  soil  and  elimate.  They  procured  and  reared 
herds  of  stock  to  consume  the  offal  of  their  grain  crops  and  to  enrich  the  soil 
upon  which  their  crops  made  such  a  heavy  draft.  Beeves,  horses,  sheep  and  the 
products  of  the  dairy  they  found  to  be  items  of  marketable  value  from  which 
they  realized  a  vast  amount  of  money.  Up  among  the  hills  on  the  banks  of  the 
Yahara  in  the  little  town  of  Fulton  the  first  creamery  in  Rock  County  was 
established.    That  was  in  1877  and  that  year  they  made  38,000  pounds  of  butter. 

Fulton  Center  or  "Indian  Ford,"  as  it  was  .formerly  called  from  the  fact 
of  its  having  been  a  crossing  place  for  the  Indians  in  their  travels  up  and  down 
the  valley  of  the  Rock  River,  is,  as  its  name  implies,  in  the  center  of  things. 
It  is  situated  on  the  Sahara  River  near  the  junction  with  the  Rock  and  in  the 
early  days,  •'when  politicians  wrote  the  ticket,  public  meetings  were  held  there." 
Replacing  the  first  wooden  bridge  that  was  built  across  the  river  here  in  1846, 
a  line  bent  iron  one  was  built  in  1896  at  a  cost  of  nearly  $10,000. 

Alive  and  up-to-date,  the  settlers  round  about  this  community  have  ever  been 
read}-  for  each  onward  movement  of  civilization.  In  1862  the  tobacco  industry 
being  favorable,  they  began  the  sawing  of  tobacco  lath,  or  lath  for  the  purpose 
of  stringing  tobacco.  In  1868  a  flour  mill  was  built.  Next  came  an  electric 
light  plant  and  in  1895  a  cooperative  cheese  factory  which  after  running  a  year 
was  turned  into  a  butter  factory. 

But  it  is  through  the  thriving  little  city  of  Edgerton  that  this  locality  became 
known — became  famous,  in  fact.  When  one  thinks  of  Edgerton,  one  thinks  of 
tobacco,  for  it  is  through  the  raising,  purchasing  and  exporting  of  tobacco  that 
Edgerton  grew  up  and  prospered.  When  but  a  small  village,  it  early  assumed 
importance  as  a  cigar  center,  continuing  to  grow  until  in  1916  it  Mas  one  of 
the  greatest  primary  cigar  wrapper  markets  in  the  country. 

Messrs.  Ed.  Hall  and  Robt.  Johnson,  in  1853,  were  the  first  to  plant  the 
"weed";  but,  ignorant  as  they  were  of  its  growth,  they  failed  to  save  the  first 
crop.  A  few  years  later,  however,  Ralph  Pomeroy,  an  old  Ohio  grower,  came 
to  the  rescue  and  solved  the  mystery  of  successfully  growing  and  saving  tobacco. 
The  history  of  the  growth  shows  its  "ups  and  downs"  with  many  "setbacks" 
and  encouragements,  but  from  1860  the  amount  of  tobacco  garnered  gradually 
increased  until  the  tobacco  buyer  in  Edgerton  became  as  important  as  the  cotton 
buyer  in  the  South.  Wisconsin  soil  was  especially  adapted  to  the  raising  of 
tobacco  and  the  Norwegians,  who  predominated  in  the  tobacco  regions,  soon 
acquired  from  their  American  neighbors  the  art  of  tobacco  culture.  They  proved 
to  be  well  adapted  to  the  industry,  for  not  only  were  they  painstaking  and 
industrious,  but  they  were  able  to  employ  in  the  light  work,  involved  in  tobacco 
raising,  the  large  families  with  which  immigrants  were  blessed.  To  this  day 
Scandinavians  are  the  chief  tobacco  growers  of  the  state. 

The  land  upon  which  Edgerton  is  situated  remained  in  its  primitive  condi- 
tion with  not  a  furrow  turned,  a  fence  built,  or  an  improvement  made  until 
the  early  '40s.  In  1842  Wm.  Bliven  arrived,  built  a  log  house  and  became  the 
first  permanent  settler.  Others  followed  and  more  log  houses  were  built,  but 
this  section  of  the  country  was  not  eagerly  sought. 

The  discovery  of  surface  clay,  then  of  immense  beds  of  clay  in  this  locality 


430  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

existing  beneath  the  surface  suitable  for  white  brick,  resulted  in  an  enterprise 
which  marked  the  beginning  of  an  industry  carried  on  to  this  day. 

But  beyond  this  resource  and  the  water  power  in  Saunders  Creek  which 
turned  a  small  sawmill,  there  seemed  to  be  little  in  the  low,  marshy  land  to 
recommend  this  location  for  the  platting  of  a  village.  But  because  of  the  greed 
and  avarice  of  the  land  owners  about  Fulton  and  Indian  Ford,  who  asked  such 
exorbitant  prices  for  their  land,  the  railroad  company  changed  its  route  and 
laid  the  line  three  miles  farther  north.  Enterprising  citizens  in  this  community, 
seizing  their  opportunity,  gladly  donated  twenty-three  acres  of  land  for  depot 
grounds  and  railroad  purposes,  and  with  the  completion  of  the  railroad  in  1853 
Edgerton,  or  "Fulton  depot"  as  it  was  first  called,  got  its  start.  The  coming 
of  the  railroad  brought  mail,  and  Frank  Hall  was  made  postmaster  with  the 
office  in  his  house.  The  "post  office,"  together  with  a  little  whiskey  shop  and  a 
store  in  Mr.  Jessup's  house,  constituted  this  infant  village. 

But  the  railroad  brought  immediate  results,  many  of  the  laborers  on  the  road 
becoming  permanent  settlers.  The  erection  of  the  Exchange  Hotel  by  Nelson 
Coon  established  the  advent  of  civilization  and  the  years  '54  and  '55  were 
marked  by  considerable  development  and  growth.  Two  brick  stores  and  the 
United  States  hotel  sprang  up,  besides  a  number  of  dwellings.  Of  the  latter  the 
three  residences  of  Mr.  Babcock,  Mr.  Copley  and  Mr.  Mclnness  were  considered 
magnificent  and  were  the  pride  and  envy  of  the  other  citizens.  They  were  heated 
with  stoves  and  lighted  by  tallow  candles. 

Quaint  stories  are  told  about  the  quail,  prairie  chickens  and  pigeons  that 
found  in  this  marshy  land  such  an  ideal  home.  As  ducks  in  those  days  were 
easily  obtained  by  shooting  them  from  the  back  door  of  the  United  States  Hotel, 
the  first  proprietor  always  served  a  duck  dinner  to  unexpected  guests  and  some 
one  was  sure  to  tell  one  of  the  favorite  stories  of  an  old  hunter  that  ducks  were 
so  thick  about  the  schoolhouse  yard  that ' '  one  could  hardly  see  the  sun. ' ' 

So  from  these  small  beginnings  the  village  grew  by  the  arrival  of  energetic, 
sturdy,  industrious  men  who  came  to  improve  their  condition  and  make  attractive 
homes.  Seeking  quick  growing  shade  trees  to  adorn  their  streets  and  homes 
they  found  in  the  soft  maple  and  elm,  along  the  streams  and  shores  of  Lake 
Koshkonong,  trees  admirably  fitted  for  this  purpose.  They  gathered  seed,  sowed 
them  in  nurseries,  transplanted  the  young  trees  and  the  citizens  of  today  are 
enjoying  the  beautiful  streets  and  cooling  shade  that  their  foresight  and  industry 
furnished.  Randolph  Brown's  name  stands  out  conspicuously  as  one  who  stim- 
ulated his  neighbors  in  this  laudable  work.  His  zeal,  enthusiasm  and  public 
spirit  in  lining  the  streets  with  maples  and  elms  carried  him  so  far  as  to  start 
nurseries  from  which  were  supplied  most  of  the  shade  trees  that  now  grace  the 
highways  of  this  vicinity. 

In  a  paper  prepared  and  read  by  a  citizen  of  Edgerton,  in  1903  before  the 
Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  she  expresses  a  sentiment  which  quite  likely  insti- 
gated the  settlers  of  that  early  day  to  start  their  schools.  "The  most  prolific 
source  of  wealth  in  any  state  is  the  undeveloped  brain  power  of  its  children. 
The  perfect  fruit  of  public  schools  is  a  youth  properly  educated  to  enable  him 
to  effectively  use  common  sense  and  as  a  worthy  citizen  meet  the  world  as  he 
finds  it."  So  the  people,  apparently  recognizing  these  facts,  organized  in  1845, 
three  years  before  Wisconsin  became  a  state,  a  school  which  assembled  in  Wil- 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  431 

liam  Bliven's  double  log  house  with  Sherman  Fassett,  the  teacher.    A  little  red 

school  house  was  built  the  next  year  in  the  woods  near  the  county  line  on  William 
Bliven's  farm  and  in  this  was  held  not  only  the  public  school,  but  civil  and 
religious  meetings  as  well. 

As  the  years  have  gone  by  larger  and  more  substantial  school  buildings  have 
been  erected  to  meet  the  needs  demanded  by  the  children  and  today  Edgerton's 
Bchools  average  well  with  those  of  other  places  of  its  size. 

Unlike  the  early  religious  history  of  many  of  the  other  settlements  in  the 
county,  Edgerton,  strictly  speaking,  was  not  settled  by  religious  people.  For- 
tunately, however,  there  was  a  spark  of  Christianity  which  was  fanned  and 
kepi  burning  by  the  few  who  stood  firm  in  their  convictions  and  duty  toward 
God  and  man.  The  first  religious  services  were  held  in  the  little  log  schoolhouse 
and  Mr.  Bunting,  a  Primitive  Methodist,  who  owned  a  lumber  yard,  preached. 
In  1853  when  the  railroad  depot  was  completed,  services  were  held  there — the 
only  scats  usually  being  tilled  grain  sacks.  After  a  long  and  hard  struggle  a 
church  was  finally  incorporated  in  1863,  under  the  name  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  of  Edgerton,  and  the  year  following  they  had  a  building  of  their 
own,  with  a  seating  capacity  of  two  hundred.  Other  denominations  developed 
and  flourished  and  we  find  there  today  many  monuments  testifying  to  the  great 
perseverance,  noble  self-sacrifice,  hope  and  faith  of  the  "chosen  few." 

While  the  fame  of  Edgerton  is  closely  allied  with  the  growing  and  handling 
of  leaf  tobacco,  it  has  launched  various  other  interesting  projects.  The  Monarch 
Laboratory  of  Edgerton,  for  instance,  was  established  b}r  Wilson  Brothers  in 
1888.  Though  Monarch  Oil  was  the  first  product  put  upon  the  market,  the  busi- 
uess  has  so  expanded  that  now  there  are  nearly  a  hundred  different  kinds  of 
Monarch  preparations.  The  sale  of  these  remedies  has  been  phenomenal — known 
and  sold  in  every  state  in  the  union. 

Then  there  is  the  Pauline  Pottery  and  the  Art  and  Clay  Works,  which  have 
made  the  name  of  Edgerton  known  in  the  art  circles  of  many  cities.  Though 
the  clay  pits  have  been  utilized  for  years  in  the  manufacture  of  brick,  the  first 
exhibit  of  the  pottery  at  Marshall  Field's,  Chicago,  created  quite  a  furore  among 
people  who  appreciated  its  excellence.  It  is  a  glazed  ware  modeled  in  artistic 
shape  and  hand-decorated  in  beautiful  colors  and  designs.  The  Art  Clay  Works 
started  in  Edgerton  under  two  Danish  potters,  the  Samson  brothers.  They  man- 
ufactured statues,  bas-reliefs,  etc.,  in  the  natural  color  of  clay.  The  work  is 
of  a  high  order  and  is  shipped  to  all  parts  of  the  country. 

One  of  the  most  unique  enterprises  in  Edgerton  is  the  "Feeding  Station" 
launched  about  1902  by  Dr.  Shepard  in  cooperation  with  the  Chicago,  Milwau- 
kee &  St.  Paul  Railroad.  They  established  feeding  yards  here  with  shed-rooms 
for  5,000  sheep  and  yard  room  for  10,000.  Sheep  sent  from  the  ranches  of 
Washington  and  Montana  are  brought  here  to  rest  and  recuperate  from  the 
trip  before  being  put  on  the  Chicago  market.  The  length  of  time  that  the  sheep 
are  kept  is  governed  by  their  condition  and  the  quotations  in  the  market.  The 
excellent  pasturage  and  good  railway  service  between  St.  Paul  and  Chicago 
make  Edgerton  an  ideal  place  for  such  an  undertaking.  Due  to  the  immediate 
success  of  the  scheme,  accommodations  were  doubled  the  first  year,  and  from 
August  100,000  sheep  had  been  received  before  the  close  of  the  first  year.     As 


432  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

there  is  little  competition  in  this  line,  it  has  proved  to  be  a  great  enterprise  for 
Edgerton. 

But,  after  all,  almost  everything  in  Edgerton  seems  to  revolve  about  tobacco 
for,  as  tobacco  grew,  Edgerton  was  forced  to  grow.  The  first  bank,  known  as 
the  Bank  of  Edgerton,  was  incorporated  in  1880.  After  running  until  1897,  it 
closed  its  doors  and  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver.  The  Tobacco  Exchange 
Bank  was  then  organized  with  a  capital  of  $35,000,  which  has  continued  its 
existence  and  is  today  a  prosperous  and  growing  institution.  Because  of  the 
immense  tobacco  trade,  vast  sums  of  money  pass  through  this  bank  every  year. 
The  banking  business  of  the  city  is  shared  with  the  First  National  Bank  which 
was  incorporated  in  1903. 

The  first  newspaper  published  in  Edgerton  was  the  Edgerton  Union.  The 
failure  of  this  paper  and  another  similar  to  it,  caused  the  business  men  of  the 
town  to  subscribe  $200  to  bring  Messrs.  Tousleys  of  Ft.  Atkinson  to  start  a 
newspaper  for  them.  They  published  the  Independent  from  1874  to  1877,  when 
the  name  of  this  weekly  newspaper  was  changed  to  the  "Wisconsin  Tobacco  Re- 
porter. This  paper  sends  out  market  reports  that  are  quoted  the  world  over  as 
standard  authority. 

The  first  tobacco  crops  were  stored  in  grain  elevators  and  sheds  on  the  depot 
grounds  but,  in  1869,  the  first  warehouses  were  built.  In  1870,  with  the  large 
number  of  eastern  buyers  influencing  the  farmers  to  grow  more  tobacco,  more 
warehouses  were  needed.  These  were  hastily  made  frame  buildings  set  on  wooden 
blocks,  but  in  1885,  realizing  the  great  danger  from  fire,  two  brick  warehouses 
were  erected  which  have  since  become  the  approved  type  of  building. 

With  the  constantly  increasing  number  of  warehouses  and  other  valuable 
property,  came  a  need  for  better  water  supply  in  case  of  fire.  This  led  to  the 
drilling  of  an  artesian  well  which  was  completed  in  1890.  This  proving  inade- 
quate, a  franchise  was  granted  to  a  non-resident  company  to  drill  a  larger  well 
in  order  to  have  a  water  works  plant.  After  the  completion  of  the  plant,  it  was 
accepted  under  the  franchise  in  August,  1897.  That  same  year  the  city  pur- 
chased the  franchise  and  the  complete  water  works  plant  for  $28,000.  Edgerton 
long  had  telephone  connections  with  the  surrounding  cities  and  in  1896  the 
Wisconsin  Bell  Telephone  Company  put  in  a  local  exchange.  Electric  lighting 
was  introduced  in  1892.  The  electricity  was  furnished  by  the  electric  light 
plant  on  the  Catfish  River. 

So  Edgerton  today,  with  its  many  warehouses,  its  fine  central  location  and 
the  concentration  rates  granted  by  the  railroads,  is  very  convenient  for  buyers 
to  purchase  leaf  in  the  outside  sections  and  ship  in  less  than  carload  lots 
for  concentration.  It  early  became  the  headquarters  of  many  of  the  large  man- 
ufacturing firms  from  whose  offices  their  business  in  Wisconsin  leaf  was  directed, 
making  Edgerton  the  largest  tobacco  leaf  market  in  the  world. 

MILTON 

In  1836,  when  the  present  city  of  Janesville  contained  but  two  cabins,  a  group 
of  men  found  in  the  prairie  region  northeast  of  Janesville  a  spot  that  struck 
their  fancy.  They  MTere  men  of  temperate  habits,  peaceable  and  industrious. 
Stretching  out  before  them  was  this  beautiful  prairie,  picturesque  and  varied; 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  433 

timber  on  the  outskirts  convenient  to  supply  sufficient  wood  for  farming  pur- 
poses, several  small  lakes,  Otter  Creek  running  peacefully  along,  Lake  Kosh- 
konong  in  the  distance,  Rock  River  not  far  off,  and  numerous  springs,  small 
streams  and  marshes — altogether  plenty  of  water  for  good  farming. 

While  now  it  is  so  near  the  city  of  Janesville,  but  thirty  miles  from  Madison 
and  about  sixty  miles  west  of  Lake  Michigan,  in  those  early  days  the  nearest 
place  of  market  was  Chicago,  for  even  Milwaukee  was  at  that  time  of  humble 
pretensions.  Unusual  were  the  days  of  toil  and  anxiety  for  they  were  called 
upon  to  endure  privations  of  every  kind.  Imagine  if  we  can  "packing  provi- 
sions even  in  scanty  supplies  from  the  frontier  settlements  for  an  hundred  miles 
hack  into  a  wilderness  country'." 

They  erected  cabins  in  the  simplest  form  possible.  A  typical  one  is  described 
thus:  "Fourteen  feet  square,  covered  with  shakes,  as  long  shingles  were  called, 
the  gable  ends  being  finished  with  logs,  and  the  shingles  held  in  their  places 
by  weight  poles  on  top  instead  of  nails.  The  bed  usually  had  but  one  post,  the 
logs  of  the  house  answering  for  the  other  three.  Many  would  be  housed  in  such 
quarters,  three  in  the  bed,  as  many  under  it,  while  others  ranged  themselves 
on  the  floor  around  the  fire." 

The  prairie,  called  Du  Lac  Prairie,  is  about  five  miles  long  and  ranging  from 
one-half  to  one  and  one-half  miles  wide.  But  the  great  attraction  seemed  to  be 
a  tableland  of  nearly  circular  form  of  a  mile  in  diameter  rising  about  seventy- 
five  or  eighty  feet,  situated  almost  in  the  center  of  the  prairie.  It  is  level  like 
the  rest  of  the  prairie,  has  a  rich  black  loamy  soil,  fertile  and  productive. 

So  many  of  the  settlers  were  drawn  to  this  lovely  place  in  1838  that  the 
village  of  Milton  was  started.  Almost  from  the  beginning  the  pioneers  without 
regard  to  sectarianism,  united  and  supported  religious  meetings.  "They  gave 
to  their  minister  such  of  their  substance  as  they  could  spare,  and  their  sub- 
scriptions for  the  support  of  ministerial  labors  were  duly  paid  in  labor,  produce 
and  cash ;  the  last  of  which  article,  so  scanty  that  when  it  touched  the  palm  of 
the  extended  hand  of  the  official,  it  felt  truly  spiritual."  The  same  early  settler 
writes  further :  "Its  first  settlers  having  a  tincture  of  the  blood  of  our  Pil- 
grim Fathers  coursing  in  their  veins,  have  studiously  and  piously  endeavored 
to  keep  those  hot-beds  of  sin  and  iniquity — grog-shops — out  of  this  town.  And 
until  the  present  time  (1856)  they  have  succeeded;  and  yet  they  feel  like  wag- 
ing war  upon  the  infernal  traffic,  until  not  even  a  jug  shall  be  seen  to  wend 
its  way  to  .Janesville,  there  to  be  filled  with  the  genuine  R.  G.,  and  then  retnrn 
to  its  bloated-visaycd  devotee,  and  through  him  render  an  innocent  family  miser- 
able and  unhappy." 

Politically  many  battles  were  fought  between  the  whig  and  democratic  par- 
ties, for  they  were  about  equally  balanced  yet  the  moral  tone  of  Milton  always 
caused  the  petty  tyrants  to  quake  with  apprehensions  of  danger. 

Thus  Milton,  one  of  the  oldest  villages  in  Rock  County,  is  located  on  a  bit 
of  the  richest  and  most  picturesque  prairie  in  the  county.  It  was  first  called 
Prairie  du  Lac,  but  because  the  name  so  closely  resembled  that  of  another  vil- 
lage, Prairie  du  Sac,  it  was  changed,  in  order  to  avoid  confusion,  to  Milton. 

I.  T.  Smith,  coming  in  1837,  was  the  pioneer  of  this  spot  and  Daniel  F. 
Smith  the  first  settler  who  brought  his  family.  The  first  marriage  ceremony 
performed  in  Rock  County  is  said  to  have  been  that  which  united  James  Murray 


434  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

and  Margaret  McEwan,  of  this  place,  the  officiating  officer  being  Rev.  David 
Smith,  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  of  Du  Lac,  as  it  was  then  called. 

But  it  is  with  the  name  of  Joseph  Goodrich  that  the  early  history  of  Milton 
is  particularly  linked.  Coming  in  the  year  1839  he,  a  man  of  bold,  energetic 
character,  conceived  the  idea  of  founding  a  village  and  it  was  to  his  indomitable 
perseverance  and  generosity  that  Milton  owes  her  start  and  prosperity.  It  was 
he  who  built  the  first  house  in  the  village ;  it  was  he  who  built  the  first  tavern. 
He  gave  the  land  for  the  public  square  of  Milton  and  he,  together  with  James 
Pierce,  his  hired  man,  laid  it  out.  He  gave  the  land  for  the  first  church,  for 
the  school  and  the  college  and  for  the  cemetery,  including  the  right-of-way  for 
the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad  which,  through  his  tact  and  superior 
management,  was  located  through  the  place. 

Joseph  Goodrich  was  the  first  postmaster  and  he  was  the  founder  and  patron 
of  the  academy  or  select  school  established  in  1844.  Milton  College  is  the  out- 
growth of  the  select  school  opened  in  1844.  In  the  year  1848  it  was  incorporated 
as  Du  Lac  Academ}^,  wThich  in  1854  was  reorganized  under  the  name  Milton 
Academy.  In  April,  1867,  its  charter  as  a  college  was  granted  by  the  State, 
and  the  first  class  graduated  in  1870.  A  coeducational  Christian  institution  from 
the  first,  its  ideals  have  always  been  honest  work  of  the  highest  character  and 
liberal  culture  in  general.  Although  the  Seventh  Day  Baptists  have  been  its 
main  supporters  and  its  earliest  history  has  had  the  closest  sympathetic  relation 
with  that  denomination,  students  of  all  religious  faiths  are  received  upon  equal 
terms  and  allowed  the  free  exercise  of  their  beliefs. 

There  have  been  three  presidents  of  Milton  College.  In  1858  Rev.  William 
C.  Whitford  becoming  president  of  Milton  Academy  continued  as  president  of 
Milton  College  from  the  time  of  the  granting  of  the  college  charter  in  1867  until 
his  death  in  1902.  The  Rev.  William  C.  Deland  served  from  1902  until  his  death 
in  1921,  when  Alfred  E.  Whitford  was  made  acting  president,  and  was  elected 
to  the  office  in  1923. 

Rules  and  regulations  have  grown  up  around  this  institution  during  these 
many  years  and  it  has  become  a  tradition  for  students  to  respect  them.  Examples 
of  these  are :  The  absolute  prohibition  of  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  under 
pain  of  expulsion ;  the  prohibition  of  profane  and  obscene  language  at  all  times 
and  in  all  forms;  and  the  prohibition  of  card-playing,  social  dancing,  and  the 
use  of  tobacco  on  the  grounds  or  in  the  buildings  of  the  college.  There  are 
twenty-three  professors  and  instructors  on  the  faculty,  the  students  number  a 
little  less  than  250  and  there  are  five  buildings  in  the  college  plant. 

EVANSVILLE 

In  the  early  days  of  settlement  Union  and  Evansville,  located  in  the  north- 
western part  of  the  county,  were  very  closely  associated.  Up  to  1848,  the  prin- 
cipal center  of  business  for  the  whole  country  between  Janesville  and  Madison 
was  at  the  village  of  Union,  three  miles  north  of  the  present  site  of  Evansville 
and  situated  on  the  stage  road  equally  distant  from  Janesville  and  Madison. 
Prior  to  1849,  the  residents  of  the  district  in  which  Evansville  now  lies  were 
compelled  to  go  to  Union  for  their  mail,  for  then  Evansville  had  neither  name 
nor  post  office. 


THE  ROCK  RIV  E  R  V A  LLE  Y  435 

Rut  when  Evansville  gol  a  start,  she  quickly  outstripped  Cnion,  and  is  today 
a  thriving  city  of  2,200  inhabitants  with  modern  churches  and  schools,  important 
banks  and  manufacturing  interests,  affording  Union  township  farmers  a  fine 
market.  The  township  in  which  Evansville  is  located  is  composed  largely  of 
rolling  prairie,  well  watered  by  Allen's  Creek  and  tributaries.  It  is  a  thickly 
pnimlatt'd  township,  with  well  improved  farms  upon  which  crops  of  various  kinds 
are  raised.     Tobacco  and  sugar  beets  are  among  the  most  prominent. 

Hiram  Griffith,  Royd  Phelps,  Stephen  -Jones,  Erastus  Quivey  and  John 
Griffith  were  the  first  to  settle  in  Evansville  and  made  their  camp  in  June,  1839, 
near  the  large  spring  on  what  was  later  the  Coleman  farm.  The  place  received 
its  name  from  Dr.  J.  M.  Evans,  the  first  physician  who  settled  there  and  who,  in 
1853,  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  of  Wisconsin  and  in  1873  was  again  elected 
to  the  General  Assembly. 

Another  name  prominent  in  the  history  of  Evansville  is  A.  S.  Raker,  the 
founder  of  the  Raker  Manufacturing  Company.  This  company  was  organized 
in  1873  as  the  firm  of  A.  S.  Raker  &  Company  for  the  manufacture  of  windmills 
and  iron  pumps;  and,  interesting  here  to  note,  really  established  a  business  of 
which  the  present  Large  industry  is  the  outgrowth.  After  careful  consideration 
of  the  subject  of  profit-sharing,  the  plan,  of  a  committee  consisting  of  Allen  S. 
Raker,  John  8.  Baker  (his  son)  and  C.  J.  Smith,  was  adopted  February  24,  1899, 
and  it  was  unanimously  decided  to  pay  each  man,  who  had  been  in  the  com- 
pany's employ  during  the  past  year,  ten  per  cent,  in  cash,  of  wages  earned  by 
each  for  that  year,  including  salaried  men.  Thus  began  in  Rock  County  the 
much  talked  of  plan  of  profit-sharing.  It  became  a  notable  example  of  this  new 
principle  and  practice;  reports  showing  harmonious  relations  between  employers 
and  employees  and  the  mutual  satisfaction  in  the  results  of  all  concerned. 

All  branches  of  business  are  represented  here,  the  largest  being  The  Evans- 
ville Mercantile  Association,  founded  about  1873,  the  successor  of  the  famous 
Grange  store  of  an  earlier  day. 

The  development  of  the  schools  of  Evansville  is  interesting  and  worthy  of 
note.  It  is  recorded  that  the  first  schoolhouse  in  the  settlement  was  built  in 
184]  aboul  a  mile  and  a  half  west  of  the  present  site  of  Evansville.  The  second 
was  built  at  or  near  Union  and  the  third,  on  the  present  site  of  Evansville. 

Bearing  thai  a  committee  of  the  .Methodist  Church  General  Conference  of 
the  United  States  had  been  appointed  to  divide  the  state  of  Wisconsin  into  two 
or  more  general  conferences,  each  of  which  was  to  have  a  seminary  of  its  own, 
it  appeared  to  .Messrs.  David  S.  Mills  and  ().  F.  Comfort  a  good  opportunity  to 
,Lret  a  seminary  located  in  Evansville.  They  followed  this  up  and  in  1856  the 
Legislature  passed  an  act  entitled  "An  A.c1  to  incorporate  the  Evansville  Sem- 
inary." Mr.  Mills  and  his  wife  donated  two  acres  of  ground,  designating  it 
for  the  "'express  purposes  of  a  seminary,  upon  the  condition  that  a  brick  or 
Stone  building,  three  stories  in  height  and  covering  an  area  of  not  less  than 
2,500  square  feet  of  ground,  should  be  erected  within  two  years.  The  building 
was  completed,  as  stated,  the  school  opened  and  continued  until  1870.  Due  to 
some  misunderstanding  about  the  title,  however,  the  seminary  was  closed  and 
the  premises  handed  over  to  the  Baptisl  denomination  on  condition  that  they 
should  endow  it  with  $10,000.  Acceding  to  the  proposition,  it  was  reopened  but 
the  attempt  to  carry  it  on  proved  unsuccessful  due  to  the  fact  that  an  eight- 

Vol.  1—28 


436  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

room  school  building,  having  been  erected  in  the  previous  year,  the  seminary 
students  withdrew  and  entered  the  new  institution. 

The  Baptists  then  declined  to  fulfill  their  part  of  the  contract  in  reference 
to  the  endowment  so,  in  1874,  surrendered  the  building  to  the  former  directors 
and,  in  1876,  the  seminary  was  finally  abandoned  as  an  institution  of  learning, 
the  buildings  and  land  passing  into  the  hands  of  the  Evansville  Boot  and  Shoe 
Company.  In  1879,  however,  a  transfer  was  again  made  and  the  institution  is 
now  maintained  and  conducted  by  the  Free  Methodists. 

Evansville  had  the  first  free  High  School  in  the  county  outside  of  Janes- 
ville  and  Beloit.  The  school  was  early  placed  on  the  accredited  list  to  all  of  the 
leading  colleges  and  the  State  University.  Of  the  three  members  who  graduated 
in  the  first  class  in  1873,  one  was  the  late  President  Van  Hise  of  the  University 
of  Wisconsin. 

The  year  1924  has  been  prosperous  for  Evansville,  with  little  unemployment 
and  with  notable  civic  and  private  improvements.  One  of  the  great  features  of 
the  year's  progress  is  the  better  light  and  power  facilities.  An  ornamental  sj^s- 
tem  of  thirty-six  lights  was  installed  on  Main  Street  at  the  expense  of  property 
owners  and  tenants. 

The  Baker  Manufacturing  Company  had  a  good  year  with  but  few  men  laid 
off.  During  the  last  four  months  of  the  year  business  picked  up  and  a  six-day 
schedule,  with  all  men  employed,  was  put  into  effect  on  December  13th.  The 
D.  E.  Wood  Butter  Company  employed  a  large  force,  because  of  the  great  in- 
crease in  its  poultry  business.  The  peak  of  the  business  found  it  feeding  15,000 
head  and  killing  from  2,000  to  2,400  daily.  The  poultry  is  received  from  farms 
within  a  radius  of  twenty  miles  and  is  milk-fed  and  sent  to  eastern  markets.  A 
total  of  1,600,000  cans  of  peas  were  packed  by  the  Garden  Canning  Company. 
Business  in  the  two  tobacco  warehouses  has  been  good  and  many  women  were 
employed   last  year. 

Tourists  of  today  are  unanimous  in  their  praise  of  Evansville.  It  is  well  laid 
out  and  its  streets  are  lined  with  beautiful  trees  of  various  kinds.  Its  homes  are 
modern  and  many  handsome  residences  are  found  there.  The  stage  coach  of 
yesterday  has  given  place  to  the  auto-busses  of  today,  several  running  daily 
through  the  city,  on  their  way  between  Beloit  and  Madison. 

OTHER  VILLAGES 

In  locating  some  of  the  smaller  villages  of  the  county  we  discover  the  centers 
of  the  various  types  of  farming.  In  the  eastern  part  of  the  county  there  are 
Emerald  Grove,  the  gem  of  the  prairie,  Rock  Prairie  and  Johnston;  all  small 
villages  surrounded  by  farms  devoted  particularly  to  raising  blooded  stock, 
horses  and  cattle,  which  compares  favorably  with  the  best  in  the  state. 

Then  there  is  Lima  Center  in  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  county  where 
the  farmers,  in  addition  to  stock  raising,  pay  special  attention  to  dairying.  It 
is  this  section  that  was  particularly  hit  by  the  Railroad  Farm  Mortgages.  In 
1852,  made  to  believe  that  the  advent  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 
Railroad  would  open  up  their  part  of  the  country,  they,  with  the  optimistic 
minds  of  the  usual  western  settler,  not  overly  cautious  in  that  period  of  pros- 
perity, fell  ready  victims  to  the  fraudulent  mortgage  scheme. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  437 

Another  one  of  these  eastern  villages  is  .Mount  Zion.  Perched  upon  a  fine 
elevation  in  the  township  of  Harmony  just  east  of  Janesville,  it  is  often  spoken 
of  as  a  natural  observatory.  Prom  here  one  can  overlook  at  least  140,000  acres 
of  the  finesl  agricultural  land  in  the  state. 

Then  in  the  western  part  of  the  county  we  have  the  village  of  Center,  located 
in  the  banner  tobacco  raking  section.  Footville,  another  small  place,  is  sur- 
rounded by  farms  raising  sugar  beets,  especially,  in  addition  to  tobacco. 

Orfordville  is  a  thriving  little  town  of  about  500  inhabitants  set  in  the  midst 
of  abundant  crops  of  all  kinds,  tobacco  heading  the  list;  and  because  of  this 
Orfordville  has  many  warehouses.  Magnolia  is  surrounded  by  some  of  the  best 
stock  farms  of  the  state. 

Then  in  the  southwestern  corner,  situated  near  the  Sugar  River,  is  Avon 
Center.  This  section  has  the  distinction  of  having  been  first  settled  by  a  woman. 
Mrs.  Gunale  was  a  Norwegian  who  came  in  1842  and  built  a  log  cabin  in  which 
she  lived  with  her  four  daughters.  It  was  in  the  following  year  that  so  many 
Norwegians  came  to  this  part  of  the  county  and  Mrs.  Gunale  and  her  daughters 
dispensed  freely  their  kindness  and  hospitality  to  all  the  new  comers. 

Now  to  trace  the  history  and  growth  of  agriculture  in  the  county  one  nat- 
urally starts  with  the  year  1848,  for  up  to  that  time  wheat  had  been  the  staple 
crop  grown  and  had  been  profitable  and  successful.  The  county  contains  450,- 
285  acres  and,  at  the  time  of  the  early  settlement,  the  soil  being  new  and  con- 
taining all  of  the  elements  necessary  to  producing  large  yields,  wheat  was  as 
sure  as  any  other.  But  the  farmer  had  the  deluded  notion  that  wheat  could  be 
successfully  grown  for  an  indefinite  period  and  that  manuring,  rotating  crops, 
seeding  down,  growing  stock,  etc.,  were  altogether  unnecessary.  So  the  day  of 
reckoning  came,  blight-rotting  of  the  wheat  while  standing  in  the  held.  This 
year  and  succeeding  ones  were  the  gloomiest  years  of  the  agricultural  history — 
the  marked  epoch;  and  sadness  and  discouragement  pervaded  the  agricultural 
countenance. 

Most  of  the  farmers  had  come  West  to  raise  wheat,  very  little  attention  being 
paid  to  any  other  crop.  They  relied  upon  this  great  staple;  they  contracted 
debts  from  their  farms,  expecting  their  wheat  crops  to  pay.  And  when  they 
failed,  the  money  lenders  from  the  East  were  afraid  to  loan  their  money  on 
real  estate  security  in  Wisconsin,  believing  that  farming  here  was  about  to  prove 
a  failure.  So  they  took  their  money  back  with  them,  although  the  farmers  were 
ready  and  willing  to  pay  the  most  exorbitant  rates  of  interest  rather  than,  as 
they  feared,  lose  their  farms  entirely.  But  the  "Rock  County  Agricultural 
Society  and  Mechanic  Arts''  came  to  the  rescue  and  in  pursuance  of  organizing 
such  a  society,  the  following  call  for  that  purpose  was  sent  out: 

First  Call 

To  the  Farmers  of  Rock  County:  The  farmers  in  the  several  towns  are  re- 
quested to  send  delegates  to  meet  at  the  courthouse  in  Janesville  on  the  first 
Monday  of  January  next,  at  11  o'clock,  a.  m.,  to  make  arrangements  for 
their  own  benefit,  by  association.  All  other  classes  associate — why  not  the 
farmers?     Farmers,  awake  to  your  interests! 

[Signed] 

Wm.  F.  Tompkins, 
J.  P.  Wheeler. 
Janesville,  Nov.  19,  1850. 


438  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Thus  began  one  of  the  greatest  determining  factors  in  the  growth  and  devel- 
opment of  Agriculture  in  Rock  County.  The  object  of  the  society,  as  expressed 
in  the  constitution,  was  "to  encourage  Agriculture  and  the  Mechanic  Arts"  and 
"to  animate  and  cheer  each  other  in  the  laborious  duties  of  their  calling." 

J.  P.  Wheeler  was  made  president  of  the  society,  meetings  were  called  fre- 
quently and  in  October,  1851,  the  society  held  its  first  Fair.  These  meetings, 
with  their  instructive  addresses,  and  the  Fairs,  with  their  competitions  and 
helpful  discussions,  taught  the  farmer  the  folly  of  his  ways.  Calling  science  and 
education  to  his  aid,  he  took  heart  and  straightway  a  great  change  took  place 
in  agriculture.  It  began  a  respectable  advance  and  in  1900  wheat  raising  in 
Rock  County  had  almost  ceased. 

Rock  County  today  is  one  of  "The  Banner  Five  counties"  which  are  spoken 
of  as  the  heart  of  Wisconsin's  Dairyland.  For  its  size,  it  heads  the  list.  Dane 
county,  by  reason  of  its  larger  size,  having  nearly  twice  as  many  farms  as  the 
other  four  counties  of  the  Banner  Five  group,  holds  the  top  position  in  number 
and  values. 

The  total  crop  acreage  in  Rock  County  today  is  274,327.  Corn  is  the  king 
of  crops  for  the  acreage  and  value  in  those  counties,  Rock  having  104,811  acres 
valued  at  $3,102,406.  Barley  is  a  great  crop  in  the  county  and  the  county  still 
holds  the  lead  for  this  important  feed  crop.  There  are  33,389  acres  of  barley 
produced  in  Rock  County,  valued  at  $590,651.  In  1923  there  were  7,706,470 
pounds  of  tobacco  raised  in  the  county  valued  at  $770,647. 

But  the  real  income  of  the  Wisconsin  farmer  comes  from  2,217,000  head 
of  dairy  cattle  along  with  other  live  stock  and  poultry.  Wisconsin  has  more 
dairy  cows  than  her  nearest  competitor,  Minnesota.  Rock  County  is  credited 
with  44,300  head  of  dairy  cows,  valued  at  $2,968,100  and  producing  in  milk 
products  at  farm  values  $200,828,249.92. 

Hog  raising  is  a  well  developed  unit  in  a  diversified  Wisconsin  farm,  there 
being  no  better  feed  for  hogs  than  the  dairy  byproducts.  Rock  County  is 
reported  as  having  65,300  head  of  hogs  valued  at  $646,470,  and  is  one  of  the 
largest  sheep  raising  counties  in  the  state,  especially  of  the  fine  breeding  stock, 
having  9,300  head  valued  at  $76,260.  There  are  also  in  Rock  County  14,300 
head  of  horses,  having  a  farm  value  of  $1,401,400. 

It  is  often  said,  and  that  quite  truly,  that  "the  farmer  is  a  capitalist  in  a 
small  way  and  in  a  larger  way  is  a  laborer."  In  Rock  County  he  has  an  average 
investment  of  $15,000  in  his  farm  and  herds.  He  is  "an  enterpriser — taking 
his  ups  and  downs  with  season,  flood  and  drought,  and  prices.  He  plants  in 
hope,  cultivates  in  faith,  believing  in  the  Scriptural  faith  that  while  the  world 
stands,  seed  time  and  harvest  will  not  fail — but  he  gambles  on  the  market.  He 
never  sets  the  price." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
DANE  COUNTY,  WISCONSIN 

FIRST   SETTLERS   IN   THE   LEAD    REGION — MADISON,   WISCONSIN,    AND   DANE    COUNTY — 

OLD  CAPITOL  OCCUPIED EARLY  CHURCHES  AND  GOVERNORS — WISCONSIN   A   STATE 

— STATE  HISTORIAL  SOCIETY  AND  UNIVERSITY — CIVIL  WAR  MATTERS — DEATH  OF 
DOTY,  DODGE  AND  RANDALL — CAPITOL  AND  STATE  UNIVERSITY  MATTERS PROM- 
INENT WISCONSIN  PEOPLE  PASS  AWAY — GOLDEN  JUBILEE  OF  FIRST  UNIVERSITY 
GRADUATING  CLASS — LEGISLATURE  APPROPRIATIONS  FOR  NEW  CAPITOL — OPENING 
OF  STATE  GENERAL  AND  MEMORIAL  HOSPITALS — THE  CITY  OF  MADISON — STOUGH- 
TON  AND  OUTSIDE  VILLAGES — DANE  COUNTY,   AGRICULTURALLY  CONSIDERED. 

While  Dane  County  does  not  lie  in  the  main  valley  of  the  Rock  River,  it 
embraces  the  main  reservoir  of  the  great  waterway,  and  its  physical,  archae- 
ological, traditional  and  recorded  history,  connects  it  with  Illinois  almost  as 
much  as  with  Wisconsin.  All  of  this  has  been  set  forth  in  chapters  which 
have  already  appeared.  Dane  is  among  the  larger  counties  of  the  State,  hav- 
ing an  area  of  1,202  square  miles  and  a  population  of  89,432. 

As  Madison  was  established  as  the  territorial  capital  before  Dane  County 
was  organized  (March  11,  1839)  it  has  been  the  governmental  center  of  inter- 
est and  typical  of  the  advancement  of  the  commonwealth  for  ninety  years. 
It  is  therefore  difficult  to  separate  events  which  have  transpired  at  the  seat 
of  government  and  classify  them  as  local  and  county  in  distinction  from  those 
which  have  a  more  general  significance.  Therefore  a  chronological  arrange- 
ment of  leading  and  important  happenings  is  adopted. 

When  the  first  settlers  of  Dane  County  came  from  Springfield,  Illinois,  to 
the  lead  fields  of  southwestern  Wisconsin,  the  Winnebago  Indian  uprising  had 
.just  been  put  down  by  Colonel  Henry  Dodge,  General  Henry  Atkinson  and 
Major  William  Whistler,  and  the  Indians  had  given  up  their  mining  lands  to 
the  United  States.  These  Dane  County  pioneers  found  strong  indications  of 
minerals  at  Blue  Mounds,  in  the  western  districts  near  the  Iowa  County  line. 
In  1829,  after  Fort  Winnebago  had  been  established  at  Portage  the  Chip- 
pewa, Ottawa  and  Pottowatomie  ceded  all  their  lands  between  the  Rock  and 
Wisconsin  rivers,  and  thousands  of  miners  settled  in  the  lead  region  of  north- 
western Illinois  and  southwestern  Wisconsin.  This  clearance  of  Indian  claims 
prepared  the  way  for  white  settlement  in  southern  Wisconsin.  When  Black 
Hawk  and  his  Sauk  warriors  were  crushed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Bad  Axe,  in 
August,  1832,  security  against  Indian  incursions  was  doubly  assured.  In  the 
following  year,  the  Chippewa,  Ottawa  and  Pottowatomie  ceded  their  lands 
south  and  west  of  Milwaukee.  In  1834,  land  offices  were  established  at  Mineral 
Point  and  Green  Bay,  the  first  public  sale  of  lands  being  held  at  the  former 
in  the  lead   region.     The  Military   Road  was   laid   out    from   Fort   Crawford, 

439 


440  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Prairie  du  Chien,  to  Fort  Howard,  Green  Bay,  and  it  passed  through  Dane 
County.  Thus  Madison,  Dane  County  and,  to  a  large  extent,  the  Territory 
of  Wisconsin  were  products  of  the  lead  country  boom. 

1836 — In  January,  at  the  legislative  assembly  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan, 
James  Duane  Doty  and  others  proposed  to  raise  $1,200  to  buy  lands  between 
Lakes  Mendota  and  Monona,  subject  to  private  entry  at  Green  Bay. 

On  April  20th,  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin  was  organized  by  act  of  Con- 
gress. Henry  Dodge  was  appointed  governor,  and  on  July  4th  territorial  or- 
ganization was  completed  with  John  S.  Horner,  of  Virginia,  as  secretary.  The 
Supreme  Court  was  constituted  by  the  appointment  of  Charles  Dunn,  David 
Irvin  and  William  C.  Frazier  as  justices.  The  first  Territorial  Assembly  met 
at  old  Belmont  (now  Leslie,  Lafayette  County),  October  25th.  On  November 
24th,  Madison,  then  merely  a  town  on  paper,  was,  against  many  competitors, 
chosen  the  capital,  through  the  influence  of  Judge  Doty,  owner  of  the  site. 
George  W.  Jones  was  elected  by  this  Legislature  the  first  territorial  delegate 
to  Congress. 

December  7,  1836,  the  Territorial  Legislature  passed  an  act  creating  the 
County  of  Dane,  with  Madison  as  its  seat  of  justice.  It  was  attached  to  Iowa 
County  for  judicial  purposes.  Mr.  Doty  named  the  new  county  in  honor  of 
Nathan  Dane,  who,  as  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress  from  Massa- 
chusetts, introduced  into  that  body  the  Ordinance  of  1787. 

1837 — July  4th,  the  old  capitol  buildings  occupied  near  the  foot  of  King 
Street,  near  Lake  Monona,  the  town  site  of  Madison  having  been  platted  in 
early  part  of  the  year. 

1838 — Congress  appropriated  land  to  endow  the  University  of  the  Terri- 
tory of  Wisconsin. 

Second  Territorial  Assembly  met  at  Madison  in  November,  but  lack  of  ac- 
commodations caused  it  to  adjourn  until  the  following  year. 

First  newspaper  in  the  county,  the  Wisconsin  Enquirer,  issued  from  Madi- 
son by  Josiah  A.  Noonan,  on  the  8th  of  November. 

1839 — Adjourned  session  of  the  Second  Territorial  Assembly  met  at  Madison. 

First  Methodist  preaching  in  the  county  by  Samuel  Pillsbury,  of  the  Aztalan 
Mission  (Jefferson  County). 

1840 — Methodists  and  Congregationalists  organize  and  hold  services  at  As- 
sembly Hall  in  the  old  capitol,  during  the  fall  of  this  year. 

1841 — James  D.  Doty  was  appointed  governor  to  succeed  Henry  Dodge. 

1842 — Catholics  held  first  services,  organizing  St.  Raphael's  Church  in  cap- 
itol building. 

1844 — Doty  removed  from  the  governorship  of  the  territory,  and  Nathaniel 
P.  Talmadge  appointed  his  successor. 

First  preaching  under  the  auspices  of  the  Evangelical  Association. 

1845 — Talmadge  removed  from  the  governorship  and  Henry  Dodge  reap- 
pointed. 

1846 — The  people  voted  in  favor  of  a  State  Government.  Congress  passed 
the  enabling  act,  and  the  first  constitutional  convention  opened  at  Madison, 
October  15th. 

1847 — Second  constitutional  convention  opened  at  Madison,  December  15th. 

1848 — The  second  constitution  was  adopted  by  popular  vote  March  13th, 


442  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

and  Wisconsin  was  admitted  into  the  Union  under  act  of  Congress  approved 
May  29th.  Nelson  Dewey  was  elected  first  State  governor.  The  first  Legis- 
lature convened  June  5th,  and  two  days  later  the  state  officers  were  sworn 
in.  A  free  school  system  was  established  by  law.  A  land  grant  for  a  university 
was  made  by  Congress  and  the  State  University  was  incorporated. 

1849 — The  State  Historical  Society  was  organized  by  members  of  the  first 
State  Legislature,  on  January  30th. 

1853 — Milwaukee   &  Mississippi   Railroad   completed   to    Madison. 

1854 — The  first  class  was  graduated  from  the  State  University. 

State  Historical  Society  reorganized,  with  Lyman  C.  Draper,  secretary. 

1861 — April  15th,  Governor  Alexander  W.  Randall  issued  a  proclamation 
calling  for  volunteers.  Thirty-six  companies  tendered  their  services  within  a 
week. 

1862 — April  19th,  Governor  Louis  P.  Harvey,  while  on  a  visit  to  the  South 
to  care  for  "Wisconsin  soldiers  wounded  at  Shiloh,  was  drowned  in  the  Ten- 
nessee River.    Edward  Salomon  became  governor  in  his  stead. 

In  April,  about  seven  hundred  Confederate  prisoners  were  received  at  Camp 
Randall,  Madison. 

1863 — A  soldiers'  hospital,  named  in  honor  of  the  late  Governor  Harvey, 
was  opened  in  Madison  through  the  efforts  of  his  widow. 

1864 — James  T.  Lewis  inaugurated  as  fourth  war-time  governor. 

1865 — Recruiting  ceased  April  13th.  The  entire  number  of  troops  fur- 
nished by  the  State  during  the  war  was  91,379,  with  death  losses  of  10,752. 

July  13th,  death  of  ex-Governor  James  D.  Doty. 

1866 — February :  Reorganization  of  the  State  University,  and  creation  of 
the  Agricultural  College  on  the  basis  of  the  Merrill  Grant. 

1867 — Death  of  ex-Governor  Henry  Dodge,  on  June  19th. 

1872— Death  of  ex-Governor  Alexander  W.  Randall,  first  war  governor  of 
Wisconsin. 

1875 — Free  High  School  law  enacted,  and  women  first  made  eligible  to  school 
offices. 

1878 — May  23rd:  A  cyclone  swept  through  Grant,  Iowa,  Dane,  Jefferson 
and  counties  to  the  east,  entailing  a  large  destruction  of  property  and  the 
death  of  twelve  or  fifteen  persons. 

1881— February  24th:     Death  of  U.  S.  Senator  Matt  H.  Carpenter. 

1883 — November  8th :  The  south  wing  of  the  capitol  extension  at  Madison 
fell,  killing  seven  workmen. 

Establishment  of  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  at  Madison,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  State  University. 

1884 — December  1st:     Science  Hall,  State  University,  was  destroyed  by  fire. 

1890 — Discovery  of  the  Babcock  Test  and  the  subsequent  establishment  of 
the  University  Dairy  School. 

1891 — August  27th :  Lyman  C.  Draper  died.  He  was  secretary  of  the 
Wisconsin  State  Historical  Society  in  1854-86,  and  during  that  time  the  lead- 
ing spirit  in  its  work. 

1895 — February  27th:  Mrs.  Cordelia  A.  P.  Chester  (formerly  Mrs.  Louis 
P.  Harvey)    died. 

July  4th :     Death  of  Chief  Justice  Harlow  S.  Orton. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  443 

1896 — May  23rd:     Death  of  ex-Governor  Lucius  Fairchild. 

1898 — Wisconsin  raised  and  equipped  four  regiments  of  infantry  and  one 
battery  for  the  Spanish-American  war. 

1900 — October  19th:  Dedication  of  the  new  State  Historical  Library  Build- 
ing at  Madison. 

1901 — January  7th:  Governor  Robert  M.  La  Follette  was  inaugurated, 
the  first  native-born  executive  of  the  State. 

1903 — July  4th:  Thirty  people  were  injured  by  the  premature  explosion 
of  fireworks  at  Oregon,  Dane  County. 

May  5th:     Chief  Justice  Orsamus  Cole  died. 

1904 — June  5-9:  The  State  University  celebrated  its  golden  jubilee  (fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the  first  graduation).  Charles  R.  Van  Hise,  the  first  alumnus 
to  hold  the  office,  was  inaugurated  president. 

February  27th :     A  large  part  of  the  State  capitol  at  Madison  was  burned. 

1907 — Legislative  appropriations  were  made  for  a  new  capitol  to  cost 
$6,000,000. 

November  29th:  Death  of  Judge  Elisha  W.  Keyes,  one  of  the  foremost 
republican  leaders  of  Wisconsin. 

1908— August  27th:  Death  of  William  F.  Vilas,  former  United  States 
senator  and  postmaster  general. 

1909 — June  22nd :  A  statue  of  Lincoln  in  bronze  was  unveiled  at  the  State 
University.  The  United  States  established  a  forest-products  laboratory  at  the 
University. 

January  18th:     Death  of  S.  L.  Sheldon,  of  Madison. 

1911 — June  1st :     Memorial  to  Judge  Luther  S.  Dixon  unveiled  at  Madison. 

1913 — October  22nd:  Death  of  Reuben  G.  Thwaites,  secretary  and  super- 
intendent of  the  State  Historical  Society  for  twenty-six  years. 

1920— July  14th:  Death  of  John  B.  Winslow,  chief  justice  of  the  State 
Supreme  Court. 

1922— February  21st:  Robert  G.  Siebecker,  chief  justice  of  the  State  Su- 
preme Court,  died. 

1924 — October  1st:  The  Wisconsin  State  General  Hospital  opened  for  serv- 
ice at  Madison.  It  was  completed  at  a  cost  of  nearly  $1,500,000,  and  its  dif- 
ferent buildings  are  in  proximity  to  those  scientific  departments  of  State  Uni- 
versity whose  cooperation  is  important  for  the  advancement  of  medical  knowl- 
edge. Two  hospital  buildings  already  located  on  the  site,  a  Student  Infirmary 
and  the  Bradley  Memorial  Hospital  designed  for  clinical  research,  were  made 
part  of  the  new  hospital  plant.  There  is  a  total  capacity  in  the  three  hospitals 
of  425  beds.  No  institution  founded  in  recent  years  is  more  worthy  of  praise- 
ful  consideration  than  the  Wisconsin  General  Hospital. 

1925 — The  Wisconsin  Memorial  Hospital  for  the  care  and  treatment  of  dis- 
charged soldiers,  sailors,  nurses  and  marines,  residents  of  the  State  who  served 
in  the  late  war  against  Germany  and  her  allies,  nears  completion  on  a  beau- 
tifully wooded  site  overlooking  Lake  Mendota.  It  is  operated  by  the  Psychiatric 
Institute,  which  was  founded  by  Dr.  Charles  Gorst,  at  that  time  superintendent 
of  the  State  Hospital  at  Mendota.  The  Legislature  authorized  the  erection 
of  the  Memorial  Hospital  in  1921.  The  Institute  has  always  worked  in  close 
cooperation  with  the  laboratories  of  the  State  University. 


444  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

THE  CITY  OF  MADISON 

There  is  no  more  beautifully  located  State  capital  in  the  West,  or  the  coun- 
try at  large,  than  Madison,  with  its  wide  and  clean  streets  swept  by  the  breezes 
of  its  bright  inland  lakes.  The  University  buildings,  the  capitol  structures, 
the  churches  and  schools,  all  have  their  stately  settings,  provided  primarily 
by  the  natural  beauties  of  the  country  and  improved  by  the  taste  and  wealth 
of  a  cultured  and  prosperous  people.  It  is  easy  to  realize  scholarship  and 
the  statesmanship  of  a  virile  people,  for  which  "Wisconsin  has  stood  so  long, 
should  here  find  a  peaceful  and  inspiring  center  in  which  to  study  and  evolve 
the  problems  of  the  day.  Not  only  in  this  chapter,  but  scattered  through  many 
other  pages  of  this  work,  are  proofs  that  Wisconsin  and  Madison,  the  center 
of  much  of  its  culture  and  progressive  politics,  are  noteworthy  influences  in 
molding  the  American  spirit  and  performance. 

This  charming  city  of  forty  thousand  men,  women  and  children,  is  little 
smirched  by  manufactories,  but  whether  its  residents  are  permanent  or  tempo- 
rary they  are  generally  substantial  in  character  and  means.  Its  thorough- 
fares, its  residences,  its  hotels  and  its  handsome  stores  all  show  it.  The  twelve 
banks  operating  in  Madison,  two  of  which  have  been  established  for  more  than 
seventy  years,  keep  the  local  money  in  circulation  and  prove  that  the  city  is 
substantial,  as  well  as  beautiful.  They  have  a  combined  capital  of  $2,675,000, 
a  surplus  of  over  $1,000,000  and  deposits  amounting  to  $23,000,000. 

STOUGHTON    AND    OUTSIDE   VILLAGES 

Stoughton,  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  county,  on  the  Chicago,  Mil- 
waukee &  St.  Paul  line,  has  a  population  of  more  than  5,000  and  is  the  onV 
industrial  center  of  any  consequence.  It  was  incorporated  as  a  village  in 
1868  and  as  a  city  in  1882.  About  midway  in  this  period,  1877,  its  first  ban.; 
was  founded,  the  State ;  followed  in  1899  by  the  First  National,  and  in  1906, 
by  the  Citizens  National.  Their  reports  indicate  that  they  are  in  good  con- 
dition. Their  combined  capital  is  $125,000,  while  their  surplus  is  $258,000 
and  deposits,  $1,779,940.  Stoughton  has  also  a  well  established  newspaper,  the 
Courier  Hub,  which  was  founded  in  1863. 

The  largest  of  the  villages  in  Dane  County  are  Mount  Horeb  and  Sun 
Prairie.  The  former  has  a  population  of  about  1,300  and  is  a  station  on  the 
Chicago  &  North-Western  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  county.  Mount 
Horeb  is  a  good  trading  center  and  has  two  banks  and  three  newspapers.  The 
Times  was  founded  in  1892.  There  are  also  the  Mail  and  Parish  Doings. 
Mount  Horeb  was  incorporated  as  a  village  in  1899. 

Sun  Prairie,  on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  line,  is  slightly  smaller 
than  Mount  Horeb,  although  it  was  incorporated  as  a  village  in  1868.  Its 
newspaper,  the  Countryman,  has  been  published  since  1877.  The  Farmers  & 
Merchants  Bank  of  Sun  Prairie  was  established  in  1893. 

As  a  rule,  the  measure  of  prominence  among  the  minor  villages  of  any 
county  is  by  the  newspaper  and  bank  rule;  if  both  exist,  the  community  is 
considered  slightly  in  advance  of  the  village  which  has  either  one  or  the  other. 
Thus  gauged,  the  following  are  listed :    Oregon,  with  a  population  of  870,  has  a 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  445 

newspaper,  the  Observer,  established  in  1880.  Middleton  has  a  population  of 
7!»o,  according  to  the  last  census;  it  has  a  newspaper,  the  'rimes-Herald,  but  no 
hank.  Mazomanie,  somewhat  smaller  in  population,  is  credited  with  both  a  bank 
and  a  newspaper;  the  Latter,  the  Sickle,  has  been  published  since  1874.  As  an 
incorporated  village,  Oregon  is  the  oldest  of  the  three  mentioned  in  this  para- 
graph. It  was  incorporated  in  1883,  Mazomanie  in  1899,  and  .Middleton  in  1905. 
Even  smaller  than  the  foregoing"  are  Waunakee,  with  its  Tribune  founded 
in  1911,  and  two  State  banks,  one  established  in  1902  and  the  other,  in  1912; 
Belleville,  also  with  two  State  banks,  both  opened  in  1903;  Decrfield,  which  issues 
the  Xews  (established  in  1899)  and  operates  two  banks,  the  Bank  of  Deerfield 
being  founded  in  1SS7  ;  McFarland,  with  a  State  bank;  De  Forest,  having  both 
the  Times  (founded  in  1895)  and  two  banks;  Black  Earth,  Dane  and  Blue 
.Mounds,  all  with  banks,  and  Morrisonville,  perhaps  the  smallest  village  of  this 
group,  with  its  independent  bank  and  its  newspaper,  the  Tribune,  issued  since 
1903.  Morrisonville  is  the  only  settlement  of  the  foregoing  which  has  not  been 
incorporated  as  a  village.  Black  Earth,  the  oldest,  was  incorporated  in  1857,  and 
still  has  a  population  not  to  exceed  500.  McFarland,  the  youngest,  was  incor- 
porated in  1920.  Waunakee,  Belleville  and  Deerfield  became  villages  in  the  '90s, 
and  Blue  Mounds,  in  the  old  lead  region,  in  1912. 

DANE  COUNTY,  AGRICULTURALLY   CONSIDERED 

Until  one  '"knows,"  the  general  impression  is  that  the  beautiful  city  of  Madi- 
son, with  several  flourishing  villages,  is  about  all  there  is  to  Dane  County.  But 
the  census  figures  tell  quite  another  tale  and  explain  the  founding  and  continued 
support  of  numerous  rural  centers,  with  their  banks  and  newspapers.  There 
are  few  counties  in  the  Middle  West  with  a  richer  country  backing  its  smaller 
centers  of  population  than  Dane. 

Of  the  dozen  prosperous  counties  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  of  Wisconsin  and 
Illinois,  Dane  stands  first  in  the  total  value  of  its  agricultural  property — land, 
buildings,  implements  and  live  stock;  the  Census  Bureau  indicates  the  assess- 
ment in  this  regard  to  be  $128,789,000.  Dane  is  also  the  star  county  in  the  rais- 
ing of  cereals,  the  value  of  which  is  placed  at  $20,978,000.  In  live  stock,  the 
county  leads  in  the  raising  of  horses  and  dairy  cattle.  The  census  figures  show 
that  the  27,000  horses  accredited  to  Dane  were  valued  at  nearly  $2,500,000,  and 
that  the  108,000  dairy  cattle  were  assessed  at  $8,434,000.  Naturally,  the  hay 
and  fodder  crops  of  the  county  were  enormous.  In  the  census  year,  they  were 
valued  at  $6,852,000,  and  its  nearest  competitor  in  the  Rock  River  Valley,  Dodge 
County,  was  more  than  $1,000,000  short  of  these  figures. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
DODGE  COUNTY,  WISCONSIN 

DODGE    COUNTY    CREATED    AND    ORGANIZED BEAVER    DAM HORICON — JUNEAU    AND 

OTHER  POINTS DODGE   COUNTY   AS   A   WHOLE. 

The  head  rivulets  of  the  Fox  River,  some  of  which  in  high  water  flow  over 
the  borders  of  Fond  du  Lac  and  Washington  counties,  are  collected  into  the  low- 
lands around  Horicon,  Dodge  County,  and  form  a  natural  marsh,  which,  for 
many  years  has  been  a  source  of  contention  between  those  who  wish  to  retain  the 
country  as  the  Indians  used  it  and  the  first  white  settlers  found  it,  and  those 
who  would  drain  its  40,000  acres  for  farming  and  other  utilitarian  purposes. 
It  is  a  contest  between  the  older  elements  of  the  populace  and  the  enthusiastic 
sportsmen  of  today  and  the  practical  men  of  money  and  money-making  outlook. 
Even  before  Dodge  County  was  organized  as  an  independent  civil  and  political 
division,  Rock  River  was  declared  a  navigable  stream  to  the  north  boundary  of 
the  county,  the  limits  of  which  had  already  been  defined. 

By  act  of  the  Wisconsin  Territorial  Legislature  approved  December  7,  1836, 
Dodge  County  was  erected  and  attached  to  Milwaukee  County  for  judicial  and 
other  purposes.  A  separate  organization  was  not  effected  until  January,  1840, 
when  the  county  commissioners  met  at  Fox  Lake,  the  village  founded  several 
years  before  on  the  north  shore  of  the  lake  by  that  name.  Watertown  or  John- 
son's Rapids,  had  been  settled  about  the  same  time.  On  January  13th,  of  the 
year  named  two  polling  places  were  opened  to  decide  the  question  as  to  the 
permanent  location  of  the  seat  of  justice  for  Dodge  County ;  one  was  at  Fox 
Lake,  the  other  in  the  Fifth  ward  of  Watertown.  Fox  Lake  was  beaten  by 
seven  votes,  but  afterward  regained  the  honor.  But  there  was  a  strong  demand 
for  a  seat  of  justice  nearer  the  geographical  center  of  the  county.  In  1845, 
therefore,  Fairfield  was  platted  at  that  point,  a  few  miles  west  of  the  Rock 
River.  In  1848,  it  was  rechristened  Dodge  Center,  and  later,  Juneau — the  latter 
name  given  in  honor  of  Solomon  Juneau,  one  of  the  founders  of  Milwaukee. 

Beaver  Dam  and  Horicon  have  maintained  the  lead  among  the  cities  of  Dodge 
County ;  for  Watertown  lies  more  in  Jefferson  County  than  in  Dodge.  Beaver 
Dam  is  situated  advantageously  on  the  southeast  shores  of  Fox  Lake  and  the 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad.  By  the  early  '50s,  woolen  mills,  agri- 
cultural implement  works  and  other  manufactories  were  in  operation,  and  the 
city  is  more  industrial  than  otherwise  today.  It  was  incorporated  as  a  city  in 
1856  and  the  last  national  census  gives  its  population  as  7,992.  Beaver  Dam 
has  the  honor  of  receiving  the  first  missionary  known  to  have  preached  in  Dodge 
County — the  Presbyterian,  Rev.  Moses  Ordway,  who  on  his  way  to  Green  Bay, 
in  1840,  stopped  at  the  little  settlement  on  Fox  Lake  and  commenced  his  labors 

446 


COURT  HOUSE  AND  GROUNDS,  JUNE  AT 


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DODGE   COUNTY    HOME,   .JUNEAU 


448  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

there.  The  First  Presbyterian  church  there  was  organized  about  the  time  of 
Deacon  Ordway's  death,  a  few  years  afterward.  In  the  middle  '40s,  the  Meth- 
odists and  Episcopalians  organized  societies  in  Beaver  Dam,  and  in  1848  the 
"Weekly  Badger  appeared  as  the  local  newspaper  champion  and  democratic 
advocate,  although  the  press  work  and  a  portion  of  the  typesetting  were  done 
by  the  Watertown  Chronicle.  The  Dodge  County  Citizen  of  today  was  the 
result  of  the  consolidation  of  several  ventures  which  was  effected  April  18,  1856. 
The  Beaver  Dam  Argus  (still  published)  was  founded  in  1860.  The  city  has 
four  substantial  banks.  The  first  to  be  established,  which  is  still  operating,  is 
known  as  the  Old  National  Bank,  founded  in  1864.  Beaver  Dam  schools  had 
their  origin  more  than  eighty  years  ago,  when  a  few  citizens  of  the  place  met 
at  the  house  of  J.  P.  Brower  and  selected  a  site  for  a  building  east  of  his  house 
and  about  twenty  rods  east  of  Spring  Creek.  The  schoolhouse  was  actually 
commenced  in  March,  1845,  and  finished  in  the  following  October. 

In  1845,  the  pioneers  of  the  Horicon  region  threw  a  dam  across  the  Rock 
River  at  the  settlement,  and  the  back-up  waters  formed  beautiful  Lake  Horicon. 
The  flooded  grounds  created  what  has  been  pronounced  the  largest  artificial  lake 
in  the  world,  and  thousands  of  fishermen  and  trappers  resorted  to  it  for  pleas- 
ure and  profit,  both  in  summer  and  winter.  All  kinds  of  game  and  such  fish  as 
pickerel  and  pike  were  caught  in  immense  quantities  and  shipped  to  the  eastern 
markets,  which,  besides  the  factories  which  were  established,  made  Horicon  one 
of  the  most  prosperous  points  in  the  upper  Valley  for  many  years.  Then,  in 
the  late  '60s  the  dam  was  removed  and  Winnebago  Marsh,  later  known  as  Hori- 
con marsh,  replaced  the  Lake,  and  more  than  twenty  years  ago  various  drainag 
projects  were  engineered  in  the  face  of  counter  efforts  to  reconstruct  the  dam 
and  recreate  Horicon  Lake.  Before  the  Civil  war,  the  seeder  factories  had  been 
established  at  Horicon ;  they  afterward  developed  into  the  Van  Brunt  and  Deere 
plants,  still  among  the  large  industries  of  the  Valley.  Two  good  banks  operate 
in  the  city — a  National  and  a  State — the  latter  having  been  in  business  since 
1896.  The  local  newspaper,  the  Horicon  Reporter,  has  been  issued  since  L 
Horicon  was  incorporated  as  a  village  in  1855  and  as  a  city  in  1897.  It  is  at  the 
junction  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  and  the  Chicago  &  North-West  - 
ern  Railroads. 

Juneau,  at  the  geographical  center  of  the  county  and  its  seat  of  justice  for 
nearly  eighty  years,  is  a  pretty  little  place  of  1,200  people  on  the  Chicago  & 
North  Western  line.  It  was  incorporated  as  a  village  in  1865  and  as  a  city  in 
1887.  Its  newspaper,  the  Juneau  Independent,  was  first  issued  in  1893,  and  its 
bank,  the  Citizens,  has  been  operating  since  1891. 

Waupun,  a  city  of  nearly  4,500  people,  is  the  seat  of  the  State  Prison,  which 
was  located  there  in  1851.  The  original  building,  the  south  wing,  was  opened 
about  two  years  afterward.  Only  a  small  portion  of  the  city  is  in  Dodge  County 
and  it  has  always  been  considered  a  municipality  of  Fond  du  Lac  County.  Its 
incorporation  as  a  village  dates  from  1857  and  as  a  city,  from  1878. 

Mayville,  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  county  on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee 
&  St.  Paul  Railroad,  has  an  extensive  and  rich  district  tributary  to  it.  With  a 
population  of  more  than  3,000,  it  supports  two  newspapers — the  Dodge  County 
Pioneer,  founded  in  1876,  and  the  Mayville  News,  established  in  1892.  As  an 
indication  of  brisk  local  business  and  large  regional  trade,  the  city  has  two  banks 


JOHN    MAY 
Founder    of    Mayville 


ALVIN    FOSTER 
Pioneer   settler  of  Mayville 


MAYVILLE    IIKill    SCHOOL 


450  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

in  operation.  The  Ruedebuseh  Mutual  Savings  Bank  was  opened  in  1892,  and 
the  First  National  has  been  doing  business  since  1914.  Mayville  was  incorporated 
as  a  city  in  1885,  having  previously  been  under  a  village  form  of  government 
since  1867. 

Fox  Lake,  although  it  is  neither  a  village  nor  a  city,  has  a  population  of 
over  1,000,  and  has  had  its  newspaper,  the  Representative,  since  1866.  It  has 
railroad  connection  through  a  spur  which  extends  to  Fox  Lake  Junction  on  the 
main  St.  Paul  line,  a  short  distance  to  the  south. 

Randolph,  of  about  the  same  size  as  Fox  Lake,  is  a  station  on  the  Chicago  & 
North  Western  also  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Dodge  County  near  the  Columbia 
County  line.    It  has  a  newspaper,  the  Advance,  founded  in  1893,  but  no  bank. 

Other  stations  which  may  be  mentioned  are  Lomira,  whose  newspaper  (the 
Review)  and  bank  (State)  have  been  in  operation  since  1903;  Reeseville,  with 
its  newspaper  (also  the  Review)  started  in  1889  and  Peoples  State  Bank,  estab- 
lished in  1911 ;  and  Hustisford,  Neosho  and  Iron  Ridge,  even  smaller  in  size, 
but  having  banking  accommodations  to  attend  to  the  rural  trade  of  their  districts. 

DODGE   COUNTY   AS   A   WHOLE 

Dodge  County  is  one  of  the  richest  sections  of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  either 
in  Wisconsin  or  Illinois,  and  its  residents  base  this  claim  on  its  remarkable 
prominence  as  a  producer  of  crops  and  live  stock.  With  its  area  of  897  square 
miles  and  its  population  of  49,742,  it  is  rivaled  only  by  Dane  County  in  the 
essentials  of  agricultural  leadership.  Dodge  County  is  second  to  Dane  in  the 
value  of  its  live  stock  and  agricultural  implements,  the  showing  being  as  fol- 
lows :  Live  Stock— Dane  County,  $14,316,000,  and  Dodge  County,  $11,801,000. 
Agricultural  implements— Dane  County,  $6,826,000;  Dodge  County,  $6,057,000. 
In  the  total  value  of  all  agricultural  property,  including  land,  buildings,  imple- 
ments and  live  stock,  Dodge  County  stands  fourth  among  the  twelve  counties 
included  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  of  this  history.  The  value  of  all  the  cereal 
crops  raised  in  the  county  is  $14,331,000  and  these  figures  place  it  fourth  in 
this  regard.  Its  crop  of  oats,  3,183,000  bushels,  was  the  largest  in  the  Valley ; 
its  hay  and  fodder  crops,  valued  at  $5,706,000,  were  exceeded  only  by  those  of 
Dane,  which  realized  about  $1,000,000  more  from  these  sources  of  wealth.  There 
is  even  a  closer  rivalry  between  Dodge  and  Dane  counties  in  the  item  of  dairy 
cattle.  In  Dane,  there  were  108,667  cattle  valued  at  $8,434,000,  as  compared 
with  93.367  and  $8,317,000,  respectively,  in  Dodge  County. 


BEAVEE   DAM,    1888 


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VAX   BRUNT    (DEERE)    PLANT,    HOEICON 


Vol.  1—29 


CHAPTER  XX 
JEFFERSON  COUNTY 

FORMATION  OF  THE  COUNTY EARLY  SCHOOLS THE  PIONEER  CHURCHES — THE  CITY 

OF    WATERTOWN THE   CITY    OF    FORT    ATKINSON THE    HOARD    INTERESTS — THE 

DWIGHT  FOSTER  PUBLIC  LIBRARY WATERLOO  AND  PALMYRA COMPARATIVE  DAIRY 

STRENGTH   OF  THE  COUNTY. 

Jefferson  County  which  lies  in  the  distinctive  eastern  valley  of  the  Rock 
River,  has  an  area  of  552  square  miles  and  a  population  of  35,022.  It  is  in 
the  great  dairy  section  of  Southeastern  Wisconsin,  than  which  there  is  none 
richer  or  more  progressive  in  the  world;  and  Jefferson  has  done  her  full 
share  in  giving  it  world-wide  fame. 

The  Rock  River  and  its  tributaries  have  been  the  prime  means  of  making 
Jefferson  County  one  of  the  ideal  dairy  sections  of  the  world.  It  enters  the 
county  at  the  extreme  northeast  corner  of  the  town  of  Ixonia.  It  takes  a 
tortuous  course  to  the  north  line  of  the  town  of  Concord,  where  it  joins  Ocon- 
omowoc  River.  The  Rock  then  runs  northwestwardly  through  the  town  and 
city  of  Watertown,  passing  again  into  Dodge  County,  but  turns  abruptly  and 
flows  south  back  through  the  town  of  Watertown,  becomes  the  boundary  line 
between  the  towns  of  Milford  and  Farmington  and  leaves  the  county  at  Lake 
Koshkonong. 

FORMATION    OF    THE    COUNTY 

The  year  1836  was  the  creative  year  for  Jefferson  County.  Largely  through 
the  operations  of  the  Rock  River  Claim  Company,  in  which  Solomon  Juneau, 
Daniel  Wells  and  other  leading  Milwaukeeans  were  interested,  appeared  in 
embryo  such  settlements  as  Hebron,  Watertown,  Fort  Atkinson,  Jefferson, 
Aztalan  and  Lake  Mills.  On  the  7th  of  December  of  that  year,  the  county 
was  separated  from  Milwaukee  by  legislative  enactment,  but  attached  to  the 
latter  for  judicial  and  political  purposes. 

Jefferson  County  was  named  by  Captain  Robert  Masters,  who  resided  in 
the  bend  of  Rock  River  below  Jefferson.  The  contest  for  the  permanent  seat 
of  justice  was  chiefly  between  Watertown  and  Jefferson,  but  in  1856  was  de- 
cided in  favor  of  the  latter.  Geographical  position  was  the  determining  factor 
in  favor  of  Jefferson,  as  it  was  conveniently  located  near  the  center  of  the 
county  at  the  junction  of  the  Crawfish  with  the  Rock  River.  It  was  a  wise 
decision,  as  Watertown  is  in  the  far  north  of  the  county,  one  of  its  wards 
extending  over  into  Dodge. 

The  county  seat  is  now  a  municipality  of  more  than  2,500  people,  on  the 

452 


«    # 


WATERTOWN    IN   18(50 


PANORAMIC  VIKW  OF  WATERTOWN,  LOOKING  NORTHEAST,  1886 


454  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Chicago  &  North-Western  Railway,  upon  which  the  entire  county  relies  for 
its  transportation  accommodations.  It  was  incorporated  as  a  village  in  1857 
and  as  a  city,  in  1878. 

EARLY   SCHOOLS    OF   THE  COUNTY 

Jefferson  County  had  a  number  of  flourishing  settlements  before  Madison 
and  Dane  County  were  scarcely  on  the  map,  Aztalan,  Lake  Mills,  Hebron 
and  Fort  Atkinson  being  closely  identified  with  the  development  of  the  coun- 
try immediately  wTest.  Fort  Atkinson,  Jefferson  and  Watertown  all  organized 
private  schools  soon  after  they  were  settled. 

In  the  spring  of  1837,  the  first  school  at  Fort  Atkinson  was  opened  in 
a  log  cabin  on  the  north  side  of  the  Crawfish  River  by  Jane  Crane.  Charles 
Rockwell  erected  the  first  building  for  educational  purposes,  in  1844,  although 
religious  meetings  were  held  in  it  quite  often.  Many  of  the  private  schools 
in  Fort  Atkinson,  at  an  early  day,  were  conducted  in  the  basement  of  the 
old  Congregational  Church,  organized  in  1841. 

Watertown  also  established  its  schools  supported  bj'  private  subscription  in 
the  late  '30s,  and  old  School  District  No.  1  was  well  supported  by  the  tax- 
payers. The  blacksmith  and  wagon  shop  of  A.  Hoffman  was  a  favorite  meeting 
place  for  the  voters  to  discuss  and  organize  school  matters.  In  1856,  its  public 
schools  were  organized  under  the  Union  system  and  placed  under  the  super- 
vision of  a  Board  of  Education.  In  1864,  the  Lutherans  of  Watertown  erected 
a  large  brick  structure  on  the  east  side  of  the  city  and  opened  therein  the 
Northwestern  University.  The  dormitory,  burned  in  1874,  was  never  rebuilt. 
Other  buildings,  however,  have  since  been  erected  and  the  name  of  the  in- 
stitution changed  to  the  Northwestern  College  to  avoid  any  conflict  with  the 
title,  Northwestern  University  of  Evanston  and  Chicago.  The  Northwestern 
College  of  Illinois  is  located  at  Naperville  and  is  under  the  control  of  the 
Evangelical  Association  of  Lutherans. 

The  first  schools  at  Jefferson,  the  county  seat,  were  established  in  1839  and 
1840.  In  April,  1866,  the  Universalists  founded  what  was  known  until  1879 
as  the  Jefferson  Liberal  Institute,  but  the  enterprise  did  not  prosper  and  in 
the  latter  year  its  buildings  and  grounds  were  purchased  by  the  city  and  trans- 
formed into' a  public  school  plant. 

THE    PIONEER    CHURCHES 

Most  of  the  early  churches  of  Jefferson  County  were  not  organized  until 
the  middle  '40s.  One  of  the  pioneers  was  St.  Bernard's  Catholic  Church, 
Watertown,  which  through  the  generosity  of  the  Regan  brothers,  obtained  its 
own  home  in  1846.  In  1872,  the  College  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
its  parochial  school,  was  opened,  and  in  the  following  year  the  corner  stone 
of  the  cathedral  was  laid. 

The  Methodists  commenced  to  meet  in  Watertown  in  1844,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  they  cooperated  with  the  other  Protestants  of  the  town  in  the 
erection  of  a  Union  church ;  but  the  Methodists  appear  to  have  monopolized 
it  at  a  later  period.     In  1845,  Rev.  Stephen  Peet,  agent  of  the  Presbyterian 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  455 

Home  Missionary  Society,  founded  the  church  which  subsequently  adopted  the 
Congregational  form  of  government.  The  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Church  was 
organized  in  1847  by  Rev.  Melancthon  Hoyt,  a  missionary  of  Fox  Lake,  who 
walked  from  that  point  to  perform  the  service.  In  the  late  '40s  were  also 
founded  St.  Mary's  (German)  Catholic,  the  Protestant  Evangelical  and  the 
German  Methodist  churches. 

Mass  was  first  celebrated  by  the  Catholics  of  the  Jefferson  region,  in  1842, 
at  the  log  cabin  of  John  Haas,  and  eight  years  afterward  their  first  church 
was  erected  in  that  locality.  Several  Evangelical  societies  were  founded  at 
the  county  seat  from  1845  to  1851,  and  in  1848  Rev.  Seth  Barnett  preached 
CJniversalism  in  the  Juneau  courthouse.  The  Universalists  formed  a  society 
in  1850  and  in  1854  erected  a  house  of  worship;  but  two  years  later  the  Catholics 
of  St.  John  the  Haptist  Church  moved  into  the  Universalist  edifice.  The 
Presbyterians  organized  in  1850  and  the  Methodists  in  1851. 

The  Methodists  organized  a  class  at  Fort  Atkinson  the  residence  of  Jesse 
Roberts  north  of  the  village  of  Fort  Atkinson,  in  1840.  Within  the  village, 
the  Congregationalists  first  met  at  the  house  of  Phineas  F.  Morrison,  and  in 
October,  1841,  at  the  residence  of  Milo  Jones  they  perfected  an  organization. 
Their  first  pastor  was  Rev.  William  Arms.  The  German  Methodists  organized 
in  1849,  and  the  Universalists,  the  first  liberal  Christian  society  of  Fort  Atkin- 
son, formed  a  society  in  1866. 

The  decade  from  the  middle  '40s  to  the  '50s  also  saw  the  Baptists,  Catholics 
and  Congregationalists  busy  organizing  their  forces  at  Fox  Lake  and  sending 
their  missionaries  to  Waupun,  and  elsewhere  to  the  east  in  Jefferson  and  to 
the  west,  into  Dane  County. 

THE    CITY    OF    WATERTOWN 

Although  one  ward  of  Watertown  is  over  the  Jefferson  County  line  in 
Dodge,  the  city's  population  of  9,299  may  virtually  be  claimed  by  Jefferson. 
In  May,  1836,  Luther  A.  and  John  W.  Cole,  located  at  wrhat  was  already  called 
Johnson's  Rapids,  as  Timothy  Johnson  had  taken  up  claims  on  the  east  side 
of  tbe  Rock  River  in  what  is  now  the  city  of  Watertown.  This  land  was 
afterward  bought  by  the  Goodhues,  and  Watertown  sprung  up  as  a  prosperous 
settlement.  Flour  mills,  woollen  mills,  grain  elevators  and  other  evidences  of 
growth  prompted  J.  A.  Hadley,  a  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  newspaper  man,  to  attempt 
the  publication  of  a  newspaper  in  this  muddy  little  Wisconsin  settlement.  The 
first  number  of  his  Recorder  appeared  June  23,  1847.  The  Germans  soon  settled 
at  Watertown  in  such  numbers  and  were  characterized  by  such  a  high  grade 
of  citizenship  that  they  commenced  to  found  newspapers  of  their  own.  The 
Anzeiger  was  established  by  several  journalists  from  Milwaukee,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1853,  and  some  years  afterward  the  editorship  was  accepted  by  Carl 
Schurz.  then  a  highly  educated  and  ambitious  young  man  residing  in  Water- 
town  and  afterward  a  national  character  in  journalism  and  republicanism. 
The  Anzeiger  was  succeeded  by  the  Weltburger,  which  continues  to  this  day. 
In  September,  1857,  Der  Vokszeitung  was  founded,  and  Schurz  was  again 
induced  to  enter  the  German  newspaper  field;  but  the  paper  suspended  after 
the  presidential  election  of  1860. 


456  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Watertown  had  been  incorporated  as  a  village  in  1840  and  as  a  city,  in 
1853,  and  it  was  not  until  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  afterward  that 
the  first  of  the  newspapers  (besides  the  Weltburger  which  is  still  being  issued) 
was  established.  The  Gazette  was  founded  in  1879,  and  the  Times,  in  1895. 
To  handle  the  local  business,  the  industries  and  the  regional  trade  centering 
in  Watertown,  four  banks  are  in  operation;  they  are  representative  of  a  com- 
bined capital  of  $475,000,  surplus  of  $333,000  and  deposits  of  $4,300,000.  They 
were  founded  in  this  order :  Bank  of  Watertown,  1854 ;  Wisconsin  National, 
1865 ;  Merchants  National,  1892,  and  Farmers  and  Citizens  Bank,  1912.  The 
city  is  at  the  junction  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  and  the  Chicago 
&  North- Western  and  its  transportation  facilities  are  good. 

THE    CITY    OF    PORT    ATKINSON 

When  General  Atkinson,  of  Black  Hawk  war  fame,  built  the  stockade  for 
his  troops,  in  1832,  clearing  away  for  the  purpose  a  tract  of  the  hardwood 
forest,  which  embraced  what  is  now  the  Eli  May  home,  he  did  not  dream  that 
a  thriving  city  was  to  spring  up  at  that  point  founded  on  the  yieldings  of 
the  mild  and  gentle  cow.  Port  Atkinson  was  nothing  but  a  struggling  hamlet 
before  the  farmers  of  Southern  Wisconsin  turned  from  the  uncertainties  of 
cereal  production  to  the  assured  profits  of  dairying. 

In  December,  1835,  through  the  promotive  schemes  of  Solomon  Juneau, 
Elisha  W.  Edington,  Daniel  H.  Wells  and  other  enterprising  Milwaukee  citi- 
zens, a  few  settlers  located  on  the  site  of  old  Port  Atkinson.  During  that 
and  the  following  year,  several  entire  families  made  their  way  from  the  Cream 
City  to  this  delightful  and  promising  location  on  the  Rock  River  and  built 
for  themselves  substantial  cabins.  Schools  and  churches  were  organized  and 
by  the  early  '50s  a  contented  and  moral  settlement  was  planted.  It  did  not 
boom,  but  it  advanced.  At  this  time,  there  visited  Chicago  one  Thuriow  Weed 
Brown,  who  was  in  attendance  at  a  temperance  convention  being  held  in  that 
city.  He  edited  a  temperance  newspaper  at  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  known  as  the 
Cayuga  Chief,  and,  before  returning  to  the  East,  spent  several  weeks  in  the 
Rock  River  Valley.  In  the  course  of  his  travels  he  visited  the  Port  Atkinson 
location  and  was  so  charmed  with  the  region  and  the  people  that  he  decided 
to  settle  there  himself.  He  therefore  returned  to  Geneva  and  brought  his 
newspaper  outfit  to  Fort  Atkinson,  where  he  issued  the  first  number  of  the 
Wisconsin  Chief  on  October  15,  1856.  His  was  the  first  temperance  paper 
issued  in  the  State,  and  as  the  Germans  were  coming  rapidly  into  Southern 
Wisconsin  it  required  considerable  courage  to  make  the  venture.  But  the 
Chief  lived  and  after  Mr.  Brown's  death,  the  paper  was  edited  and  published 
by  his  sister,  Emma  Brown. 

Fort  Atkinson  was  incorporated  as  a  village  in  1860  and  as  a  city  in  1878. 
Ere  the  municipal  garments  had  been  donned,  however,  Southern  Wisconsin 
and  Fort  Atkinson  had  struck  their  stride  in  the  dairy  field.  The  first  cheese 
factory  in  the  State  probably  was  that  of  Chester  Hazen,  established  at  Ladoga, 
Fond  du  Lac  County,  in  1864.  The  first  cheese  factory  established  in  South- 
western Wisconsin  was  that  of  L.  G.  Thomas,  near  Lone  Rock,  Richland  County, 
in  1865.     By  1870,  there  were  probably  100  cheese  factories  scattered  through 


..     -v  -~V  "' 


BMilU&IH™ 


TTTOII   SCHOOL,  FORT  ATKINSON 


VIEW  OF  HOARD'S  CREAMERIES,  FORT  ATKINSON,  FROM  THE  RIVER 


458  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

sixteen   different   counties  of  the  State.     The  development  of  the  creameries 
did  not  begin  until  later. 

THE    HOARD    INTERESTS 

The  ravages  of  the  chinch  bug  in  the  wheat  fields  of  Wisconsin  threw  the 
farmers  into  a  panic  and  brought  to  their  attention  the  advantages  of  dairying. 
In  1872,  therefore,  under  the  leadership  of  W.  D.  Hoard,  of  Fort  Atkinson, 
the  Wisconsin  Dairymen's  Association  was  organized  at  Watertown.  It  proved 
to  be  the  most  potent  single  force  in  the  State  for  the  advancement  of  the 
dairy  industry.  W.  D.  Hoard,  Stephen  Favill,  W.  S.  Green,  Chester  Hazen, 
H.  F.  Dousman,  A.  D.  Favill  and  H.  C.  Drake,  the  organizers  of  the  Wis- 
consin Dairymen's  Association,  and  others  of  like  strong  personalities,  were 
among  the  workers  and  promoters  of  the  dairy  industry  in  Wisconsin. 

Those  who  were  founding  the  industry  had  keen  competition  from  the  old- 
time  dairymen  of  New  York  and  Canada,  but  they  entered  fearlessly  into  the 
contest,  and  the  Centennial  Exposition  at  Philadelphia,  the  great  International 
Dairy  Show  at  New  York,  the  Chicago  World's  Fair  and  the  New  Orleans 
Cotton  Centennial,  awarded  numerous  first-class  medals  to  Wisconsin  cheese 
and  butter  makers.  Then  came  better  transportation  facilities,  the  refrigerator 
car  and  the  Babcoek  device  for  measuring  the  butter-fat  in  milk  and  cream, 
with  the  organization  of  various  institutions  for  the  scientific  and  economic 
development  of  the  dairy  industries.  The  Wisconsin  College  of  Agriculture 
and  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  were  children  of  the  State  Dairy- 
men's Association.  In  1889  the  long-continued  efforts  of  that  organization 
culminated  in  the  promulgation  of  the  pure  food  law  by  the  Legislature  and 
the  creation  of  a  dairy  and  food  commissioner  to  enforce  its  provisions.  The 
great  personal  force  behind  all  such  legislation  was  Governor  W.  D.  Hoard. 

In  1893,  the  Wisconsin  Cheese  Makers'  Association  was  separated  from  the 
original  Wisconsin  Dairymen's  Association,  and  became  the  largest  organiza- 
tion of  the  kind  in  the  world.  In  1900,  the  Southern  Wisconsin  Cheese  Makers' 
and  Dairymen's  Association  was  organized  with  the  primary  aim  of  promot- 
ing the  cheese  industry  of  the  foreign  type,  specified  by  the  old-time  varieties 
known  as  Swiss,  brick  and  Limburger.  The  success  of  this  movement  has  given 
Southern  Wisconsin,  as  a  cheese  country,  the  name  of  the  Switzerland  of 
America. 

One  of  the  results  of  this  phenomenal  development  of  the  dairy  industry 
over  such  a  great  extent  of  country  is  to  make  Fort  Atkinson  a  thriving  city, 
with  its  prosperity  based  on  the  modern  requirements  not  only  of  manufac- 
turing, but  of  marketing  the  dairy  products ;  for  the  city  is  in  the  territorial 
center  of  the  most  productive  region  in  the  State.  Since  the  dairy  fame  of 
Southern  Wisconsin  has  spread  over  the  world,  Fort  Atkinson  has  been  more 
widely  known  than  ever  before,  and  the  strongest  thought  of  the  city  clusters 
around  the  name  of  William  D.  Hoard,  ex-governor  of  Wisconsin,  whose  death 
occurred  November  22,  1918. 

The  Hoard  interests  at  Fort  Atkinson  are  carefully  and  ably  conserved 
by  the  sons  of  their  founder,  Arthur  R.  Hoard,  Halbert  L.  Hoard  and  F.  W. 


TIIK  HOCK   K1VKR  VALLEY  459 

Hoard.  The  oldest  of  these  is  the  complete  printing  and  puhlishing  plant 
which  issues  the  Jefferson  County  Union  and  Hoard's  Dairyman.  W.  D.  Hoard 
was  raised  in  a  fine  dairy  section  of  New  York  State,  and  thoroughly  under- 
stood the  possibilities  of  the  industry  in  Southern  Wisconsin.  When  he  estab- 
lished the  Jefferson  Union,  a  little  country  weekly  at  Lake  Mills,  he  therefore 
set  aside  much  of  its  space  to  the  publication  of  dairy  news.  This  department, 
in  a  few  years,  became  the  most  prominent  feature  of  the  Union,  and  in  1885 
Mr.  Hoard  founded  the  Dairyman  as  a  separate  publication.  In  May,  1873,  Mr. 
Hoard  who  had  formed  a  partner-ship  with  Charles  Fullerton,  of  Lodi,  Wis., 
moved  his  printing  plant  and  neAvspaper  business,  then  on  their  feet,  to  Fort 
Atkinson.  Mr.  Hoard  bought  out  his  partner  and  this  enterprise  expanded 
so  rapidly  and  substantially  that  in  1909  it  was  installed  in  one  of  the  hand- 
somest and  most  complete  printing  plants  in  the  Rock  River  Valley.  About 
two  years  before  his  death,  a  company  stocked  at  $150,000  was  formed  with 
W.  D.  Hoard  as  president ;  Arthur  R.  Hoard,  vice-president ;  Halbert  L.  Hoard, 
secretary  and  manager  of  the  Union  and  printing  department,  and  F.  W. 
Hoard,  treasurer  and  manager  of  the  Hoard's  Dairyman.  Halbert  L.  Hoard 
served  for  several  terms  as  president  of  the  Wisconsin  Press  Association. 

The  Hoard  Creameries  originated  in  the  plan  of  A.  R.  Hoard  to  bring  the 
consumer  into  direct  connection  with  the  product  of  the  factories.  He  built 
the  first  one  in  1886,  and  the  business  was  begun  in  the  building  now  occupied 
by  the  Better  Sox  Knitting  Mills,  the  home  of  the  "No  Protest"  hosiery. 

The  W.  D.  Hoard  &  Sons  Company  was  reorganized  about  two  years  before 
the  death  of  its  founder,  with  the  following  officers:  William  D.  Hoard,  pres- 
ident; Arthur  R.  Hoard,  vice-president;  Halbert  L.  Hoard,  secretary  and  man- 
ager of  the  Union  and  the  printing  department,  and  F.  W.  Hoard,  treasurer 
and  business  manager  of  the  Hoard's  Dairyman.  Readjustments  in  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  managing  corporation  were  made  necessary  by  the  death  of  its 
president  and  senior  member  in  1918. 

The  other  industries  of  Fort  Atkinson  which  have  tended  to  advance  its 
standing  and  prosperity  have  naturally  developed  from  the  dairy  and  agri- 
cultural industries  of  the  neighboring  country.  The  Creamery  Package  Manu- 
facturing Company,  which  has  branches  in  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  Michigan  and 
iven  as  far  east  as  Vermont,  was  founded  as  far  back  as  1865,  and  has  owed 
its  expansion  largely  to  H.  H.  Curtis.  The  harrow  works  of  G.  H.  Pounder 
are  also  of  many  years'  standing,  and  manufacture  his  own  patented  imple- 
ments. Of  later  date  are  such  factories  as  the  plant  of  the  James  Manufac- 
turing Company,  which  turns  out  all  kinds  of  "sanitary  barn  equipments," 
and  that  of  the  Fort  Atkinson  Canning  Factory,  which  specializes  in  the  can- 
ning of  peas  and  corn.  The  nursery  industry  has  always  been  large  in  Fort 
Atkinson  and  in  1902  three  of  its  largest  and  oldest  concerns  consolidated 
under  the  firm  name  of  Coe,  Converse  &  Edwards  Company.  R.  J.  Coe,  the 
senior  member,  founded  his  nursery  in  1869.  The  Northwestern  Manufac- 
turing Company  is  a  substantial  concern,  the  output  of  which  is  furniture. 
Its  original  little  building  was  erected  in  1865  upon  the  site  of  the  present  ex- 
tensive plant.  The  foregoing  are  by  no  means  all  the  industries  with  head- 
quarters at  Fort  Atkinson.     The  city  has  three  solid  banks  to  forward  its  in- 


460  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

dustrial  and  business  life,  capitalized  at  $525,000,  with  surplus  of  $146,000 
and  deposits  of  $1,165,000.  The  Citizens  State  Bank  is  the  oldest,  having  been 
established  in  1884.  Both  the  First  National  and  the  Savings  banks  opened 
their  doors  in  1910. 

The  public  utilities  of  water  and  electric  light  were  formerly  under  private 
management  and  development,  but  are  now  under  municipal  ownership  and 
under  the  direct  control  of  a  Water  and  Light  Commission.  This  plan  has 
been  in  operation  since  1901. 

THE  DWIGHT   FOSTER  PUBLIC    LIBRARY 

In  April,  1916,  the  Dwight  Foster  Public  Library  was  occupied.  The  initial 
steps  in  founding  the  library  were  taken  in  the  early  '90s  by  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
and  the  Business  Men's  Association  of  Fort  Atkinson,  and  there  was  no  pros- 
pect of  a  permanent  home  until  1912.  In  that  year,  H.  E.  Southwell,  of 
Chicago,  a  former  resident  of  Fort  Atkinson,  donated  $10,000  toward  the  erec- 
tion of  a  public  library  as  a  memorial  to  Dwight  Foster,  the  town's  first 
permanent  resident  and  home  builder.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  wife  of 
the  donor,  Mrs.  Celeste  Foster  Southwell,  was  the  daughter  of  Dwight  Foster 
and  the  first  white  child  brought  into  the  community  (November  10,  1836), 
it  was  deemed  doubly  fitting  that  the  City  Council  in  accepting  the  gift  should 
formally  order  that  the  institution  should  thereafter  be  known  as  the  Dwight 
Foster  Public  Library. 

As  the  Jefferson  County  Union,  Hoard's  Dairyman  and  the  Fort  Atkinson 
Democrat  have  made  the  city  quite  a  newspaper  center,  and  its  factories  are 
constantly  adding  to  the  incoming  and  outgoing  mails,  the  local  post  office 
does  a  large  business  for  a  place  of  its  size.  Its  increase  for  the  past  twenty- 
years  has  been  most  noticeable,  and  the  present  federal  building,  which  was 
constructed  in  1916,  cost,  with  site,  about  $53,000. 

Fort  Atkinson,  like  other  little  cities  of  five  thousand  people,  has  its  churches, 
some  of  them  founded  amid  trials  and  brave  struggles  to  meet  the  longings 
and  demands  of  spiritual  and  religious  people.  The  Methodists,  the  Lutherans, 
the  Congregationalists  and  the  Catholics  are  all  represented  by  substantial 
houses  of  worship.  The  local  schools  are  also  modern;  the  High  School,  espe- 
cially complete  and  modern,  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $90,000. 

WATERLOO   AND   PALMYRA 

Waterloo  is  an  unincorporated  village  of  about  1,200  people,  on  the  Chi- 
cago, Milwaukee  &  St,  Paul  Railroad,  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  county. 
Its  newspaper,  the  Waterloo  Courier,  was  founded  in  1885.  As  the  place  is 
the  trading  center  for  quite  a  district,  two  banks  of  long  standing  are  in 
operation — the  Farmers  and  Merchants,  established  in  1897,  and  the  State 
Bank,  founded  in  1897. 

Palmyra  is  a  station  on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  line,  in  the 
southeastern  part  of  Jefferson  County.  It  has  a  population  of  about  700  and 
has  published  the  Palmyra  Enterprise  since  1874. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  4G1 

COMPARATIVE    DAIRY    STRENGTH    OF   THE    COUNTY 

The  three  richest  dairy  counties  in  the  Hock  River  Valley  of  cither  Wis- 
consin or  Illinois  are  Dane.  Dodge  and  Jefferson,  their  comparative  strength 
being  in  the  order  named.  According-  to  the  latest  census,  Jefferson  County 
has  65,000  dairy  cattle  assessed  at  $6,000,000.  When  it  comes  to  the  value  of 
the  hay  and  fodder  crop,  .Jefferson  also  stands  third,  its  valuation  being  given 
at  $3,700,000.  Measured  by  these  standards,  and  not  taking  into  account  the 
output  of  its  creameries  and  cheese  factories,  Jefferson  has  a  secure  third 
place  among  the  dairy  counties  of  the  Rock  River  Valley. 


VIKW  ON   BOCK   RIVER,   1'IIO.M   MAIN  STREET  BRIDGE,  LOOKING  NORTH, 

WATERTOWX 


CHAPTER  XXI 
WINNEBAGO   COUNTY,  ILLINOIS 

ITS    TOPOGRAPHY    AND    SCENERY INDIAN    TRIBES — TREATIES    MADE    BY    THE    UNITED 

STATES THE  INDIANS  " FLOATS" — STEPHEN  MACK,  THE  FIRST  SETTLER MACK'S 

CAREER — HONONEGAH,  HIS  INDIAN  WIFE GERMANICUS  KENT,  THATCHER  BLAKE, 

DANIEL  S.  HAIGHT  AND  OTHER  PIONEERS  IN  THE  EARLY  SETTLEMENT  OF  ROCK- 
FORD EARLY    COUNTY    ORGANIZATION CONTEST    OVER    THE    LOCATION    OF    THE 

COUNTY  SEAT COURTHOUSE   AND    JAIL   ERECTED   IN    1844 ROAD   IMPROVEMENTS 

EARLY  ECONOMIC  LIFE SQUATTER  SOVEREIGNTY  AND  THE  POPULAR  REGULA- 
TION  OF   LAND   DISPUTES FIRST    PUBLIC   LAND   SALE  IN    THE  COUNTY   IN   1839 

ROCKFORD  AND  ROCKTON  IN  1844 EARLY  STAGE  COACH  ROUTES — EARLY  HOTELS 

IN  ROCKFORD TOWNS  PROJECTED  IN  WINNEBAGO  COUNTY  IN  THE  '30s — ROCK- 
FORD  INCORPORATED  AS  A  VILLAGE  IN  1839  ;  AS  A  CITY  IN  1852 — THE  COUNTY 
IN  THE  SECESSION  MOVEMENT  OF  THE  EARLY  '40s — EFFORTS  FOR  THE  IM- 
PROVED NAVIGATION   OF   THE   ROCK  RIVER — THE  BANDITTI   OF   THE   PRAIRIES   AND 

THE  REGULATORS EARLY  ELECTIONS — THE  POLISH   CLAIMS WINNEBAGO  IN  THE 

STATE  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION  OF  1847 — -THE  REORGANIZED  COUNTY  GOV- 
ERNMENT  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTIONS   OF   THE    '50S THE  FOUNDATION   OF   ROCK- 

FORD'S    INDUSTRIES EARLY    CHURCH    HISTORY A    VIEW    OF    ROCKFORD    IN    1844 

RAILROAD  HISTORY ROCKFORD  SEMINARY  AND  ROCKFORD  COLLEGE CHRONO- 
LOGICAL SKETCH  OF  ROCKFORD,  1881-1925 MANUFACTURING  GROWTH  OF  ROCK- 
FORD  POLITICS     SINCE    1861 MUSIC     IN     ROCKFORD — ROCKFORD 's     PARKS     AND 

RECREATIONAL     FACILITIES' — THE     LIBRARY     AND     ROCKFORD 's     CITY     PLAN THE 

SWEDISH  ELEMENT  IN  ROCKFORD OTHER  PARTS  OF  THE  COUNTY — THE  VIL- 
LAGES OF  PECATONICA,  ROCKTON,  ROSCOE,  DURAND,  WINNEBAGO  AND  OTHERS — 
THE  OUTSTANDING   FEATURES   OF   THE  COUNTY   TODAY. 

Winnebago  County  is  located  in  the  extreme  northern  and  central  part  of 
the  state  of  Illinois  and  derived  its  name  from  the  Indians  who  occupied  it. 
Rock  River,  entering  the  county  about  six  miles  from  its  northeast  corner,  at 
Beloit,  runs  nearly  due  south  to  Rockford,  where,  bending  gradually  to  the 
west,  it  enters  Ogle  County.  The  Pecatonica,  entering  the  county  from  the 
west,  eight  miles  from  the  southwestern  corner  flows  in  a  generally  easterly 
and  northerly  course  for  about  twenty  miles,  when  it  empties  its  turbid  waters 
into  the  Rock  River  near  Rockon.  Sugar  River,  entering  the  county  from  the 
northwest,  empties  into  the  Pecatonica  near  Harrison.  Other  streams  are  the 
Kishwaukee,  Killbuck  and  Kinnikinic  creeks. 

In  the  northwestern  portion  of  the  county,  along  Sugar  River  and  its  tribu- 
taries and  on  portions  of  the  northern  bank  of  the  Pecatonica,  there  was  much 
scattered  timber  and  brushwood.     In  the  southern  part  of  the  county,  along 

462 


THE  ROCK  R1VEB  VALLETf  463 

the  Ki&hwaukee,  the  country  is  rough  and  hilly  and  was  covered  with  an  occa- 
sional growth  of  timber.  Along  the  northern  bank  of  the  Rock,  a  few  miles 
below  Rockford  and  extending  north  and  west,  there  was  a  tract  of  barrens 
covered  with  brushwood  and  a  light  growth  of  white  oak  and  other  timber. 
The  remaining  portion  of  the  county  is  chiefly  prairie  interspersed  with  beau- 
tiful small  groves. 

TREATIES   MADE   BY  THE  UNITED   STATES 

In  the  early  days,  the  Winnebago  Indians  occupied  the  county  as  a  portion 
of  their  reservation.  Belonging  to  the  Sioux  nation,  they  had  wandered  to 
southern  Wisconsin  and  northern  Illinois  before  1812.  To  the  south  of  them 
were  the  Illinois  tribes  who  disputed  the  territory  with  them.  Ultimately,  the 
Winnebagoes  were  driven  back  within  the  limits  of  Wisconsin  and  lost  as  an 
Illinois  tribe.  Finally,  in  1825,  the  territorial  claims  of  the  contestants  were 
settled  by  a  treaty,  signed  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  between  the  Winnebagoes,  the 
Sauk  and  Foxes,  the  Pottawatomies  and  other  tribes,  establishing  a  peace 
after  two  centuries  of  nearly  continuous  warfare. 

While  no  less  than  twelve  treaties  were  negotiated  between  the  United 
States  and  the  Winnebagoes  from  1816  to  1867,  the  most  important  one  was 
that  negotiated  in  August,  1825,  by  which  the  Winnebagoes  ceded,  to  the  United 
States,  the  lands  including  that  part  of  Winnebago  County  west  of  the  Rock 
River.  The  United  States  agreed  to  pay,  annually,  $18,000  in  specie,  for  the 
period  of  thirty  years,  3,000  pounds  of  tobacco  for  the  same  period,  and,  imme- 
diately, $30,000  in  goods.  It  also  provided  that  sections  of  land  should  be 
granted  to  certain  Indian  descendants  of  mixed  blood  who  did  not  care  to 
migrate  westward,  with  their  tribe. 

Accordingly,  a  total  grant  of  forty-two  sections  was  made.  As  these  grants 
were  not  located  they  became  known  as  "floats"  and  occasioned,  as  we  shall 
see,  much  difficulty  when  white  settlement  began.  Several  of  these  were  located 
in  Rockford,  comprising  what  are  now  the  most  populous  and  wealthy  portions 
of  West  Rockford.  The  grantees  were  to  be  allowed  to  select  a  section,  the 
choice  having  to  be  approved  by  the  Indian  commissioner  and  the  president  of 
the  United  States.  The  land,  once  in  the  possession  of  the  individual  Indians, 
was  not  to  be  sold  without  the  president's  consent. 

With  the  close  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  other  treaties,  including  that  of 
November  1,  1837,  completed  the  cession  of  all  the  remaining  lands  of  the 
Winnebagoes  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  removal  of  the  tribe  west  of  the 
river  on  changing  reservations  until  the  permanent  one  in  Nebraska  was  found 
in  1865.  Small  companies  of  Winnebagoes,  with  apparent  longing  for  their  old 
hunting  grounds,  for  years  after  the  removal  occasionally  returned  to  the 
country;  creating,  however,  no  trouble  for  the  white  settlers. 

STEPHEN  MACK,  THE  FIRST   SETTLER 

In  the  person  of  Stephen  Mack,  Vermont  furnished  the  first  settler  of  the 
county  as  well  as  of  the  entire  Rock  River  Valley.  Entering  his  life  of  adven- 
ture after  a  short  career  as  a  student  at  Dartmouth,  Mack  reached  Detroit  soon 


464  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

after  the  war  of  1812.  Joining  a  government  expedition  around  the  lakes  to 
Green  Bay,  Mack  learned,  from  the  traders,  of  the  favorable  opportunity  which 
the  Rock  River  country  presented  for  a  trading  post. 

Accordingly,  he  journeyed  on  an  Indian  pony  to  a  point  near  the  site  of 
Janesville,  thence  to  Turtle  village  near  Beloit.  Learning  while  there  of  an 
Indian  camp  a  mile  and  a  half  to  the  south  at  Bird's  Grove,  he  started  for  it, 
lost  the  trail  and  descended  the  Rock  until  he  came  to  a  Pottawatomie  village 
at  Grand  Detour  where  he  stopped  for  several  years  establishing  trade  with 
the  Indians.  Many  were  the  journeys  he  made  therefrom  to  Chicago  on  Indian 
ponies  for  merchandise  to  exchange  with  the  Indians  for  fur. 

After  marrying  Hononegah,  the  daughter  of  a  Pottawatomie  chief,  he  gained 
the  enmity  of  the  red  men  by  his  refusal  to  sell  them  whiskey  and  firearms, 
and  their  unwarranted  suspicion  of  his  collusion  with  their  white  enemies. 
While  he  was  on  a  trip  to  Chicago,  his  wife  discovered  a  plot  to  murder  him. 
Mounting  a  pony,  she  intercepted  him  a  considerable  distance  from  the  camp, 
gave  him  the  warning  and  they  started  immediately  for  the  camp  of  the  Winne- 
bagoes  where  they  were  welcomed  to  make  their  home. 

Still  residing  there  with  his  Winnebago  friends  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Black  Hawk  war,  Mack  opposed  the  alliance  of  the  Winnebagoes  with  the  Sauk 
when  Black  Hawk,  on  his  flight  up  the  Rock  River,  sought  to  induce  them  to 
accompany  him  into  Wisconsin.  While  successful,  in  that  the  Winnebagoes 
remained  at  their  old  camp,  Mack  wisely  left,  in  order  to  escape  the  enmity 
of  Black  Hawk.  An  unproven  romance  has  been  preserved  in  story  to  the 
effect  that  Mack  secluded  himself  on  what  is  now  called  Webber's  Island  where 
he  was  supplied  with  food  by  his  devoted  wife. 

Foreseeing  the  occupation  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  by  the  whites,  after 
the  settlement  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  Mack  recognized  that  the  bluff  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Pecatonica,  present  Rockton,  was  a  splendid  site  for  a  town. 
Accordingly,  Mack  took  possession  of  this  tract  in  1835,  residing  thereon  until 
his  death  in  1850.  Platting  the  town  still  known  as  Macktown,  he  sold,  even- 
tually, many  lots  from  his  Section  23,  just  south  of  Pecatonica.  In  the  height 
of  his  prosperity,  he  valued  a  corner  lot  near  his  store  at  $1,000;  asserting 
that  his  town  "was  far  better  than  Milwaukee." 

Successful  as  a  general  storekeeper,  he  ventured  into  several  other  business 
enterprises.  In  1838  he  established  a  ferry  across  Rock  River.  About  1842 
he  built,  at  his  own  expense,  the  first  bridge  across  Rock  River  in  the  state  and 
was  licensed  by  the  county  commissioners  to  charge:  For  a  wagon  and  two 
horses,  62%  cents ;  a  single  wagon  and  one  horse,  37!/2  cents ;  a  man  and  horse, 
25  cents,  and  each  footman,  6~y2  cents.  In  June,  1851,  Mack's  bridge  was  car- 
ried away  by  a  freshet.  Another  bridge  which  had  been  built  a  mile  down  the 
river,  previous  to  the  freshet,  changed  the  course  of  travel  and  Macktown  de- 
clined. 

Able  and  active,  Mack  received  many  political  honors,  holding  the  office  of 
associate  justice  from  his  election  in  1849  until  His  death.  He  was,  also,  the 
first  township  treasurer  of  the  school  fund  of  Roekton. 

Hononegah,  his  wife,  was  an  estimable  woman,  kind  and  hospitable  and  a 
good  mother  to  their  eleven  children.  Mack  married  her  under  the  Indian 
form  of  marriage,  but  in  order  to  fully  protect  the  title  of  his  children  to  Ids 


THATCHER  BLAKE 
One  of  the  founders  of  Roekford  (1834) 


466  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

estate,  he  and  his  wife  were  remarried  on  September  14,  1840,  by  the  justice 
of  the  peace.  On  the  4th  of  April  Mack  executed  his  will,  the  full  text  of 
which  can  be  found  in  Carr's  History  of  Roekton.  In  1847  Hononegah  died. 
Hononegah  Park,  a  pleasure  resort,  now  occupies  her  tribal  home,  five  miles 
south  of  Beloit. 

In  1848,  Mack  married  Mrs.  Daniels  of  Harrison.  His  life  with  her  was 
not,  however,  as  happj*  as  it  had  been  with  his  devoted  Hononegah.  In  April, 
1850,  Mack  died  very  suddenly  and  was  buried  beside  his  Indian  wife  on 
his  farm.  Thirty  years  later  he  was  removed  to  the  Phillips  cemetery  near 
Harrison.  All  the  early  settlers  recalled  him  as  a  dignified,  genial,  courteous 
man,  "a  kind  husband  and  father,  a  true  friend  and  an  honest  man." 

GERMANICUS   KENT   AND  THATCHER  BLAKE 

The  early  '30s  saw  the  beginning  of  a  marvelously  rapid  settlement  of 
northern  Illinois.  Renewed  European  immigration  after  the  peace  of  1815, 
the  Erie  canal,  the  increased  number  of  stage  lines  and  steamboating  on  west- 
ern waters,  created  a  period  of  general  expansion  and  found  Northern  Illinois 
ready  for  its  reception.  The  first  to  settle  in  Rockford  were  Germanicus  Kent 
and  Thatcher  Blake.  Kent,  originally  a  New  Yorker,  established  himself  in 
business  in  northern  Alabama,  whence  he  came  to  Galena,  Illinois,  to  visit 
his  brother  who  was  stationed  there  as  a  Presbyterian  home  missionary.  Blake, 
who  had  left  his  native  state  of  Maine  in  1834  for  the  West,  became  acquainted 
with  Kent  at  Galena  and  arranged  to  explore  the  Rock  River  Valley  with  him. 

Going  north  in  1834  from  Galena  they  went  into  Wisconsin  Territory,  by 
wagon,  to  the  Pecatonica  River,  about  four  miles  from  Hamilton's  Diggings, 
a  small  mining  village  established  by  a  son  of  Alexander  Hamilton.  Here  they 
procured  a  canoe  with  which  they  descended  the  Pecatonica  to  a  point  now 
included  in  the  city  of  Freeport,  but  then  an  Indian  camp  known  as  Minne- 
shiek's  village.  While  exploring  the  country  for  some  distance  from  the  river, 
Blake  became  alarmed  at  the  number  of  Indians  who  gathered  around  him,  so 
he  and  Kent  re-embarked  and  continued  their  journey.  Ascending  the  Peca- 
tonica to  its  junction  with  the  Rock,  then  coming  down  the  Rock  until  they 
reached  what  was  later  known  as  Kent's  Creek,  they  selected  a  site  on  the  west 
side  of  the  present  Rockford.  Coursing  down  the  Rock  River  to  Dixon's  Ferry, 
they  sold  their  canoe  and  returned  to  Galena  by  the  old  Peoria  road.  They 
spent  nine  days  in  all  on  the  trip.  Procuring  supplies,  they,  together  with  two 
others,  started  overland  with  a  loaded  lumber  wagon  and  a  span  of  horses 
for  their  chosen  site,  reaching  there  on  Sunday,  August  24,  1834. 

Kent  was  the  ruling  spirit,  the  director  and  financial  supporter  of  his  com- 
panions, recording  in  his  journal  dated  August  18,  1834:  "Hired  Mr.  Blake 
at  eighteen  dollars  per  month  to  live  with  me  on  Rock  River  to  take  charge  of 
my  business  and  to  do  all  kinds  of  work,  to  remain  with  me  from  one  month 
to  twenty-four  months."  Taking  a  temporary  squatter's  possession  of  their 
located  claims,  they  later  obtained  full  legal  title  for  only  a  portion  of  them. 
They  first  erected  two  log  cabins.  Kent's  was  on  the  site  directly  east  of  Mrs. 
Tinker's  present  brick  house  but  was  removed  when  South  Main  Street  was 
opened. 


THE  ROCK   RIVEB  VALLEY  467 

Employing  workmen  from  Galena,  Kent  constructed  a  dam  and  saw  mill 
from  timber  cul   from  the  grounds  now  occupied  by  Rockford  College.     Early 

in  1835  a  second  and  better  house  was  completed  Eor  Kent  to  which  he  brought 
his  family  from  Galena.  A  general  store,  a  blacksmith  shop,  a  sawmill,  a 
primitive  hotel,  a  crude  banking  system  and  private  mail  facilities,  represented 
Kent's  constructive  accomplishments.  The  panic  of  1837  found  Kent,  with 
many  Others,  poorly  prepared  to  withstand  the  consequent  financial  depression. 
He  therefore  was  obliged  to  surrender  everything  in  the  ultimate  settlement 
and.  with  prospects  gone,  returned  to  Virginia  where  he  died  at  Blackburn, 
in  March,  1862.  Kent's  Creek,  Kent  school,  and  Kent  Street  are  named  in 
his  honor. 

Fortune  smiled  more  kindly  on  Blake.  He  resided  on  his  farm  until  1851 
when  removing  to  Rockford  he  engaged  in  the  real  estate  business.  For  two 
years  preceding  his  death,  he  operated  extensively  in  timber  lands  in  Wiscon- 
sin,    lie  died  October  8,  1880.     The  Blake  school  is  named  in  his  honor. 

What  is  now  East  Rockford  was  first  settled  by  Daniel  Haight  who  arrived 
April  9,  1835,  from  Bolton,  Warren  County,  New  York.  His  wife  and  her 
sister,  Miss  Can-,  Avere  the  first  white  women  to  settle  in  the  county  as  they 
preceded,  by  a  few  weeks,  the  arrival  of  Mrs.  Kent.  Haight 's  cabin  was  the 
first  structure  on  the  east  side  of  Rockford.  It  was  located  on  the  eastern 
part  of  the  lot  now  forming  the  northeast  corner  of  State  and  Madison  streets. 
It  was  built  in  regular  pioneer  style  without  the  use  of  a  single  nail.  The 
main  part  was  about  eighteen  feet  square,  built  of  oak  logs,  with  a  puncheon 
floor,  two  windows  and  a  door,  and  a  cellar  under  the  center.  An  addition  was 
"built  the  next  year  with  a  space  between,  ten  feet  wide  and  roofed  over,  which 
had  a  shingle  roof  and  floor  of  sawed  lumber."  His  second  house,  on  the 
northeast  corner  of  State  and  Madison  streets,  was  a  frame  building  completed 
in  1837  by  Thomas  Lake  and  Sidney  Twogood.  A  portion  of  this  house  remains 
at  the  northeast  comer  of  Walnut  and  Second  streets,  the  oldest  frame  structure 
in  Rockford. 

Less  than  a  dozen  persons  participated  in  the  first  public  worship  in  Rock- 
ford held  the  second  Sunday  in  June  1835  at  the  home  of  Germanicus  Kent 
and  conducted  by  his  brother  Rev.  Aratus  Kent  of  Galena.  Several  of  the  work- 
men temporarily  employed  by  Kent  had,  undoubtedly,  left  the  settlement. 

The  tide  of  immigration  begun  in  1835  continued  for  several  years.  From 
the  old  world  came  Thomas  Lake,  a  native  of  Somerset,  England,  taking  a  claim 
subsequently  known  as  the  Willis  farm.  This  was  later  owned  by  P.  Byron 
Thomas. 

To  Levi  Moulthrop  belongs  the  distinction  of  having  been  the  first  resident 
physician  in  the  county.  Coming  in  the  autumn  of  1835,  he  permanently  set- 
tled in  1836  upon  a  claim  of  several  hundred  acres  near  Kishwaukee,  now  in 
Xew  Milford  township.  With  him  he  brought  the  first  copy  of  Shakespeare 
into  the  county.  The  Englishman,  Charles  H.  Richings,  coming  in  1836  was 
the  second  resident  physician.  He  accumulated  a  comfortable  fortune  from 
his  practice  and  investments  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Dr.  C.  H.  Richings, 
a  well  known  practitioner. 

From  Connecticut,  Herman  B.  Potter  reached  Rockford  in  October,  and 
purchased  a  farm  two  miles  south  of  State  Street  on  the  Kishwaukee  road. 
Vol.  i— so 


468  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Later  he  settled  in  Rockford,  building  a  house  where  the  First  Congregational 
church  now  stands.  Selden  M.  Church,  also  of  New  England,  became  a  perma- 
nent settler  in  the  fall  of  1836.  He  became  one  of  the  most  prominent  figures 
in  the  business,  professional  and  political  life  of  the  community.  He  filled  the 
offices  of  postmaster,  county  clerk  and  county  judge  and  in  1862  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  state.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  State 
Board  of  Charities  and  one  of  the  commissioners  chosen  by  the  government  to 
locate  a  bridge  at  Rock  Island. 

Abiram  and  Mary  Morgan  purchased  a  quarter  section,  that  same  year,  of 
Nathaniel  Loomis,  a  part  of  Section  22,  which  was  an  "Indian  float."  They 
were  joined  soon  after  by  their  wedded  daughter  and  her  husband,  Charles  I. 
Horsman.  Their  joyous  reception  into  the  parental  home  after  their  tedious 
journey  by  way  of  Pittsburgh,  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  to  St.  Louis  and  over- 
land to  Rockford,  is  told  in  Church's  History  of  Rockford. 

Bethuel  Houghton  of  New  Hampshire  came  in  October  and  engaged  in  the 
bakery  business.  He  left  a  manuscript  of  valuable  reminiscences  of  the  early 
days  of  the  county.  Hiram  R.  Enoch  of  Ohio  settled  in  Guilford  township  and 
became  later  the  county  treasurer  for  eight  years.  He  was  a  prominent  editor 
of  the  Rockford  Journal  and  an  employee  in  the  Government  Pension  Bureau 
at  Washington. 

Isaac  N.  Cunningham  was  the  first  of  four  brothers  to  settle  in  the  county 
in  1836.  He  was  the  second  sheriff  of  the  county,  at  one  time  the  proprietor 
of  the  Winnebago  hotel,  and  a  helpful  participant  in  the  organization  of  various 
enterprises  for  the  furtherance  of  the  best  interests  of  the  county. 

From  New  York  state  came  Jacob  and  Mary  Posson,  purchasing  land  four 
miles  east  of  Rockford.  Later,  in  1842,  they  bought  property  on  the  northeast 
corner  of  Second  and  Market  streets  in  Rockford.  The  Shumways,  led  by 
David  S.,  known  as  the  Green  Mountain  Yankees,  settled  on  a  farm  in  New 
Milford.  They  established  eventually  a  nationally  known  seed  business  from 
which  they  amassed  a  large  fortune. 

John  Greenlee  and  John  Armour  came  from  Argyleshire,  Scotland,  and 
formed  the  nucleus  of  a  large  and  flourishing  colony  known  as  the  Scotch 
settlement.  Other  settlers  of  1836  were  Nathaniel  Loomis  and  his  son,  H.  W., 
Charles  Works,  Alonzo  Corey,  Charles  P.  Brady,  Spooner  Ruggles,  Henry  P. 
Redington,  Jonathan  Wilson,  A.  G.  Spaulding,  Scott  Robb,  Numan  Campbell, 
John  Peffers,  Herman  Campbell,  Homer  Denton,  John  Robb,  Edward  Smith, 
Joseph  Ritchie,  Herman  Hoit,  Martin  W.  Borst,  Philip  Culver,  Thomas  Wil- 
liams, Joseph  Vance,  Austin  Andrews,  Edmund  Whittlesey,  Joseph  Miner, 
Albert  Fancher,  Eli  Burbank,  Mr.  Barnaby;  and  Miss  Danforth,  a  sister  of 
Mrs.  Israel  Morrill. 

With  the  emigration  of  1837  came  John  C.  Kemble,  the  first  lawyer  to 
practice  in  the  county.  John  Lake  came  from  England  and  founded  the  lum- 
ber business  of  Rockford  in  which  he  was  associated  for  about  forty  years 
with  numerous  partners.  Of  exceptional  executive  ability  he  was  the  organizer 
of  the  Rockford  Insurance  Company  and  its  president.  He  was  also  president 
of  the  School  Board,  alderman  and  supervisor.  Henry  M.  Thurston  and  his 
son,  John  H.,  this  year  began  their  long  residence  in  Rockford.     They  came 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  469 

from  Troy,  New  York.     Henry  Thurston  published  in  1891  his  Reminiscences, 
graphically  portraying  the  circle  of  pioneer  social  life. 

To  the  settlement  on  the  Rock  River,  Mr.  Kent  gave  the  name  of  Midway 
because  of  its  being  about  halfway  from  Chicago  to  Galena.  Rockford,  how- 
ever, became  the  permanent  name ;  suggested  by  the  fact  that  upon  the  site 
of  the  present  dam  was  a  solid  rock  bottom  where  the  water  was  usually  so 
shallow  as  to  afford  easy  crossing  with  ponies. 

EARLY  COUNTY  ORGANIZATION 

The  initial  organization  of  the  county  has  already  been  described  in  Chap- 
ter VII.  The  three  county  commissioners  elected,  corresponding  in  powers 
to  the  present  Board  of  Supervisors,  met  on  August  3,  1837,  at  the  home  of 
Daniel  S.  Haight  to  complete  the  organization  of  the  local  government.  The 
county  was  divided  into  seven  precincts,  subsequently  increased  to  ten,  and 
provision  made  for  the  election  of  justices  of  the  peace  and  constables  in  each 
precinct.  Having  as  yet  no  county  seat,  court  was  held,  as  provided  by  the 
initial  act  creating  the  county,  at  the  home  of  Daniel  S.  Haight  October  6, 
1837,  and  presided  over  by  Daniel  Stone  of  Galena  with  Seth  B.  Farwell 
states  attorney  pro  tern;  and  James  Mitchell,  then  of  Jo  Daviess  County, 
clerk.  From  1838-40,  the  court  held  sessions  in  a  frame  building  at  the  corner 
of  Market  and  Madison  streets,  then  in  the  abandoned  First  Congregational 
church  building  on  North  First  Street  until  the  transfer  of  the  courthouse  to 
the  west  side. 

No  sooner  was  the  county  organized,  than  Nicholas  Boilvin  and  his  associates 
decided  to  secure  the  location  of  the  county  seat  on  their  site,  known  as  the 
Nicholas  Boilvin  plat  of  the  town  of  Winnebago.  The  plat,  as  filed  for  record, 
consisted  of  252  blocks  subdivided  into  1,436  lots,  each  82^2  ^eet  front,  arranged 
according  to  the  compass.  The  lots,  with  the  exception  of  those  in  the  water 
blocks  running  back  from  the  river,  were  49^  feet  front  and  more  than  113 
feet  deep. 

CONTEST  OVER  LOCATION  OF  THE  COUNTY  SEAT 

With  the  town  christened,  Winnebago  Reed,  one  of  Boilvin 's  associates, 
built  a  two-story  house  for  the  use  of  a  hotel  and  store.  A  lime-kiln  and  black- 
smith shop  were  built;  a  road  opened  through  the  timber  from  Winnebago  to 
meet  the  state  road  from  Chicago  to  Galena;  and  a  free  ferry  was  established. 
The  commissioners,  authorized  to  locate  the  county  seat,  rejected  Reed's  deed 
of  cession  of  the  land  for  the  site  because  of  a  legally  impossible  reservation. 
Refusing  to  accept  this  rejection,  the  proprietors  of  Winnebago  began  a  seven 
years'  bitter  battle  over  the  site  of  the  county  seat. 

Having  expended  a  considerable  amount  of  money  on  their  town  plat,  thej 
counted  on  the  location  there  of  the  county  buildings  to  insure  increased  value 
and  ready  sale  of  their  remaining  town  lots.  The  county  commissioners,  how- 
ever, placed  every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  such  a  location  of  the  seat  and  the 
question,  by  state  act,  in  1839,  was  submitted  to  popular  vote.  At  the  election 
Rockford   won    overwhelmingly   over   the   five    other    aspirants,   receiving    320 


470  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

votes  to  75  for  Winnebago.  Thereafter  Winnebago  began  its  decline,  experi- 
encing in  1844  a  sheriff's  sale  of  many  of  the  lots  to  satisfy  delinquent  taxes. 
In  1847  its  plat  was  vacated  by  a  special  act  of  the  Legislature. 

Following  the  vote  in  favor  of  Rockford  the  commissioners  selected  the 
public  square  on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  On  the  southwest  corner  of  Main 
and  Chestnut  streets,  opposite  the  present  Hotel  Nelson,  a  temporary  building 
was  erected  in  1841  for  the  use  of  the  court;  while  a  jail  was  built  the  same  year. 

Another  controversy  arose  over  whether  the  county  seat  had  been  legally 
changed  to  Rockford.  This  was  eventually  decided  in  the  affirmative  and  the 
Commissioners'  Court  directed  the  judges  of  election  to  secure  the  sense  of 
the  voters  as  to  whether  the  county  buildings  should  be  permanently  located 
in  East  or  West  Rockford.  While  the  result  was  favorable  to  West  Rockford, 
it  had  no  legal  effect  as  the  law  gave  the  commissioners  full  power  of  action 
in  the  location  of  the  seat.  In  1843,  building  proposals  came  to  the  commis- 
sioners from  both  the  East  and  West  sides.  As  nothing  had  been  done  on  the 
East  side  towards  erecting  county  buildings  with  materials  contributed,  the 
proposition  of  the  West  side  citizens  was  accepted  and,  as  a  result,  block  25 
in  West  Rockford  became  the  site  of  the  county  buildings. 

The  brick  jail  was  occupied  January  1,  1844,  and  the  courthouse  finished  in 
July  of  the  same  year.  Derastus  Harper  and  John  Beattie  were  the  architects. 
The  courthouse  was  "one  story,  about  fifty-six  feet  long,  thirty-five  in  width 
and  seventeen  feet  high,  with  a  courtroom  fifty-four  by  thirty-three  feet,  nine 
feet  in  the  rear  of  the  bench  being  partitioned  off  into  jury  rooms.  Two  rows 
of  slips  made  in  the  style  of  those  erected  in  the  churches  filled  the  room  out- 
side the  bar,  and  accommodated  300  people.  The  entire  edifice,  including  the 
pediment  and  four  fluted  columns  in  front,  was  built  in  the  Grecian  Doric  style 
of  architecture.  The  public  square,  jail  and  court  house  were  furnished  by 
the  citizens  of  West  Rockford  without  the  outlay  of  a  dollar  by  the  county." 
These  buildings,  unfortunately,  have  long  ago  been  removed  from  the  square. 

ROAD  IMPROVEMENTS 

Naturally,  ferries,  state  and  county  roads  were  early  established.  A  road 
was  almost  immediately  opened  to  Belvidere  and  one  to  Macktown  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Pecatonica.  From  the  State  Internal  Improvement  Fund  the  sum  of 
$3,114.83  was  given  to  the  county,  with  the  proviso  that  "the  bridge  across 
Cedar  Creek  on  the  state  road  from  Bloomington  to  the  mouth  of  the  Pekatonikee 
and  the  improvement  of  the  Great  Western  Mail  Route,  or  road  from  the  east 
to  the  west  line  of  Winnebago  County,  shall  be  made  first  and  paid  for. ' '  The 
rapid  settlement  of  the  county  occasioned  numerous  petitions  for  roads  to  be 
made.  These  were  faithfully  respected  by  the  commissioners  and  complied  with 
within  the  limits  of  the  county's  resources. 

"The  first  marriage  was  that  of  Dr.  Daniel  H.  Whitney  and  Sarah  Caswell 
and  was  solemnized  by  Rev.  Seth  S.  Whitman.  The  first  marriage  ceremony 
within  the  present  limits  of  the  county  was  that  of  Jeremiah  Roberts  and  Har- 
riet Clausen,  and  was  performed  December  11,  1836,  by  Sylvester  Talcott,  a  jus- 
tice of  the  peace.     The  first  marriage,  however,  reported  in  the  registry  in  the 


THE  BOCK  UW'VAi  VALLEY  471 

county  clerk's  office  is  that  of  William  P.  Randall  and  Miss  Delia  Driscoll, 
solemnized  February  13,  1837,  by  William  R.  Wheeler,  a  justice  of  the  peace." 

The  first  white  child  born  in  the  county  was  Melissa  J.  Long,  daughter  of 
John  B.  Long,  born  in  February,  1836.  Ogden  Hance  was  the  first  male  child, 
while  George  E.  Dunbar  was  the  first  boy  born  in  present  Rockford.  He  was 
horn  in  1836  in  a  log  house  about  one  block  south  of  Kent  Street  on  Main. 

It  now  remains  to  review  the  broader  economic  principles  underlying  the 
progress  of  the  individual  settlers.  The  first  problem  of  the  settler  was  to 
sustain  himself  on  the  land  while  he  broke  and  fenced  enough  prairie  to  farm 
successfully.  Each  year  a  little  more  of  the  tough  prairie  sod  had  to  be 
broken.  If  unsupplied  with  his  own  oxen,  he  had  to  hire  it  done  at  $2.50  per 
acre.  In  the  location  of  a  farm,  prairie  and  timber  were  sought  in  the  ratio 
of  two  to  one.  The  selection  of  the  farm  once  made,  the  pioneer  built  a  cabin, 
bought  or  hired  several  yoke  of  oxen  and  set  to  work  breaking  prairie  at  the 
rate  of  twenty  to  forty  acres  a  year.  In  the  meantime  he  was  obliged  to  buy 
grain  for  both  family  and  oxen.  His  newly  broken  prairie  produced  about 
fifty  bushels  of  corn  to  the  acre. 

The  pioneer,  with  his  own  labor  and  yoke  of  oxen,  easily  found  sufficient 
work  to  support  his  family  while  improving  his  land,  during  his  spare  time. 
A  farm  could  even  be  rented  while  waiting  to  develop  his  own  claim.  If  the 
owner  stocked  his  leasehold  for  him,  the  rent  was  half  or  two-thirds  of  the 
produce.    If  he  stocked  it  himself,  it  was  one-third. 

SQUATTER  SOVEREIGNTY 

As  settlement  had  preceded  the  government  sale  of  the  land,  squatter  sov- 
ereignty had  to  be  recognized.  Squatters  had  established  claims  everywhere, 
on  the  most  desired  sites.  The  rough  and  ready  custom  of  the  frontier  accepted 
these  claims  as  valid.  Another  sett  lei-,  coming  on  the  land  though  possessing 
a  legal  title  from  the  Public  Land  Office,  was  forced  by  public  opinion  to 
recognize  the  claim  by  buying  oil'  the  occupying  claimant. 

While  usually  the  price  of  such  claims  was  not  high,  the  business  was 
rather  profitable;  so,  many  pioneers  made  and  sold  one  claim  after  another 
in  their  progress  westward.  The  perennial  squatter,  so  condemned  by  the 
Easterner,  was  defended  by  the  Westerner  as  one  who  aided  in  the  development 
of  the  country.  lie  enabled  the  permanent  settler  to  purchase,  even  in  the 
wilds,  a  little  grain,  a  few  broken  acres,  and  a  cabin  that  would  shelter  his 
family  until  other  itinerant  squatters  had  helped  him  to  raise  a  better  one. 

Property  rights,  so  acquired  and  transferred,  became  real  bases  of  land 
titles  and  wealth;  and  were  regulated  by  well  known  rules.  Thus  in  the  early 
days  in  northern  Illinois,  laying  four  logs  for  the  foundation  of  a  cabin  estab- 
lished a  claim  for  a  year.  However,  in  order  to  keep  off  the  claim  jumper, 
in  1837,  it  was  necessary  to  build  a  cabin  sixteen  or  eighteen  feet  square  or 
else  break  five  acres  of  land.  Squatters'  claims  were  maintained  in  settlers' 
meetings,  which,  before  each  district  was  put  on  sale,  bound  all  settlers  to 
hold  together  in  support  of  each  other's  claims  againsl  outside  bidders.  Some- 
times even  boards  of  arbitration  were  established  to  settle  disputes  between 
claimants.     In  case  settlement  had  preceded  survey,  these  boards  devised  ways 


472  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

by  which  each  man  might  secure  his  improvements  by  a  common  bargain.  With 
an  agreement  once  reached  among  themselves,  the  settlers  attended  sales  in  a 
body  ready  to  exercise  the  necessary  moral  suasion  on  any  outsider  who  dared 
to  bid  over  the  minimum  for  an  "improvement." 

In  Rockford  in  the  winter  of  1838-39  a  "jumper"  refused  to  submit  his 
pretensions  to  the  determination  of  the  Settlers'  Court.  The  neighbors  turned 
out  almost  en  masse,  raised  the  building,  placed  it  upon  sleds  and  hauled  it 
into  town.  The  citizens,  a  hundred  or  more,  marched  on  either  side  of  the 
gayly  decorated  wagon  and  deposited  the  cabin  in  the  yard  of  George  Brincker- 
hoff  who  had  counseled  the  jumping  of  the  claim. 

A  dispute  at  Twelve  Mile  Grove,  in  1844,  resulted  in  the  death  of  one  of 
the  claimants.  As  told  by  Church,  two  men  sought  at  the  same  time  to  pre- 
empt forty  acres  of  land.  One  of  them,  Pierce,  found  on  reaching  the  place, 
that  Andrews  had  forestalled  him  in  putting  up  a  cabin.  Pierce  started  at 
once  for  Dixon  on  horseback,  made  his  entry  at  the  office,  received  his  certifi- 
cate, and  returned  immediately.  On  arrival  he  found  that  his  opponent,  having 
finished  the  cabin  after  working  all  night,  was  away  at  breakfast.  Summon- 
ing quickly  two  or  three  of  his  friends,  Pierce  took  possession  of  the  cabin  and 
awaited  results.  Andrews,  upon  his  return  finding  himself  locked  out  of  his 
cabin,  rallied  his  neighbors  and  began  hostilities.  Unable  to  dislodge  the 
occupants,  the  assailants  attempted  to  overturn  the  cabin;  when  a  shot  was 
fired  from  within  only  to  be  returned  by  one  from  without  which  resulted  in 
the  death  of  Pierce.  While  arrests  were  made  later  and  one  of  the  participants 
tried  for  the  murder,  an  acquittal  resulted  as  it  could  not  be  proven  who 
fired  the  fatal  shot. 

Most  cruel  was  the  treatment  of  a  Mr.  Brown  who  came  to  Rockford  in 
the  winter  of  1837  with  a  large  family  and  small  means.  He  had  no  sooner 
moved  into  his  new  log  cabin,  than  he  was  told  that  it  must  be  pulled  down 
as  the  claim  belonged  to  a  Mr.  Spaulding,  who  was  then  in  St.  Louis.  Unin- 
timidated,  Brown  defended  his  rights  until  one  day  a  drunken  crowd  besieged 
his  cabin.  They  promised  Brown  that,  if  he  would  leave  the  claim,  they  would 
build  him  a  better  house  at  another  location  and  furnish  him  with  provisions. 
Accepting  the  terms,  Brown  saw  his  goods  ejected  from  the  cabin  which  was 
torn  down  and  burned.  Hauling  his  effects  into  the  woods  he  and  his  family 
were  left  exposed  to  the  inclemency  of  a  cold,  stormy  night  until  his  friends 
compassionately  gave  them  shelter.  Spaulding,  upon  his  return,  denied  his 
ownership  to  the  claim. 

FIRST   PUBLIC   LAND   SALE   IN    COUNTY,    1839 

The  lands  in  Winnebago  County  were  not  brought  into  the  market  before 
1839 ;  while  those  in  Rockford  and  Rockton  townships  were  not  opened  for 
sale  until  1843,  due  to  the  "Polish  claims,"  the  history  of  which  will  later  be 
given. 

The  settlers  were  unable  to  guard  themselves  against  usurious  interest 
charges  in  case  they  had  to  borrow  money  to  buy  their  claims.  Money  at  one 
time  commanded  thirty  per  cent.  "Some  of  the  farmers  had  their  claims  bid 
in  on  shares.    Lands  were  also  bid  in  by  men  who  had  money  on  condition  that 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  473 

their  advances  should  double  in  three  years;  the  money-loaner  furnished  the 
money  and  gave  a  bond  to  the  claimant  to  redeem  at  the  end  of  the  three 
years  provided  the  money  was  paid.  The  supreme  court  later  disappointed 
the  money  lenders  who  believed  their  titles  were  good  by  deciding  they  had 
simply  mortgages  on  the  claims." 

Among  the  numerous  trials  of  the  pioneers  was  that  over  the  scarcity  of 
provisions.  As  the  early  settlers,  in  the  main,  possessed  little  money,  few  were 
able  individually  to  afford  the  expense  of  the  journey  to  the  older  settlements 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  state.  Neighbors,  therefore,  would  pool  their  small 
sums  and  send  one  of  their  number  to  purchase  for  all.  With  many  rivers  to 
cross,  either  by  fording  or  swimming,  muddy  and  heaving  wagons,  the  time 
consumed  was  long.  When  a  trade  in  provisions  was  later  established,  the 
prices  were  so  fabulous  as  to  reduce  the  settlers,  at  times,  close  to  absolute  desti- 
tution. Flour  sold  for  from  sixteen  to  twenty  dollars  per  barrel,  and  Thomas 
Lake  reported  paying  as  high  as  twenty- two  dollars.  "Pork  was  thirty  dollars 
per  barrel ;  wheat  sold  for  from  three  to  four  dollars  per  bushel ;  New  Orleans 
sugar  at  twenty-five  cents  per  pound ;  and  other  provisions  in  proportion. ' ' 

Mr.  Thurston  asserted  that,  in  1841-42,  there  were  not  twenty  farmers  in 
the  county  who  possessed  a  suit  of  clothes  suitable  to  wear  to  church  or 
court.  Barter  was  resorted  to  in  payment  for  performing  the  marriage  cere- 
mony. One  justice  took  a  bushel  of  beans  as  his  fee;  while  a  clergyman  was 
paid  for  two  ceremonies  in  wheat  and  one  "day's  breaking." 

It  is  related  that  the  late  Judge  Church  once  told  this  story:  "I  have 
in  mind  one  who  is  now  among  the  most  prosperous  farmers  who  found  him- 
self without  the  means  of  procuring  a  single  meal  for  his  family,  so  he,  with 
one  of  his  neighbors  similarly  situated,  determined  to  try  their  luck  at  fish- 
ing. They  proceeded  to  the  Rock  River,  and  met  with  success  entirely  beyond 
their  expectations.  When  returning,  each  with  as  many  fish  as  he  could  carry, 
said  one  farmer:  "Well  we  have  got  our  fish,  but  what  have  we  to  fry  them 
in?"  "Fry  them  in?"  replied  his  hopeful  and  satisfied  companion,  "Why,  fry 
them  in  water." 

EARLY  STAGE  ROUTES  AND  HOTELS 

Stage  coaches  were  running  between  Chicago  and  Rockford  as  early  as 
1838.  The  coaches,  always  drawn  by  four  horses,  covered  the  distance  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  the  horses  being  changed  at  intervals  of  fifteen  miles  at  established 
stations.  Leaving  Chicago  every  other  day  and  returning  on  alternate  days, 
the  fare  to  Rockford  was  five  dollars.  A  stage  line  was  ultimately  conducted 
from  Rockford  to  Galena  by  way  of  Freeport. 

The  early  public  houses  were  usually  called  taverns,  rather  than  hotels. 
The  first  one  built  was  the  Rockford  House  by  Daniel  Haight  and  Charles 
Oliver,  and  stood  on  the  site  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  build- 
ing. With  the  wing  finished  in  the  fall  of  1837,  the  house  was  opened  by  Henry- 
Thurston.  The  third  story,  divided  into  two  rooms,  was  reached  by  a  ladder. 
The  proprietor's  son,  John,  escorting  the  guests  up  the  ladder,  was  admonished 
by  his  father  not  to  drop  the  melted  tallow  from  the  dip  on  his  guests. 

The  Washington  House,  built  in  1838,  stood  sixty  feet  front  on  State  Street ; 


474  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

with  basement  kitchen,  dining-room  on  the  second  floor  and  the  sleeping  apart- 
ments above  the  dining-room.  It  was  replaced  by  the  Rock  River  House  which 
was  later  divided  and  utilized  for  other  purposes  in  different  parts  of  the  city. 
The  Log  Tavern,  known  as  the  Stage  House,  was  in  operation  in  1838  on  the 
Old  Second  National  Bank  corner.  The  Inn,  located  where  the  Chick  Hotel  now 
stands,  was  opened  in  1840 ;  while  the  Eagle  House  began  operations  the  follow- 
ing year. 

TOWNS  PROJECTED   IN  WINNEBAGO  COUNTY 

Several  towns  were  projected  in  "Winnebago  County  in  1837-38,  only  to 
be  forgotten  places,  seldom  now  recalled.  Wattles  staked  out  his  farm  into 
lots  and  streets  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  on  what  was  called  Big  Bottom. 
He  named  his  town  Scipio  but  was  unable  even  to  give  his  lots  away.  At  one 
time  there  were  thirty-five  to  forty  houses  erected  on  the  old  Shumway  place. 
As  but  a  few  of  them  were  ever  enclosed,  the  place  was  dubbed,  "Ribtown. " 
The  frames  were  later  torn  down  or  removed;  two  or  more  of  them  being  re- 
erected  in  Rockford. 

In  1839-40,  quite  a  town  was  actually  built  on  the  west  side  of  the  Kish- 
waukee  River  at  its  junction  with  the  Rock.  Two  stores  and  a  blacksmith  shop 
were  located  there,  and  a  large  building  partly  finished  for  a  seminary.  New- 
burg,  today  only  a  cross-road,  had  its  sawmill  and  grist  mill  as  early  as 
1838.  Vanceburough  was  the  name  for  Twelve  Mile  Grove  on  the  state  road 
about  half  way  between  Rockford  and  Freeport. 

ROCKFORD  INCORPORATED  AS  A  VILLAGE  AND  CITY 

Rockford  was  incorporated  as  a  village  in  1839  and  remained  so  until  1852. 
A  single  small  volume,  well  preserved  in  the  city  clerk's  office,  contains  all  the 
proceedings  of  the  village  trustees. 

IN  THE  SECESSION    MOVEMENT 

Rockford  and  Winnebago  County  played  a  prominent  part  in  the  move- 
ment for  secession  of  the  northern  part  of  the  state  from  Illinois  and  its  union 
with  Wisconsin.  The  copy  of  the  official  proceedings  of  a  mass  meeting  held 
in  Rockford  July  6,  1840,  shows  a  convention  composed  of  delegates  from  all 
the  northern  fourteen  counties.  As  usual,  the  motives  for  the  movement  were 
complex.  An  apparent  one  was  the  desire  for  the  restoration  of  the  boundary 
line  as  originally  established  between  the  twu  states,  that  it  might  be  formed 
of  the  territory  north  of  an  east  and  west  line  through  the  southerly  bend  of 
Lake  Michigan.  It  was  contended  that  this  line  had  been  arbitrarily  extended 
fifty  miles  when  Illinois,  in  1818,  became  a  state. 

The  true  reasons  for  the  desired  secession  were  two :  First,  the  incompat- 
ibility of  the  New  England  element  in  the  northern  part  with  the 
southern  element  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state.  The  emigrants 
from  the  slave  states,  who  settled  in  Southern  Illinois,  were  generally 
poor  and  unprogressive,  having  a  low  social  status;  while  the  New  England  and 


WINXKBAGO   COUNTY  COFBT   HOUSE 


IX  THE  HEAKT  OF  8INNIS8IPP]    PAEK,  ftOOKFORD 


476  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

New  York  settlers  in  the  north  were  thrifty,  industrious  and  progressive.  The 
people  of  southern  Illinois  opposed  the  Illinois-Michigan  canal,  so  desired  by  the 
north  and,  in  many  other  ways,  exhibited  a  divergence  in  interest  and  opinion 
from  that  of  the  Puritans  of  the  north.  The  second  and,  doubtless,  the  more 
influential  and  practical  reason  for  the  movement,  was  due  to  northern  despair 
at  the  overwhelming  weight  of  debt  that  the  state  internal  improvement  system 
had  apparently  irrevocably  imposed  on  Illinois.  In  1840,  the  total  debt  of 
the  state  was  over  $14,000,000,  with  an  empty  treasury  and  insufficient  revenue. 
This  debt,  it  was  felt,  had  been  created  entirely  by  southern  Illinois  which 
controlled  the  Legislature.  In  consequence,  the  people,  in  the  sparsely  settled 
northern  counties  did  not  feel  any  responsibility  for  its  payment. 

The  120  delegates  assembled  at  the  Rockford  House  were  very  representa- 
tive of  the  northern  counties.  The  resolutions  passed  declared  that  their  inter- 
ests would  be  best  advanced  by  the  restoration  of  the  original  boundary  line, 
as  defined  by  the  Ordinance  of  1787;  that  the  intention  of  the  framers  of  the 
Northwest  Ordinance  was  that  the  states  formed  south  of  the  east  and  west 
line  should  not  extend  north  and  south  of  that  line;  that  Congress  had,  in 
consequence,  in  extending  the  boundary  of  Illinois  at  the  time  of  the  admit- 
tance into  the  Union  in  1818,  transcended  its  powers  and  violated  the  very 
provisions  of  the  Ordinance;  suggested  cooperative  action  with  the  citizens  of 
Wisconsin  in  a  joint  convention. 

Other  boundary  conventions  of  similar  import  were  held  in  various  parts 
of  northern  Illinois.  The  Commissioner's  Court  of  Winnebago  County  sub- 
mitted, in  1842,  the  question  to  a  popular  vote  which  resulted  in  972  votes 
for  annexation  to  Wisconsin  and  only  6  against  it. 

At  the  same  time,  Ogle,  Stephenson  and  Jo  Daviess  counties  declared  for 
union  with  the  Badger  State  by  overwhelming  majorities.  In  that  same  year, 
Governor  Doty  of  Wisconsin  warned  Governor  Carlin  of  Illinois  against  mak- 
ing any  selections  of  land  on  What,  according  to  the  people  of  Wisconsin,  was 
the  soil  of  their  territory  and  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Illinois  by  accident  and 
temporary  conditions. 

The  fact  that  Thomas  Ford,  in  southern  Illinois,  opposed  annexation  was 
used  against  him  in  the  north  in  his  gubernatorial  contest  with  Joseph  Duncan. 

Though  defeated  in  its  desire  to  escape  the  burden  of  the  State  debt  by 
annexation  to  Wisconsin,  Winnebago  County  unequivocally  opposed  any  repudia- 
tion of  the  debt ;  and  loyally  assumed  its  full  financial  responsibility. 

EARLY  EFFORTS  AT  IMPROVED  TRANSPORTATION 

Very  early  projects  for  the  improved  navigation  of  the  Rock  River  were  dis- 
cussed. Meetings,  thereover,  were  held  in  Rockford  in  1840  and  application 
made  to  the  United  States  Government  for  land  appropriation;  the  proceeds 
from  the  sale  thereof  to  be  expended  in  the  improvement  of  the  river.  Not 
discouraged  by  the  inaction  of  the  General  Government,  the  citizens  of  the 
Rock  River  Valley  secured  an  authorization  from  the  State  Legislature  for  the 
creation  of  the  Rock  River  Improvement  Board  with  the  provision  for  a  tax 
of  71/2  mills  on  every  dollar's  worth  of  taxable  property  in  Winnebago,  Ogle 
and  Lee  counties. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  477 

By  October,  1845,  operations  were  begun  at  Rockford  where  a  cofferdam, 
about  fifty  feet  wide,  was  built  through  the  rapids  and  a  steamboat  channel 
excavated.  During  the  same  year  similar  attempts  were  made  in  other  coun- 
ties only  to  result  in  failure.  Then  it  was  decided  to  make  Rock  River  not 
only  navigable  to  the  mouth  of  the  Pecatonica,  but  also  to  seek  governmental 
aid  in  the  construction  of  a  ship  canal  connecting  Lake  Michigan  with  the  Mis- 
sissippi. Delegates  from  both  northern  and  southern  Illinois  assembled  at 
Rockford  in  1846  and  appropriate  resolutions  were  passed  and  arrangements 
made  to  interest  Congress  in  the  project.  Despite  revivals  of  the  project  with 
the  cooperation  of  southern  Illinois  and  another  convention  held  at  Beloit  in 
1866,  nothing  was  done  until  better  railroad  facilities  secured  made  the  work 
less  necessary. 

THE   BANDITTI    OF   THE   PRAIRIES 

From  1837  to  1845,  the  Rock  River  was  infested  wTith  a  notorious  gang  of 
outlaws.  The  leaders  of  the  band  were  John  William  and  David  Driscoll,  John 
Brodie  and  his  three  sons,  John,  William  and  Hugh,  Samuel  Aikins  with  his 
three  sons,  William  K.  Bridge,  Norton  B.  Royce,  Charles  Oliver  and  Charles 
West.  They  had  a  long  list  of  confederates  scattered  throughout  the  country. 
Strategically  located  in  different  parts  of  the  valley,  the  band  extended  its 
operations  over  the  western  and  northwestern  states.  The  convenient  stations 
were  in  charge  of  men,  who,  to  all  appearances,  were  honest,  hard  working 
settlers.  Under  the  arrangement,  a  horse,  stolen  at  either  end  of  the  line,  was 
passed  from  one  station  to  another  and  no  agent  absent  from  his  home  more 
than  a  few  hours.  For  years  they  remained  unsuspected.  During  the  time 
that  the  counties  were  insufficiently  policed,  these  border  outlaws  had  their 
opportunity.  Counterfeiting,  horse-stealing,  robbery  and  even  murder  became 
of  such  frequent  occurrence  that  the  settlers  became  desperate.  In  1841,  at  the 
advice  of  Judge  Ford,  a  company  was  organized  for  the  purpose  of  calling 
upon  men  known  to  be  lawless,  taking  them  forcibly  from  their  homes,  stripping 
to  the  waist  and  lashing  them  with  a  black  snake.  Thirty-six  lashes  were  given 
as  a  first  chastisement,  and  sixty  for  a  second;  and  the  leaders  given  ten  days 
in  which  to  leave  the  country.  Meeting  at  the  White  Rock  log  schoolhouse, 
the  company  organized  as  the  Ogle  County  Regulators,  adopted  by-laws  and 
rules  and,  thereafter,  increased  their  numbers  to  hundreds  in  Ogle  and  Winne- 
bago counties. 

The  first  victim,  John  Earle,  was  so  thoroughly  treated,  that  he  applied  later 
for  membership,  was  admitted,  and  became  a  good  worker.  Daggett,  a  retro- 
grade Baptist  minister,  was  the  second  victim.  While  his  guilt  was  clearly 
established,  the  regulators  were  divided  over  his  punishment.  A  bare  majority 
of  one  or  two  voted  to  release  him.  The  minority,  however,  during  the  night 
tied  him  to  a  tree  and  gave  him  ninety-six  lashes. 

John  Campbell,  the  chosen  captain  of  the  Regulators,  received  a  letter  from 
William  Driscoll  offering  a  challenge  to  meet  him  in  battle  at  his  home  in 
South  Grove.  Accepting  the  challenge,  196  responded  at  the  appointed  time, 
armed  with  rifles  and  muskets.  Mounted  on  good  horses  with  the  stars  and 
stripes  unfurled,  they  found,  on  arriving  at  South  Grove,  seventeen  members 


478  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

of  the  gang  barricaded  for  defense  in  a  loghouse,  armed  with  fifty  guns  of 
different  sorts.  The  Regulators,  halting  for  a  council  of  war,  decided  to  send 
one  of  their  number  to  the  house  to  learn  the  plans  of  the  inmates.  When 
their  messenger  was  within  forty  rods  of  the  house,  the  outlaws  broke  through 
the  door  and  escaped.  Word  came  from  William  Driscoll  that  he  had  300  allies 
at  Sycamore,  and  that  he  would  meet  the  Regulators  there  on  the  prairie  two 
hours  later.  The  Regulators  repaired  to  a  level  piece  of  ground  and  awaited 
development. 

In  due  time,  Driscoll  arrived  with  the  sheriff  of  Dekalb  County  and  two 
other  officials,  who  wished  to  know  the  meaning  of  the  demonstration.  Camp- 
bell, from  a  wagon,  gave  forth  his  answer  in  vigorous  speech.  Driscoll,  in 
suppressed  rage,  sat  silent  on  his  horse  about  four  feet  away.  The  officials, 
expressing  their  sympathy  with  the  Regulators,  the  Driscolls  promised  to  leave 
the  state  within  twenty  days.  The  Regulators  then  disbanded  for  the  day  and 
returned  to  their  homes.  The  Driscolls,  however,  held  a  meeting  on  the  follow- 
ing Saturday  night  at  Washington  Grove,  and  planned  the  murder  of  Campbell. 

On  Sunday,  June  27,  David  and  Taylor  Driscoll,  the  ones  chosen  to  murder 
the  captain  of  the  Regulators,  accomplished  the  deed.  While  going  from  his 
house  to  the  barn  about  twilight,  Campbell  was  shot  through  the  heart  by 
David  Driscoll.  On  Monday,  the  sheriff  of  Ogle  County  arrested  John  Driscoll 
at  the  home  of  his  son,  David.  A  company  from  Winnebago  County  secured 
the  elder  Driscoll  and  his  younger  brother,  Pierce,  turning  them  over  to  the 
sheriff  upon  his  arrival,  who  took  them  to  the  jail  at  Oregon. 

On  Tuesday  morning  a  party  battered  down  the  doors  of  the  jail,  took  John 
Driscoll,  put  a  rope  around  his  neck  and  dragged  him  to  the  river,  despite  the 
pursuit  of  the  sheriff.  Going  on  to  Washington  Grove,  they  were  joined  by 
the  Rockford  division.  By  the  middle  of  the  forenoon,  the  crowd  had  increased 
to  five  hundred,  having  been  joined  by  the  party  who  had  taken  William  and 
Pierce  Driscoll.  Forming  a  hollow  square,  they  brought  the  three  Driscolls 
into  the  centre.  E.  S.  Leland,  acting  as  the  leader  among  the  lawyers  present, 
conducted  an  examination  of  the  prisoners.  No  evidence  being  found  against 
Pierce,  he  was  freed.  An  almost  unanimous  decision  was  rendered  by  the 
crowd  against  John  and  William,  as  accessories  in  the  plot  to  kill  Campbell. 
After  a  defense  plea,  conducted  by  Jason  Marsh,  a  lawyer  from  Rockford,  the 
prisoners  were  allowed  the  choice  of  shooting  in  place  of  hanging.  With  the 
arrival  of  the  hour  for  execution,  about  120  men  formed  a  single  line  with 
a  division  in  the  center.  John  Driscoll  was  led  out  by  Captain  Pitcher,  made 
to  kneel  ten  paces  in  front  of  the  west  half  of  the  line,  with  his  eyes  blind- 
folded and  his  arms  pinions  behind  him.  At  the  given  signal,  all  the  guns, 
save  one,  fired  in  a  single  volley  and  John  Driscoll,  without  a  struggle,  fell 
forward  on  his  face  dead.  William  Driscoll  was  similarly  shot  by  the  other 
half  of  the  line. 

A  reward  of  $500  was  offered  for  the  capture  of  David  and  Taylor  Driscoll 
by  a  committee  of  citizens  of  Ogle  County.  David  Driscoll  never  returned. 
Taylor  Driscoll  was  indicted  for  the  murder  and  kept  in  different  jails  nearly 
two  years,  but  at  length  was  set  at  liberty. 

Robberies  and  murders  continued,  however.  In  September,  18-43,  the  store 
of  William  McKenney  in  Rockford  was  robbed  of  nearly  $1,200.     Two   weeks 


THE  BOCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  479 

later,  one  of  the  four  horse  stage  coaches  of  Frink,  Walker  and  Company  was 
robbed  four  miles  from  Bockford;  and  the  contents  of  the  passengers'  baggage 
taken.  Without  doubt,  the  robbers  were  after  a  large  sum  of  money  which 
was  known  to  have  been  deposited  at  the  land  office  at  Dixon  and  which  they 
thought  was  being  sent  to  Chicago.  In  November,  1S44,  William  Mulford,  resid- 
ing on  his  farm  in  Guilford,  four  and  a  half  miles  from  Rockford,  was  robbed 
of  $500. 

In  the  spring  of  1845,  Charles  West,  arrested  for  robbery,  made  full  con- 
fession, turned  state's  evidence,  and  disclosed  all  that  he  knew  concerning  his 
confederates.  He  declared  that  Charles  Oliver  and  "William  McDale  of  Rock- 
ford  were  members  of  the  band.  He  also  gave  the  names  of  the  outlaws  who 
committed  the  robberies  of  McKenney's  store  and  Mulford 's  house.  Trials  and 
convictions  followed.  The  prairie  bandits  were,  as  a  result,  eventually  disbanded. 
Their  exploits  were  later  told  in  a  book  written  by  Edward  Bonney,  which 
passed  through  several  editions. 

EARLY  ELECTIONS 

In  1838,  Winnebago  County  was  given  a  representative  in  the  State  Assem- 
bly. Germanicus  Kent  was  elected  to  the  office.  The  presidential  campaign  of 
1840  w7as  one  of  unusual  interest  in  the  county.  With  the  county  a  whig  strong- 
hold, the  party  waged  an  aggressive  fight  against  the  democrats.  At  the  con- 
vention held  in  Rockford  in  April,  a  full  county  ticket  was  named  with  Selden 
Bi.  Church,  Jacob  Miller,  H.  B.  Potter,  G.  A.  Sanford,  and  Isaac  N.  Cunning- 
ham, the  leaders  of  the  whig  party.  The  democrats  were  led  by  Jason  Marsh, 
Daniel  S.  Haight,  Henry  Thurston,  P.  Knappen,  J.  C.  Goodhue,  H.  W.  Loomis 
and  C.  J.  Horsman.  In  the  presidential  election,  the  whigs  cast  768  votes  in 
the  county:  while  the  democrats  cast  only  321.  Isaac  N.  Cunningham  was 
elected  sheriff;  Alonzo  Piatt,  coroner;  Ezra  S.  Cable,  commissioner.  In  the 
election  of  1842,  the  wdiigs  of  the  county  were  again  victorious. 

THE  POLISH    CLAIMS 

The  Polish  claims,  made  in  1836  to  a  portion  of  the  territory  now  com- 
prising the  townships  of  Rockford  and  Rockton,  constitute  one  of  the  most 
unique  chapters  of  the  history  of  Winnebago  County. 

The  unsuccessful  student  uprising  in  Poland  in  1830,  caused  the  exile  of 
the  leaders  to  this  country.  In  sympathy,  Congress,  by  an  act  of  June  30, 
1834,  granted  to  these  Polish  exiles,  235  in  number,  thirty-six  sections  of  land. 
These  sections  were  to  be  selected  by  them,  under  the  direction  of  the  secre- 
tary of  the  treasury,  in  any  three  adjacent  townships  of  the  public  lands,  sur- 
veyed or  unsurveyed,  in  the  State  of  Illinois  or  the  Territory  of  Michigan.  Upon 
the  surveying  of  the  selected  land,  it  was  to  be  distributed  in  equal  parts  to 
the  exiles.  After  residing  upon  it  for  ten  years,  they  were  to  obtain  their  pat- 
ents upon  the  payment  of  the  minimum  price  per  acre. 

The  exiles  arrived  in  Rockford  in  the  fall  of  1836,  under  the  leadership  of 
Count  Chlopicki.     The  Count,  an  elderly  gentleman  and  apparently  an  excel- 


480  THE  KOCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

lent  judge  of  land,  selected  townships  forty-four  and  forty-six,  range  one  east. 
These  are  Rockford  and  Rockton.  The  intervening  township  of  Owen  was  not 
taken,  thus  violating  one  of  the  provisions  of  the  grant  which  stipulated  the 
selection  of  three  adjacent  townships. 

Much  of  the  land  was  already  held  by  American  citizens  under  squatter 
title,  there  being  then  no  preemption  law  which  applied.  The  settlers  had 
enclosed  their  farms  and  had  made  many  improvements.  The  Count,  however, 
disregarded  the  settlers  and  made  formal  selection  of  their  land  and  reported 
his  choice  to  the  secretary  of  the  treasury. 

When  Germanicus  Kent  explained  the  situation  to  the  Count,  who  was  his 
guest,  the  Polish  nobleman  declared  that  the  settlers  should  not  be  disturbed. 
Feeling  insecure,  however,  after  the  Count's  departure,  a  sum  of  money  was 
raised  and  Mr.  Kent  sent  to  Washington,  to  defend  the  interests  of  the  settlers. 
Upon  his  arrival,  Kent  found  his  apprehensions  well  founded;  for  the  Count 
had  chosen  the  very  townships  that  he  said  he  would  not.  Kent  complained  to 
the  land  commission,  but  was  told  that  every  settler  in  the  county  was  a  tres- 
passer and  that  he  had  no  legal  title  to  a  foot  of  the  land  which  he  himself 
had  taken.  The  secretary  of  the  treasury  did  not,  however,  order  the  subdi- 
vision of  the  lands  because  their  selection  by  the  Polish  agent  was  not  in  com- 
pliance with  the  law.     Thus  the  matter  stood  for  several  years. 

Thereby,  the  titles  of  the  settlers  became  complicated.  The  settlers  in  Rock- 
ford,  unable  to  secure  titles  to  the  land  which  they  occupied,  repeatedly  called 
the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  situation;  and,  finally  they  got  results.  As 
the  Polish  agent  had  forfeited  his  claims  in  not  selecting  the  land  in  three 
adjacent  townships  and  the  exiles  had  made  no  actual  settlement  on  the  lands, 
Congress,  on  April  14,  1842,  passed  another  act  authorizing  the  entry  and  sale 
of  these  lands  in  the  two  townships. 

The  inhabitants  then  petitioned  the  president  for  a  public  sale,  and,  after 
the  lapse  of  fifteen  months,  secured  the  granting  of  their  request.  On  October 
30,  1843,  the  land  was  offered  for  sale.  As  much  of  the  land  in  Rockford  had 
not  only  been  platted  but  sold  to  the  settlers,  it  became  necessary  for  one  of 
their  number,  Daniel  S.  Haight,  to  be  authorized  to  go  to  the  land  office  at 
Dixon  to  bid  in  the  entire  tract  for  the  settlers.  A  committee  of  the  settlers 
passed  upon  every  lot  and  decided  the  disputed  claims.  In  this  way,  a  num- 
ber of  the  first  settlers  of  East  Rockford  purchased  their  land  twice;  first, 
from  Mr.  Haight,  then  through  Mr.  Haight  as  agent  from  the  general  govern- 
ment. The  purchasers  of  Mr.  Haight  originally  understood  that  it  would  be 
necessary  to  procure  a  perfect  title  by  purchase  from  the  government. 

Haight 's  plat  of  East  Rockford  was  filed  for  record  November  7,  1843,  four 
days  after  the  land  sale.  "The  east  part  of  the  original  town  of  Rockford, 
west  of  Rock  River,  included  all  that  part  of  the  city  lying  south  of_a  line 
drawn  from  the  Beattie  residence  west  to  the  Horsman  estate,  and  east  of  a 
line  drawn  from  the  latter  point  to  the  west  end  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
railroad  bridge.  Platted  by  Dungan  Ferguson,  it  was  filed  for  record  by 
Ephraim  Wyman,  November  28,  1843.  J.  W.  Leavitt's  town  plat,  including  all 
of  that  part  of  West  Rockford  situated  between  Wyman 's  plat  on  the  east,  and 
Kent's  Creek  on  the  west  and  south,  was  filed  for  record  October  5,  1844." 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  481 

WINNEBAGO  IN  THE  STATE  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION 

In  the  constitutional  convention  held  at  Springfield  in  1847,  Winnebago 
County  was  represented  by  Selden  M.  Church  and  Robert  J.  Cross.  Church 
served  on  the  committee  on  the  organization  of  the  departments  and  offices; 
while  Cross  was  a  member  of  the  committee  on  the  bill  of  rights. 

By  the  state  constitution  of  1848,  a  county  court  succeeded  the  old  county 
commissioners'  court,  and  township  organization  of  the  county  was  provided, 
if  adopted  by  a  majority  of  the  people.  The  earlier  commissioner's  form  of 
local  government  in  Illinois  had  been  due  to  the  southern  institutions  dominat- 
ing the  State.  The  succeeding  township  system  was  due  to  the  influence  of  the 
New  England  settlers  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  State. 

THE  REORGANIZED  COUNTY   GOVERNMENT 

By  supplementary  legislation,  in  1849,  the  county  court  was  established 
with  its  quadrennially  elected  judges  and  associate  justices.  By  the  acceptance 
by  Winnebago  County  of  the  township  organization,  as  provided  by  the  subse- 
quent law  of  1849,  the  associate  justices  ceased  to  be  members  of  the  County 
Court.  From  1849  to  1855,  the  clerk  of  the  county  court  was  also  clerk  of 
the  Board  of  Supervisors,  when  separate  clerks  were  provided  by  law. 

The  next  notable  reorganization  was  the  incorporation  of  Rockford  as  a 
city.  The  movement  was  started  in  1851.  It  was  consummated  in  1853  by 
the  Legislature  legalizing  the  acts  previously  taken  by  the  mayor  and  council, 
in  their  efforts  at  incorporation.  The  Legislature  granted  the  city  a  special 
charter  in  1854,  amended  in  1855,  1859  and  1861.  With  the  passage  of  the 
general  law  for  the  incorporation  of  cities  by  the  Legislature  in  1872,  Rockford 
accepted  its  provisions,  thereby  discontinuing  its  operation  under  a  special 
charter. 

PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTIONS  OF  THE    '50s 

In  the  presidential  election  of  1852,  Winnebago  County  continued  a  whig 
county;  voting,  also,  for  E.  B.  Washburne,  the  successful  whig  candidate  in  the 
First  Congressional  District,  and  Abraham  J.  Enoch  as  member  of  the  State 
Legislature. 

The  general  disruption,  which  confronted  both  the  old  political  parties  as 
a  result  of  Douglas  forcing  the  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  through 
Congress  in  1854,  was  felt  in  Winnebago  County.  Consequently,  a  call,  signed 
by  forty-six  citizens,  was  issued  for  a  mass  meeting  to  be  held  in  Rockford  on 
August  30th  for  the  purpose  of  perfecting  a  Republican  organization  of  those 
who  believed  in  a  more  vigorous  resistance  to  the  encroachments  of  the  slave 
power.  Held  in  the  grove  west  of  the  Baptist  church,  between  Court  and 
Winnebago  streets,  unusual  anxiety  pervaded  the  sessions.  Doubts  prevailed  as 
to  how  far  it  was  politically  safe  to  go  in  their  declaration  against  the  action  of 
Congress.  A  committee  on  resolutions,  composed  of  one  member  from  each 
county  in  the  district,  was  selected.  While  Congressman  Washburne,  the  whig, 
was  openly  a  candidate  for  renomination  there  were  several  hopeful,  though 


482  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

unavowed,  candidates  in  the  field  in  the  persons  of  Turner  and  Sweet  of  Free- 
port,  Loop  of  Rockford,  and  Hurlbut  of  Belvidere.  The  anti-slavery  resolutions 
were  planned  to  be  so  radical  as  to  cause  Washburne  to  reject  the  nomination. 
He,  however,  accepted  them  and  received  the  nomination.  Opposed  and  out- 
spoken in  the  campaign  by  Hurlbut,  Washburne,  nevertheless,  was  elected. 

In  1856,  Winnebago  County  gave  its  vote  to  John  C.  Fremont,  the  Repub- 
lican candidate  for  president,  with  every  town  in  the  county  being  carried  for 
the  Pathfinder.  At  that  time  William  Lathrop  was  elected  representative  in 
the  State  Legislature.  Naturally,  the  nomination  of  Lincoln,  in  1860,  met  with 
enthusiastic  support  in  Rockford  and  elsewhere  in  Winnebago  County.  Imme- 
diately, Wide-Awake  clubs  were  organized  in  the  city  and  other  towns  in  the 
county  for  cooperation  in  furthering  the  success  of  republican  principles  and 
Lincoln's  election.  Joint  discussions  were  held  by  Judge  Allen  C.  Fuller  of 
Belvidere,  a  Republican  elector,  and  John  A.  Rawlins,  a  Democrat.  Speeches 
were  also  made  by  Lyman  Trumbull,  Stephen  A.  Hurlbut,  Governor  Bebb, 
Melancthon  Smith,  Colonel  Ellis,  James  L.  Loop,  Judge  Church,  Richard  Yates 
and  Owen  Love  joy.    The  county  was  overwhelmingly  carried  for  Lincoln. 

THE  FOUNDATION  OF  ROCKFORD  INDUSTRIES 

With  the  organization  of  the  Rockford  Water  Power  Company,  in  1851,  and 
the  completion  of  the  dam  and  race  in  1853  opportunity  was  offered  for  the 
establishment  of  manufacturing  plants  in  the  city.  The  blacksmith  business 
started  in  1848  by  James  B.  Skinner  developed  into  the  firm  of  Skinner,  Briggs 
&  Enoch,  manufacturing  wagons,  cultivators  and  plows.  Trahern  &  Stuart 
were  early  manufacturers  of  threshing  machines,  horse  power  and  iron  pumps; 
while  Dales  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  the  wood  portions  of  separators. 
In  the  spring  of  1853,  Clark  &  Utter  manufactured  140  combined  reapers  and 
mowers  for  John  H.  Manny,  the  inventor.  In  the  latter  '50s,  the  N.  C.  Thomp- 
son plant  covered  several  acres  and  had  a  capitalization  of  a  quarter  of  a  million 
dollars  in  the  exclusive  manufacture  of  the  Manny  reaper  and  mower.  Later, 
Frederick  H.  Manny  built  a  large  plant,  in  1859,  for  the  manufacture  of  reapers 
and  mowers. 

Flouring  mills  early  became  important  industries.  Moses  Bartlett  built  a 
four  story  stone  mill  on  the  east  side  in  1854;  Joseph  Rodd  a  few  years  later; 
the  Troxell  mill,  established  in  1853,  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Bartlett  in  1855. 
T.  Derwent  &  Son  began  the  milling  business  in  1859.  Several  planing  mills 
were  also  established. 

EARLY  CHURCH  HISTORY 

Naturally,  Congregationalism  came  to  the  county  along  with  the  early  settlers, 
resulting  in  the  organization  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  May  5,  1837. 
Founded  by  the  Rev.  John  Morrill  at  his  brother 's  home  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river,  the  original  nine  members  were  mainly  composed  of  the  three  Morrill 
brothers  and  their  wives.  Temporarily  using  the  confession  of  faith  of  the 
Watertown  Presbytery,  the  articles  of  faith  of  the  Rock  River  Congregational 
Association  were  adopted  in  1838 ;  and,  all  members  obligated  to  take  a  total 


PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  AT  ROCKFOBD 
Upper:   Public  Library.     Lower:   Memorial  Hall 


Vol.  1—31 


484  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

abstinence  pledge.     The  church  carefully  postponed  taking  any  stand  upon  the 
slavery  question. 

Holding  services  first  in  the  "stage  barn,"  built  by  Daniel  S.  Haight  near 
the  intersection  of  State  and  Third  streets,  the  erection  of  a  church  building 
was  begun  on  the  west  side  of  North  First  Street  in  1838.  When  partially  com- 
pleted, it  was  learned  that  Messrs.  Kent  and  Brinckerhoff  had  secured  about 
$800  from  New  York  friends  for  a  church.  With  these  funds,  these  gentlemen 
built  an  edifice  on  their  side  of  the  river  and  turned  it  over  to  the  society,  retain- 
ing their  nominal  title.  The  unfinished  building  on  North  First  Street  was, 
in  consequence,  abandoned.  The  building  ereeted  by  Messrs.  Kent  and  Brincker- 
hoff stood  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Church  and  Green  streets. 

In  the  spring  of  1846,  a  new  church  building  was  dedicated  for  worship  on 
the  east  side,  on  the  northeast  corner  of  South  First  and  Walnut  streets.  Wor- 
ship was  held  in  this  until  1870.  The  church  had  a  pipe  organ  which  was 
played  by  Rufus  Hatch,  who,  subsequently,  became  a  Wall  Street  operator. 
Later  Hatch,  becoming  wealthy,  presented  a  new  organ  to  the  Rockford  church. 

Following  Dr.  Lewis  H.  Loss,  the  Rev.  Henry  M.  Goodwin,  D.  D.,  was, 
doubtless,  the  church's  most  distinguished  pastor,  continuing  his  services  from 
1850  to  1872.  Possessing  the  quiet  reserve  of  the  scholar,  the  intellectual  qual- 
ity and  literary  finish  of  his  sermons  were  not,  however,  always  appreciated  by 
the  populace.  Dr.  Goodwin,  being  a  progressive  thinker,  furnished  his  more 
conservative  friends  many  anxious  moments,  at  times,  by  his  pronounced  mod- 
ernism. 

The  Second  Congregational  Church  was  organized  in  the  fall  of  1849.  Its 
forty-seven  members  were  in  the  main  from  the  First  Church  with  the  full 
approval,  apparently,  of  the  parent  church.  At  first  the  new  organization  used 
the  house  of  worship  on  the  corner  of  Church  and  Green  streets,  vacated  by 
the  First  Church.  Rev.  Lansing  Porter  served  as  their  first  pastor  until  the 
close  of  1853,  when  the  Rev.  Joseph  Emerson,  second  cousin  of  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson,  succeeded  him.  In  1858,  a  new  church  edifice,  built  on  South  Church 
Street,  was  dedicated  with  a  dedicatory  sermon  by  Rev.  Emerson,  the  pastor. 
The  building  was  used  until  the  spring  of  1892. 

Methodism  was  established  in  Winnebago  County  as  early  as  1836.  Its  first 
service  was  conducted  in  June  of  that  year  by  Rev.  Pillsbury  at  the  home  of 
Henry  Enoch  in  Guilford  township,  seven  and  one-half  miles  east  of  Rockford. 
Thereafter  occasional  sermons  were  given  by  Rev.  Royal,  who  preached  in 
Samuel  Gregory's  log  house  in  Rockford  on  September  2,  1836,  and  organized 
the  first  Methodist  class  of  five  members.  At  the  conference  of  1838  at  Alton, 
Illinois,  Mr.  Walker  was  returned  to  Rockford  where  he  preached  for  some  time 
in  the  home  of  James  Boswell.  Then  the  Methodists  worshiped  in  a  building 
erected  by  Mr.  Haight  on  the  site  of  the  American  House.  A  parsonage  was 
built  in  the  summer  of  1838  on  First  Street  between  Prairie  Street  and  Lafay- 
ette Avenue. 

On  September  20,  1842,  the  First  Methodist  Church  was  incorporated. 
Purchasing  the  appropriate  lots  in  1846,  the  same  as  those  on  which  the  Cen- 
tennial Church  and  parsonage  now  stand,  the  contract  for  building  the  First 
Church  was  made  in  1846,  and  the  church  completed  in  1848.  In  1851,  the  First 
Methodist  Church  became  so  large,  that  members  of  the  parent  church  living 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  485 

on  the  west  side  formed  a  second  organization.  This  became  what  is  now  well 
known  as  the  Court  Street  church.  In  1857,  the  Third  Street  Church  was 
organized;  while  a  Swedish  Methodist  Church  was  established  in  July,  1861. 
Adorning  the  parlors  of  the  Centennial  Church,  are  the  portraits  of  many 
pioneer  Methodist  ministers  who  served  in  Rockford  churches. 

The  First  Baptist  Church  of  Rockford,  which  was  the  second  church  of  that 
denomination  in  northern  Illinois,  was  organized  December  22,  1838.  Without 
a  permanent  pastor  until  1841,  services  were  held  on  the  second  floor  of  the 
brick  block  on  the  site  of  the  Ashton  store.  The  denomination's  first  church 
edifice  was  built  on  Main  Street  and  had  the  Rev.  Solomon  Knapp  as  its  first 
resident  pastor  for  one  year.  Then  Rev.  Warren  H.  Parrish  came  from  Mas- 
sillon,  Ohio,  being  a  convert  to  the  Baptist  faith  from  Mormonism.  Paid  initially 
$300  and  house  rent,  the  second  year  he  received  $400  but,  soon  becoming  in- 
volved in  religious  controversies,  he  was  obliged  to  leave. 

Following  several  short  pastorates,  Elder  Jacob  Knapp  served  the  church 
during  the  years  1848  and  1849,  increasing  its  membership  to  160  through 
revivals.  Generally  reputed  to  be  a  remarkable  man,  Elder  Knapp  lived  for 
twenty-five  years  in  Rockford ;  preached  about  16,000  sermons ;  baptized  4,000 
candidates ;  and  made  100,000  converts. 

Abounding  in  homely  illustrations,  he  preached  strong,  logical,  Gospel  ser- 
mons of  compelling  force.  Fertile  in  resourcefulness,  of  indomitable  will,  he 
was  a  consummate  master  of  repartee.  Interrupted  one  time  by  a  young  man 
in  the  gallery  with  the  query,  "Who  was  the  devil's  father?"  he  retorted: 
"Young  man,  keep  your  own  family  record."  On  another  occasion,  Knapp 
met  two  clergymen  on  the  street,  when  one  of  them  said  to  the  other  so  that 
Elder  Knapp  heard,  "Have  you  heard  the  news?  They  say  the  devil  is  dead." 
Knapp  reached  out  both  arms,  placed  one  hand  upon  each  minister  and  in 
fatherly  compassion  exclaimed:  "Poor,  fatherless  children!"  Naturally,  such 
a  character  provoked  in  the  minds  of  some,  doubt  as  to  his  sincerity  and  sub- 
stantial Christianity.  Upon  his  death,  in  1874,  he  was  buried  in  the  West 
Side  cemetery,  with  his  feet  towards  the  west,  in  compliance  with  his  own 
request. 

Dr.  Ichabod  Clark  held  the  pastorate  during  the  '50s.  The  stone  building 
completed  in  1850,  was  the  finest  church  edifice  in  the  village.  Dr.  Thomas 
Kerr,  a  well  educated  Scotchman,  succeeded  Dr.  Clark,  holding  two  pastorates 
of  the  church.  He  preached  the  first  war  sermon  in  Rockford  after  the  firing 
on  Fort  Sumter,  using,  for  the  first  time  in  local  history,  the  American  flag 
as  a  decoration  for  his  pulpit.  Eventually  his  sermons  were  considered  non- 
evangelical  ;  and  in  1870  the  church  council  deposed  him  from  the  Baptist 
ministry.  Dr.  Kerr  then  organized  the  Church  of  the  Christian  Union  upon  a 
basis  of  liberal  religious  thought;  antedating  the  late  David  Swing  in  the 
organization  of  a  similar  movement  in  Chicago.  Dr.  Kerr  preached  with  great 
inspirational  effectiveness  in  Rockford  for  nearly  forty  years. 

Early  in  1841,  an  Unitarian  organization  started  with  initial  preaching  in 
the  courthouse  and,  in  March,  1843,  the  church  organization  was  perfected. 
The  services  held  by  the  denomination,  however,  were  for  several  years  rather 
intermittent.  By  the  early  '50s  services  were  held  each  Sunday,  and  the 
church   experienced  a  fair  degree  of  prosperity,  beginning  the  building  of  a 


486  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

new  edifice  patterned  after  the  Episcopalian  Church  in   Beloit.     The  church 
was  dedicated  April  18,  1855,  under  the  pastorate  of  the  Rev.  John  Murray. 

In  July,  1857,  Rev.  Agustus  H.  Conant,  of  Geneva,  Illinois,  assumed  the 
pastorate  continuing  until  1861,  when,  despite  his  very  efficient  services,  a 
serious  decline  had  occurred  in  the  financial  and  numerical  strength  of  the 
church.  Becoming  a  chaplain  in  the  Nineteenth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry, 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war,  he  died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  February 
8,  1863,  from  exposure  and  overexertion  at  the  battle  of  Murfreesboro. 

A    VIEW    OF    ROCKFORD    IN    1844 

Worcester  A.  Dickerman,  in  a  pleasing  commentary  on  men,  places  and 
things,  gives  the  best  obtainable  reminiscences  of  Rockford  in  1844.  He  said: 
"The  State  road  from  Belvidere  was  principally  through  wooded  land.  As 
we  came  to  Bela  Shaw's  place,  unexpected  improvements  appeared:  a  row  of 
thrifty  young  poplar  trees,  set  in  front,  a  half  circle  formed  inside,  with  an 
avenue  from  that  to  the  dwelling;  also  an  avenue  from  the  street  to  the  barn. 
Mr.  Shaw  was  a  justice  of  the  peace ;  very  dignified,  guarding  well  the  morals 
of  the  community.  He  was  an  excellent  specimen  of  a  Canadian-English 
gentleman.  From  Mr.  Shaw's  residence  to  the  village,  there  were  about  one 
and  one-half  miles  of  prairie,  which  afforded  a  very  extended  view  in  all  direc- 
tions. The  high  ground  on  the  east  was  timberland,  known  as  'Big  Woods.' 
South,  west  and  north  the  outlook  was  attractive."  With  nothing  to  obstruct 
the  view,  he  had  never  seen  a  prettier  picture.  There  were  "no  buildings 
between  Mr.  Shaw's  home  and  the  village,  which  was  completely  shut  out  of 
view  by  the  forest,  and  no  church  spires  to  indicate  the  location. 

"Frink,  Walker  &  Co's  stage  barn  near  the  present  watering-trough  on 
Kishwaukee  Street,  was  the  first  building.  A  two-story  building,  corner  of 
State  and  First  streets,  occupied  in  part  by  Laomi  Peake,  a  harness-maker,  was 
the  best  in  town.  *  *  *  There  were  no  other  shops  then.  A  little  farther 
west  was  the  post  office ;  Charles  H.  Spafford  was  the  postmaster.  *  *  * 
Near  at  hand  Searle  &  Worthington  had  the  only  drug  store  in  town.  Dr.  Searle 
was  quite  a  politician,  and  the  store  was  a  sort  of  political  headquarters.  *  *  * 
"On  the  south  side  of  State  Street  Lewis  Holmes  had  a  shoe  shop.  The 
Washington  Temperance  House  came  next,  kept  by  so-called  Judge  Blackstone, 
a  popular  landlord.  *  *  *  Across  East  State  Street,  on  the  corner,  was 
the  Rockford  House,  known  as  the  Stage  House,  kept  by  Andrew  Brown,  a 
very  good  landlord.  Directly  north  was  the  New  York  Store,  kept  by  A.  H.  H. 
Perkins,  a  genial,  active  business  man.  *  *  *  On  the  southwest  corner  of 
State  and  Main,  now  called  Madison,  was  a  two-story  brick  building,  the  largest 
in  town  with  the  most  complete  stock  of  goods,  owned  and  conducted  by  E.  H. 
Potter.  He  was  a  very  decided,  upright  business  man,  prominent  in  church 
and  everything  that  pertained  to  good  citizenship  and  the  prosperity  of  the 
village,  and  particularly  to  East  Rockford.  He  was  the  father  of  Mrs.  William 
Lathrop  and  Commodore  E.  E.  Potter.  *  *  *  Mr.  Potter  had  a  brother, 
Herman  B.  Potter,  a  farmer,  and  a  man  highly  esteemed.  His  dwelling  stood 
on  ground  now  occupied  by  the  First  Congregational  church.     *     *     *     The 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  487 

second  story  of  the  Potter  store  was  occupied  by  Jason  Marsh  and  James  M. 
Wight,  thf  principal  law  firm  in  town.     *     *     * 

"The  descent  from  the  Potter  store  to  the  river  was  quite  steep.  *  *  * 
Teamsters  with  heavy  loads  called  it  the  hardest  hill,  from  the  river  bank  to 
Madison  Street,  between  Chicago  and  Rockford.  The  road  was  quite  sandy, 
and  frequently  the  teams  were  doubled  in  order  to  make  the  ascent.  On  the 
south  side  of  State,  Mrs.  Preston,  since  Mrs.  Selden  M.  Church,  had  a  dwell- 
ing. *  *  *  The  crossing  of  the  river  was  by  ferry-boat,  which  would  carry 
two  teams  at  a  time.  John  Fisher  was  ferryman,  and  he  was  assisted  by  Asher 
Miller.  Rock  River  was  a  clear,  beautiful  stream  at  its  ordinary  stage.  So  small 
a  portion  of  the  prairies  was  under  cultivation  that  the  soil  did  not  wash 
into  the  stream.  Its  banks  sloped  gently  from  the  ford,  as  far  up  as  one  could 
see.  There  was  a  small  island  near  the  present  waterworks,  and  another  farther 
north.  Both  were  nearly  submerged  by  the  effect  of  the  dam.  A  large  number 
of  teams  crossed  the  river  at  the  ford.  In  ordinary  stage  of  water  it  was  from 
two  to  two  and  a  half  feet  deep,  all  rock  bottom.  *  *  *  Many  teams  were 
employed  in  transporting  merchandise  from  Chicago  to  Galena  and  points  up 
the  Mississippi.  On  their  return  trips  they  often  bought  wheat  and  sold  it  in 
Chicago.  *  *  *  The  bridge,  when  completed  after  much  delay  and  dis- 
couragement, formed  a  bond  of  union  between  the  two  sides;  but  it  must  not 
be  supposed  that  perfect  harmony  existed  among  the  leading  men  in  the  man- 
agement of  their  respective  sides.  "William  E.  Dunbar,  E.  H.  Potter,  Willard 
Wheeler  and  Dr.  Searle  were  on  the  East  Side;  and  Charles  I.  Horsman,  G.  A. 
Sanford,  John  A.  Holland,  S.  M.  Church  and  T.  D.  Robertson  were  citizens  of 
the  West  Side.  They  were  representative  men,  loyal  to  the  interests  of  Rock- 
ford,  but  much  more  loyal  to  their  respective  sides.  Sharp  conflicts  were  fre- 
quent. 

"On  the  West  Side,  between  the  river  and  Main  Street,  there  was  one 
building,  a  dwelling,  on  the  north  side  of  State  Street.  There  was  none  on  the 
south  side  until  reaching  the  corner  of  State  and  Main.  A  two-story  brick 
building,  nearly  new,  was  occupied  by  G.  A.  Sanford  as  a  general  store.  He 
kept  the  largest  and  best  stock  of  goods  on  the  West  Side.  *  *  *  He  was  a 
leading  man  in  all  new  enterprises  for  village  improvements  on  the  West  Side; 
he  was  thoroughly  interested  in  whatever  contributed  to  the  religious,  educa- 
tional or  business  prosperity  of  the  village.     *     *     * 

: 'The  manner  of  doing  business  was  quite  different  from  the  present.  *  *  * 
The  money  was  in  great  variety,  gold  and  silver,  as  well  as  paper.  There  were 
no  banks,  and  funds  were  exchanged  as  far  as  possible  by  such  as  could  buy 
New  York  Exchange  in  Chicago.  Gold,  for  purchasing  goods,  was  carried  in 
money-belts  to  New  York.  Hiram  R.  Maynard  was  about  to  go  into  business. 
He  entrusted  his  money  and  gave  full  authority  to  the  junior  partner  to  pur- 
chase a  general  stock.  In  the  aggregate  it  was  quite  a  sum  of  money,  for 
the  time,  to  take  along.  He  would  have  been  a  good  subject  for  the  thieves 
that  infested  the  country  if  they  had  known  his  treasure.  The  partner  started 
for  New  York  on  Thursday,  February  20,  1845.  The  roads  were  bad,  but  two 
nights  and  a  part  of  three  days  brought  him  safely  to  Chicago  on  Saturday. 
The  partner  stopped  at  the  American  House,  a  newer  and  better  building  than 
the  Tremont  or  Mansion.     *     *     *     On  Monday  he  took  the  stage  by  way  of 


488  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Michigan  City  to  Detroit;  stage  again  from  Detroit  through  Canada  to  Buffalo, 
traveling  night  and  day;  railroad  from  there  to  Albany;  and  two  days  from 
there  to  his  old  home  in  the  Catskill  Mountains.  As  the  goods  could  not  be 
shipped  until  the  opening  of  the  Hudson  River  and  the  Erie  Canal,  he  delayed 
purchasing  until  that  time.  The  canal  boats  were  loaded  in  New  York,  and 
towed  to  Albany.  It  was  considered  very  good  time  if  goods  came  from  New 
York  to  Rockford  in  three  weeks.  The  partner  returned  by  way  of  the  lakes, 
and  arrived  in  Rockford  May  1st,  and  most  of  the  goods  were  received  during 
the  month. 

"The  sign  of  W.  A.  Dickerman  &  Co.  was  seen  on  the  brick  store,  corner 
of  State  and  Main.  The  store  was  about  twenty  by  fifty  deep ;  counter  on 
one  side,  and  the  east  end  was  filled  with  a  well  selected  stock  of  dry  goods, 
groceries,  crockery,  hardware  and  some  drugs.  *  *  *  Before  harvesting, 
grain  was  all  cut  with  hand  cradles ;  raked  and  bound  by  hand,  which  required 
additional  help  and  greater  supplies.  I  took  our  team  and  went  to  Galena, 
which  then  had  a  large  wholesale  grocery  trade,  mainly  in  the  mining  region. 
Steamers  brought  supplies  from  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis,  and  shipped  away 
their  lead.  I  purchased  a  supply  of  goods  and  returned  within  a  week.  This 
purchase  gave  us  a  complete  stock  until  purchases  could  be  made  in  New  York. 

"On  the  Ashton  corner  was  a  two-story  brick  hotel,  called  the  Winnebago 
House.  Thence  west  there  were  no  buildings  on  either  side  of  State,  until  we 
arrived  at  the  Courthouse,  which  was  the  pride  of  the  whole  country.  The 
new  building  was  well  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  community.  The  main 
building  was  a  court  room,  with  two  rooms  in  rear  for  jury,  and  a  wing  on 
each  side,  occupied  respectively  by  the  county  clerk,  recorder,  sheriff,  circuit 
clerk,  and  probate  justice  of  the  peace.  The  last  office  was  held  by  Selden  M. 
Church,  who  occupied  the  west  wing.  The  court  room  served  a  good  purpose 
for  lectures  and  public  gatherings.  It  was  then  the  only  public  hall  in  the 
town.     *     *     * 

"On  the  McPherson  corner,  north  of  the  courthouse,  was  the  residence  of 
Dr.  Alden  Thomas.  On  the  Horsman  estate,  which  retains  its  trees  and  natural 
appearance  more  than  any  other  place  in  the  city,  resided  Abiram  and  Mrs. 
Morgan.  *  *  *  Their  daughter  and  her  husband,  Charles  I.  Horsman, 
were  very  genial,  and  made  their  home  attractive.  They  were  fond  of  society. 
Parties  were  frequent  and  guests  from  Belvidere  and  Freeport  were  usually 
in  attendance. 

"West  on  State  Street,  this  side  of  Kent's  Creek,  which  was  then  a  large, 
beautiful  stream,  was  a  cemetery,  near  Mrs.  Riching's  residence.  But  another 
retired  place  had  been  selected  in  the  woods,  which  it  was  supposed  would 
not  be  disturbed  for  many  years;  and  most  of  the  bodies  had  been  removed 
there.  When  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  railroad  was  built,  the  company 
wanted  the  grounds.  The  proceeds  of  that  sale  purchased  the  beautiful  West 
Side  Cemetery,  and  furnished  a  fund  for  its  improvement. 

"The  first  house  west  of  the  city  limits  was  occupied  by  a  Scotch  shepherd. 
His  sheep  often  came  down  and  fed  in  the  woods.  In  hot  weather  they  found 
a  comfortable  place  under  the  Congregational  church,  which  was  built  on  a  block 
foundation,  about  two  feet  off  the  ground.  Nearly  every  family  kept  its  own 
cows,  as  there  was  a  large  range  for  them  in  which  to  run.     It  was  sometimes 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  489 

difficult  to  find  them  if  they  did  not  come  home  at  night.  To  remedy  this 
perplexity,  many  put  bells  on  them.  Each  owner  aimed  to  get  one  that  he 
could  recognize  at  a  distance.  It  was  quite  pleasant  music  when  several  cows 
came  home  together.  There  were  but  few  enclosed  farms  between  Rockford  and 
Twelve-Mile  Grove. 

"Before  going  down  on  Main  Street  we  hear  the  stage-driver's  horn.  Frink, 
Walker  &  Co.  's  tri-weekly  mail  stage  is  coming  in  from  Galena.  See  that  skilled 
driver  cracking  his  long  whip  over  his  horses !  How  beautifully  he  drives  down 
State  Street !  He  is  the  admiration  of  all  the  boys,  as  he  reins  up  his  prancing 
horses  at  the  Winnebago  House.  *  *  *  It  equaled  a  special  train  at  this 
time,  for  he  brings  distinguished  company;  Judge  Thomas  C.  Brown,  M.  D. 
Johnson,  Thomas  Drummond  and  E.  B.  Washburne,  of  Galena;  Thomas  J. 
Turner  and  Martin  P.  Sweet,  of  Freeport.  They  made  a  specially  quick  run, 
less  than  eighteen  hours  from  Galena.  They  came  to  attend  Circuit  Court.  It 
was  expected  then  to  see  several  lawyers  from  other  counties  attending  court. 
The  best  horses  and  most  gorgeous  coaches  started  and  came  in  from  the  two 
ends  of  the  line,  to  and  from  Rockford.  They  crossed  the  river  on  the  ferry- 
boat to  the  stage  house  on  the  East  Side,  and  then  to  the  stage  barn,  where 
a  fresh  relay  of  horses  and  another  driver  were  provided;  and  soon  the  pas- 
sengers are  moving  rapidly  toward  Chicago.  About  the  same  time  the  stage 
rushes  in  from  Chicago,  and  brings  the  United  States  mail.  Then  comes  the 
rush  for  letters  by  all  who  have  twenty-five  cents  to  pay  the  letter  postage.  In 
this  stage  come  the  lawyers,  Allen  C.  Fuller,  James  M.  Loop  and  Stephen  A. 
Hurlbut,  of  Belvidere.  The  excitement  of  the  arrival  and  departure  of  the 
stages  for  two  days  is  now  over,  and  we  will  go  down  Main  Street.     *     *     * 

"Where  Daniel  Dow's  block  now  stands,  he  had  a  small  one-story  building, 
a  shoe  shop,  in  which  he  worked.  *  *  *  Very  near  Mr.  Dow's  shoe  shop 
was  G.  A.  Sanford's  residence,  with  many  additions.  This  was  my  home  about 
two  years.  A  part  of  it  may  now  be  seen  on  the  lot  south  of  Keyt's  livery 
stable,  near  the  center  bridge.  A  house  on  this  lot  was  the  first  one  occupied 
as  a  store  by  John  Piatt  and  G.  A.  Sanford,  and  as  a  dwelling  by  them  and 
D.  D.  Ailing  and  their  wives.  On  the  Chick  House  corner  was  a  dwelling  house 
occupied  by  Albert  Sanford  and  Hiram  R.  Maynard.  *  *  *  On  the  east 
side  of  Main  Street,  near  Loomis'  store,  was  a  dwelling  occupied  by  H.  W. 
Loomis,  his  father  and  mother.  On  the  Winnebago  Bank  corner  was  a  dwelling 
occupied  by  H.  L.  Rood.  *  *  *  H.  R.  Maynard  built  a  one-story  store  on 
the  Masonic  Temple  corner,  which  he  occupied  a  short  time.  It  was  then  used 
by  C.  A.  Huntington  as  an  academy.  The  Second  Congregational  Church  was 
organized  in  this  building  in  1849.  *  *  *  Near  the  south  corner,  now  the 
site  of  the  Brown  building,  was  a  small  cabinet  shop.  Boston  rockers,  Windsor 
chairs,  wooden  seats,  other  articles  of  furniture,  and  coffins  were  manufactured 
here.  I  do  not  recall  any  other  building  on  this  side  of  the  street  until  arriving 
at  Ephraim  Wyman's  bakery.  This  was  located  near  the  ford.  It  was  con- 
venient for  emigrants  and  teamsters  to  get  their  supplies,  as  many  camped 
out,  and  slept  in  their  wagons  at  night.     *     *     * 

'The  log  and  frame  dwelling,  supposed  to  be  the  first  building  on  the 
west  side  of  the  river,  was  occupied  by  Germanicus  Kent.    When  Main  Street 


490  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

was  opened  it  was  moved  across  the  creek.  *  *  *  There  was  a  dwelling 
where  the  Emerson  stone  warehouse  now  stands,  south  of  the  Northwestern 
railroad  track,  occupied  by  Derastus  Harper,  the  bridge  contractor.  On  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  same  block,  was  a  dwelling  owned  and  occupied  by- 
Nathaniel  Wilder,  a  good  blacksmith  from  Keene,  New  Hampshire.  He  was  a 
genuine  New  England  Yankee.  Block  seventeen,  next  north,  was  covered  with 
a  fine  growth  of  oak,  with  no  buildings.  On  the  corner  north  of  the  post  office 
was  a  dwelling  built  by  Mr.  Brinckerhoff.  It  was  the  first  house  for  a  great 
many  newcomers  until  they  could  build.  *  *  *  The  prettiest  building  on 
the  street  was  called  "The  Cottage,"  and  was  occupied  by  John  W.  Taylor, 
who  came  here  with  his  young  wife  from  Albany,  New  York.  *  *  *  David 
D.  Ailing 's  carpenter  shop,  a  little  north  of  it,  still  stands.  *  *  *  Ailing 
was  fond  of  hunting,  and  very  successful.  He  usually  had  some  dried  venison 
hams  hanging  in  his  shop.  *  *  *  A  house  where  the  Blaisdell  block  now 
stands  completed  the  buildings  on  South  Main  Street,  which  was  the  most 
thickly  settled  of  any  part  of  the  West  Side.     *     *     * 

"On  North  Main  Street  a  brick  blacksmith  shop  stood  on  the  site  of  Louck's 
restaurant,  occupied  by  Stephen  Skinner,  a  good  blacksmith,  a  man  of  strict 
integrity,  and  a  deacon  in  the  Congregational  church.  His  residence  was  just 
north  of  the  shop.  On  the  west  side  of  Main  Street,  at  the  north  end  of  the 
Winnebago  House,  Cyrus  F.  and  Anson  S.  Miller  had  a  law  office.  *  *  * 
Adjoining  their  office,  in  the  same  building,  Isaac  Andrus  had  a  small  store. 

#  *  #  "Where  the  Presbyterian  church  now  stands,  Michael  Burns,  a  tailor, 
resided.  *  *  *  Near  by  was  Austin  Colton's  residence, .  which  may  now  be 
seen  just-  north  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  He  was  editor  and  proprietor  of 
the  Rockford  Forum,  a  good  weekly  paper  for  the  time.     *     *     * 

"On  the  north  side  of  North  Street  was  John  Beattie's  residence.  *  *  * 
A  road  ran  east  about  a  block,  then  north,  following  about  that  distance  from 
the  river  to  the  entrance  of  Dr.  Haskell's  residence,  fronting  the  river,  now 
occupied  by  George  Forbes.  He  selected  the  highest  part  of  this  ground,  which 
slopes  to  the  west,  south  and  east.  There  were  no  buildings  to  obstruct  and 
it  was  a  beautiful  view,  surrounded  by  an  orchard  of  thrifty  fruit  trees.  Apples 
were  in  great  variety,  early  and  late,  and  pears,  peaches  and  plums  just  coming 
into  bearing.    I  think  it  extended  to  Court  Street,  and  north  to  Fisher  Avenue. 

*  *  *  His  hand-made  pills  assured  his  patients  that  he  had  not  called  simply 
for  a  visit.  As  there  were  no  dentists,  the  only  remedy  for  aching,  decayed 
teeth  was  to  extract  them,  and  that  with  turnkeys.  All  physicians  were  experts 
in  this  line  of  torture.  *  *  *  I  made  a  friendly  call  at  the  house,  and 
found  Mrs.  Haskell  and  her  daughter  preparing  and  knitting  silk  stockings 
for  themselves.  Silkworms  had  been  fed  from  mulberry  leaves  grown  on  their 
own  trees,  and  the  silk  wound  and  twisted  from  their  cocoons.  *  *  *  There 
had  been  quite  an  excitement  over  growing  mulberry  trees,  for  ornamental, 
shade  and  fruit  trees,  and  silk  culture.  They  made  a  quick  growth,  but  did 
not  prove  a  profitable  investment. 

"Following  the  river  road  from  the  Beattie  grounds  north,  near  the  river 
bank,  was  a  beautiful  boulevard.  *  *  *  The  next  house  was  near  T.  D. 
Robertson's  residence.  Continuing  north  on  Main  Street,  was  a  house  occupied 
by  James  Taylor,  an  industrious  farmer.     He  did  express   work  about  town 


THE  ROCK  BIVEE  VALLEY  491 

occasionally,  with  his  oxen  and  cart.  Farther  north,  on  the  line  of  Harlem 
Avenue,  near  Auburn  Street,  was  a  large  two-story  building,  erected  for  a  hotel 
by  Charles  Heed,  who  was  so  confident  that  the  State  road  from  Chicago  to 
Galena  would  cross  the  river  at  this  point,  that  he  not  only  put  up  the  hotel, 
but  had  a  full  section  of  land  laid  off  into  blocks  and  lots,  and  called  his  village 
Winnebago.  In  his  opinion,  it  was  a  very  unwise  thing  when  the  state  road 
was  laid  across  the  river  at  Rockford." 

Common  respectability  was  the  "open  sesame"  to  good  society  in  Rock- 
ford  in  the  early  '40s.  Delightfully  simple  was  the  life  then,  as  there  were  no 
large  houses,  costly  furniture,  expensive  wardrobes,  nor  servant  problems.  In 
place  of  formal  afternoon  calls,  visits  were  made  in  the  afternoons  or  evenings. 
Although  there  were  no  sidewalks  nor  street  lamps,  a  walk  of  two  or  three 
miles  was  little  noticed  when  the  darkness  was  dispelled  by  the  hand  lantern, 
brilliantly  illuminated  with  a  candle  or  oil  lamp.  There  was  much  social  inter- 
course between  Rockford  and  the  neighboring  towns,  especially  between  the 
settlers  of  Belvidere  and  Rockford;  who  were  the  same  general  character. 

RAILROAD  HISTORY 

With  the  chartering  of  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railroad  Company  in 
1836,  the  people  of  Winnebago  County  became  much  interested.  The  suspension 
of  its  building  operations  in  1838,  was  a  source  of  profound  regret  to  the  citi- 
zens of  Rock  River  Valley,  who  had  made  several  attempts  to  secure  better 
connections  with  Chicago.  Continued  agitation  resulted  in  holding  the  first 
railroad  meeting  in  Rockford,  November  28,  1845.  A  second  meeting  was 
held  in  Rockford  the  next  year,  to  which  delegates  came  from  the  various  inter- 
ested counties.  After  a  thorough  discussion,  it  was  decided  to  inaugurate  the 
securing  of  the  necessary  subscriptions  to  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Rail- 
road to  ensure  its  completion.  The  owners  of  the  original  charter  sold  it, 
together  with  the  land  and  the  improvements  made,  to  the  citizens  of  Chicago 
for  $20,000.  The  entire  sum  was  to  be  paid  in  stock  of  the  new  company; 
$10,000  immediately  after  the  election  and  organization  of  the  new  board  of 
directors  and  the  remaining  $10,000  on  the  completion  of  the  road  to  Rock  River. 

Accepting  the  proposition,  the  purchasers  subscribed  from  their  own  means 
for  the  survey,  which  was  begun  in  1847  under  the  supervision  of  Richard  P. 
.Morgan.  Subscription  books  were  opened  at  Chicago,  Galena,  Rockford  ana 
the  various  other  settlements  through  which  the  road  would  pass.  At  first 
opposition  was  met  with  in  Chicago  from  those  who  feared  the  diversion  of 
business  to  other  points  along  the  line.  Many  subscriptions  were  given  in  the 
rural  districts;  even  women,  often  enduring  personal  privations  in  order  to 
assist  in  the  construction  of  an  iron  highway  of  great  benefit  to  the  succeeding 
generations.  Liberally  did  the  citizens  of  Rockford  and  the  farmers  in  the 
adjoining  districts  subscribe.  John  A.  Holland  and  T.  D.  Robertson  were  the 
most  active  in  the  enterprise  among  local  promoters. 

By  April,  1848,  so  encouraging  was  the  local  response  to  subscriptions,  that 
it  was  decided  that  the  road  should  be  constnicted  and  owned  by  the  residents 
of  the  territory  through  which  it  was  to  pass.  After  interviewing  friends  in 
the   East  who  had  had  experience  in  such   railroad  projects,   their  plan   was 


492  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

confirmed  and  Eastern  capitalists  advised  constructing  the  road  as  far  as  the 
subscriptions  were  available,  and  then,  if  money  were  needed,  it  might  be 
obtained  in  the  East. 

Work  was  begun  in  the  fall  of  1847  and,  continuing  throughout  the  next 
year,  two  engines  were  purchased  in  September,  1848.  They  were  clumsy 
in  appearance  and  workmanship ;  but  gave  very  efficient  service.  The  line  was 
extended  to  Elgin  in  January,  1850;  to  Belvidere  in  1852;  while  on  Monday, 
August  21,  1852,  a  train  arrived  in  East  Rockford,  its  advent  joyously  signal- 
ized by  the  ringing  of  bells  and  the  firing  of  cannon. 

By  1857,  a  considerable  extension  of  the  line  was  completed.  Double  tracks 
were  added  thirty  miles  west,  as  far  as  Turner  Junction;  while,  at  the  same 
time,  additions  to  the  rolling  stock  were  acquired.  Before  the  close  of  1858, 
the  road  was  extended  as  far  as  Freeport.  In  June,  1864,  a  consolidation  was 
formed  with  the  Chicago  &  North  Western  Railroad  Company,  under  which 
it  now  operates. 

In  1857,  a  charter  was  secured  for  the  building  of  a  railroad  from  Kenosha 
to  Rockford,  with  an  extension  to  Rock  Island.  The  work  on  the  construction 
of  the  road  to  Harvard  was  started  in  the  same  year.  Under  a  charter  from 
the  Wisconsin  legislature,  another  company  began  the  building  of  the  eastern 
division.  The  financial  depression  of  1857,  however,  stopped  the  construction. 
In  August,  1858,  the  company  asked  the  Rockford  city  council  for  a  loan  of 
the  city  credit  to  the  amount  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  assist  in  the  completion 
of  the  road.  The  measure  was  carried  at  an  election  in  September  of  the 
same  year.  In  November,  1859,  the  road  was  completed  from  Chicago  to 
Harvard.  With  the  absorption,  in  1864,  of  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Rail- 
road Company  by  the  Chicago  &  North  Western,  the  Kenosha  and  Rockford 
road  came  under  the  same  control. 

Other  railroad  projects  interested  the  county.  In  1865  Selden  M.  Church 
and  Thomas  D.  Robertson  secured  a  charter  for  the  Rockford,  Rock  Island  and 
St.  Louis  railroad.  At  a  special  town  meeting  held  in  Rockford  in  April,  1870, 
for  the  purpose  of  voting  on  the  proposition  to  take  $50,000  railroad  stock, 
a  three  to  one  decision  in  favor  of  subscribing  for  the  stock  was  given.  The 
state  supreme  court  later  sustained  the  legality  of  this  practice  of  issuing 
township  bonds  in  aid  of  railroad  construction.  While  routes  for  this  railroad 
were  surveyed,  the  track  was  never  laid  above  Sterling  so  that  Rockford  and 
Winnebago  County  never  profited  by  it. 

Not  discouraged,  however,  a  second  attempt  resulted  in  the  incorporation  of 
the  Rockford  Central  Railroad  Company  in  1869  with  a  capital  stock  of 
$1,000,000,  of  which  Rockford  citizens  were  to  subscribe  $125,000.  As  planned, 
this  line  was  to  begin  at  or  near  Mendota,  on  the  Illinois  Central;  run  from 
there  to  Rochelle,  thence  north  through  Rockford  to  the  state  line,  there  con- 
necting with  Wisconsin  roads.  The  formal  breaking  of  the  ground  was  per- 
formed June  29,  1871,  just  west  of  Kent's  Creek,  near  West  State  Street, 
amidst  the  booming  of  cannon  and  the  ringing  of  bells.  After  a  considerable 
grading  was  done  between  Rochelle  and  Rockford,  the  road  was  consolidated 
with  the  Madison  &  Portage,  and  the  Sugar  Valley  railroads,  December  6, 
1871 ;  the  consolidated  line  thereafter  to  be  known  as  the  Chicago  &  Superior 
Railroad. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  493 

The  panic  of  1873,  however,  soon  followed  and  the  firm  in  London  which 
had  made  a  provisional  arrangement  for  purchase  of  the  company's  bonds, 
collapsed.  The  money  so  necessary  to  railroad  construction  could  not  thereafter 
be  obtained. 

The  Chicago  &  Iowa  railroad  had  in  the  meantime  been  built  from  Aurora 
to  Forreston.  The  President  approached  the  Rockford  citizens,  in  1874,  with 
the  proposal  for  their  subscription  of  $200,000  first  mortgage  bonds  for  the 
building  of  a  branch  from  Rochelle  to  Rockford.  So  generous  was  the  response 
to  his  proposition  that,  by  October,  the  entire  amount  asked  had  been  subscribed. 
A  new  charter  followed,  resulting  in  the  road  assuming  the  name  of  the  Chicago, 
Rockford  and  Northern  Railroad  with  Robert  H.  Tinkler  of  Rockford  as  its 
president. 

So  energetically  was  the  construction  pushed  that  trains  began  running 
over  its  tracks  into  Rockford  by  July,  1875.  To  R.  H.  Tinkler  was  given  the 
major  credit  for  the  prosecution  to  a  successful  conclusion  of  this  project,  into 
which  he  and  many  others  had  placed  so  much  money.  The  road,  leased  by 
the  Chicago  &  Iowa,  took  that  name;  preserving  its  official  title  only  in  its 
charter. 

With  the  advent  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  line,  a  new  chapter 
in  the  railroad  history  of  Rockford  and  the  county  began.  A  "railroad  war" 
preceded  its  arrival.  Foreclosure  proceedings  had  followed  each  of  the  two  bond 
issues  of  the  Chicago,  Rockford  &  Northern  road.  After  the  appointment  of 
a  receiver  for  the  Chicago  &  Iowa,  a  series  of  complications  long  entangled  the 
affairs. 

AVhen  the  first  Milwaukee  locomotive  ever  seen  in  Rockford  arrived  on 
March  30,  1881,  and  stopped  opposite  the  C.  &  I.  depot,  C.  H.  Atkins,  the 
superintendent  of  the  Chicago  &  Pacific  division  of  the  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 
road,  attempted  to  seize  the  road  under  claimed  orders.  The  depot  agent, 
A.  A.  Morse,  refused  to  vacate,  but  was  forcibly  ejected  together  with  A.  G. 
Everett,  the  telegraph  operator.  Securing  a  warrant  for  the  arrest  of  Atkins 
and  his  associates,  Morse  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  the  sheriff  for  execution.  An 
arrest  with  release  on  their  own  recognizances,  pending  a  hearing,  followed. 
Agent  Morse,  in  the  meanwhile,  held  possession. 

The  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  road  had  made  this  move  under  a  lease  executed 
March  29  by  Joel  D.  Harvey,  the  new  president  of  the  Chicago,  Rockford  & 
Northern  road,  under  authorization  of  the  board  of  directors.  The  sensational 
manner  of  the  attempted  seizure,  it  was  said,  had  been  due  to  the  conviction 
that  F.  E.  Hinckley,  the  promoter  of  the  road,  had  planned  to  prevent  the 
taking  of  possession  under  the  lease.  It  was  persistently  claimed  by  the  Mil- 
waukee company  that  the  Chicago  &  Iowa  had  been  operating  the  Chicago,  Rock- 
ford &  Northern  without  proper  authorization  from  either  road. 

The  next  day,  an  order  was  secured  from  Judge  William  Brown,  at  Free- 
port,  directing  Mr.  C.  C.  Jones,  as  receiver  of  the  Chicago,  Rockford  &  Northern, 
to  take  full  possession,  which  he  did  April  first  with  the  assistance  of  Sheriff 
Hutch  ins.  This,  however,  did  not  last  long.  Judge  Eustace  of  Dixon,  in  his 
discussion  of  the  matter  with  Judge  Brown  of  Freeport,  asserted  that,  as  he 
had  previously  appointed  W.  II.  Ilolcomb  to  be  the  receiver  .of  the  Chicago 
&  Iowa,  Judge  Brown  had  no  authority  to  issue  a  conflicting  order.     After  a 


494  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

conference  with  Judge  Bailey,  the  contention  of  Judge  Eustace  was  sustained. 
The  order  of  John  Brown  was,  thereupon,  annulled  and  Holcomb  restored  to  his 
receivership.  This  was  confirmed  unanimously  by  the  three  judges  sitting 
in  court  at  Freeport,  August  11. 

Undaunted,  the  Milwaukee  road  secured  the  control  of  the  old  Western 
Union,  which  connected  Rockton  and  Durand;  and  built  a  track  from  Rock- 
ton  to  Rockford,  thereby  entering  the  city,  November  6,  1881.  Then  a  con- 
tract was  signed  in  Chicago  which  secured  to  the  Milwaukee  road  from  the 
Chicago  &  Iowa,  the  lease  of  its  track  from  Davis  Junction  into  Rockford.  On 
November  21,  1881,  there  arrived  in  Rockford  the  first  train  from  the  South. 

After  these  two  roads  had  used  the  same  right  of  way  for  about  ten  years, 
the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  road  absorbed  the  Chicago  &  Iowa,  the  Bur- 
lington name  being  used  after  1892.  The  Milwaukee  continued  its  lease  of  the 
track. 

In  1886,  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company  planned  a  division  to  be 
constructed  from  Chicago,  through  Winnebago  County  to  Freeport,  Illinois,  on 
to  Madison,  Wisconsin.  In  the  same  year,  in  pursuance  of  the  desire  of  the 
local  shippers,  the  Rockford  council  granted  the  right  of  way  through  the  city. 

In  January,  1888,  the  Illinois  Central  purchased,  of  Robert  H.  Tinker, 
land  lying  between  South  Main  and  Winnebago  streets  for  $50,000,  upon  which 
to  locate  the  depot  and  freight  house.  This  required  the  dismantling  of  the 
historic  "Manny  Mansion." 

On  Sunday,  August  5,  1888,  the  first  train  entered  Rockford  from  the  east 
over  the  Illinois  Central  track.  E.  W.  Brown,  therewith,  began  his  long  service 
as  the  local  agent  of  the  company.  The  Central,  in  1915,  completed  its  second 
bridge  across  the  Rock  River  at  Rockford  with  its  arrangement  for  a  double 
track  service. 

Today  Rockford  is  well  served  by  the  four  lines  of  railroad — the  Illinois 
Central ;  Chicago  &  North  Western ;  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul ;  and  the 
Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy.  It  is  also  the  terminus  of  the  Rockford  & 
Interurban  Electric  Line  which  runs  between  Rockford,  Freeport,  Beloit,  Janes- 
ville,  Belvidere.  Elgin  and  Chicago.  Motor  busses  give  excellent  service  to 
Beloit,  Janesville,  Madison  on  the  north ;  and  Byron,  Leaf  River,  Mt.  Morris, 
Oregon  and  Dixon  on  the  south. 

STORY  OF  ROCKFORD  SEMINARY  AND  COLLEGE 

Rock  River  Valley  will  always  have  the  distinction  of  fostering  the  firsi 
institution  for  women  in  the  West  to  achieve  the  full  rank  of  college.  For  this 
is  the  just  claim  of  Rockford  College.  Its  history  is  coeval  with  the  Citj^  of 
Rockford  itself.  Its  struggle  up  through  the  stages  of  primary  and  preparatory 
school  to  seminary  and  college  is  the  history  of  the  higher  education  of  women 
in  the  Middle  Border.  Its  fight  for  excellence  and  for  recognition  is  touched 
with  the  romance  of  our  early  history;  and,  therefore,  its  story  constitutes  a 
proud  and  compelling  tradition  of  this  Valley. 

Rockford  College  was  founded  under  a  charter  of  February  twenty-fifth, 
1847,  by  a  group  of  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  clergy  and  laymen  who 
founded  at  the  same  time  Beloit  College.     The  original  charter  carried  with 


ANNA  P.  SILL 
Founder  of  Rockford  Seminary 


ROCKFORD  COLLEGE  TX  1852 


WT 


496  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

it  the  privilege  of  granting  degrees  and  of  providing  the  necessary  courses  for 
the  higher  education  of  young  women. 

During  the  early  years  of  the  institutions  Beloit  College  and  Rockford  Fe- 
male Seminary,  as  the  college  was  originally  called,  were  governed  by  the  same 
board  of  trustees  and  guided  by  the  same  ideals.  Professor  Joseph  Emerson 
in  his  historical  address  delivered  at  the  quarter-centennial  exercises  of  the 
college  said : 

''In  the  outset,  the  seminary  for  young  men  was  called  a  college,  and  the 
college  for  young  women  was  called  a  seminary,  in  accord  with  the  usage  of 
the  time ;  but  both  were  intended  to  give  education  of  a  like  grade.  There  is 
no  reason  except  usage,  why  a  young  ladies'  school  should  not  be  called  a 
college.  Perhaps,  indeed,  there  would  seem  to  be  some  special  propriety  in 
the  name,  inasmuch  as  the  special  feature  expressed  by  the  name  '  college, ' — that 
is,  collecting  of  students  in  a  community  by  themselves — is  more  marked,  and 
its  manifold  educational  influences  are  more  effective,  in  our  schools  for  ladies 
than  in  those  of  the  other  sex.  Nor,  perhaps,  if  a  lady  is  able  to  bear  worthily 
the  Bacca  Lauri — the  garland  of  laurel  berries  and  leaves — is  there  any  reason 
why  she  should  not  have  the  honor  of  the  Baccalaureate,  or  why  she  should  not, 
if  she  choose  it,  be  called  Bachelor.  Some  institutions  of  like  grade  with  this 
have  recently  taken  the  name  of  colleges." 

Rockford  since  its  founding  has  occupied  a  distinguished  place  in  the  intel- 
lectual life  of  the  West.  Even  before  the  twenty-five  year  mark  had  been 
reached,  the  reputation  of  the  two  institutions,  Rockford  and  Beloit,  had  spread 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  old  northwest.  Upon  referring  again  to  Professor 
Emerson's  address,  we  find  that  "six  thousand  pupils  have  been  in  them,  and 
have  gone  to  the  world,  to  nearly  or  quite  every  State,  Territory,  or  District, 
from  Maine  to  Arizona,  from  Florida  to  Oregon,  and  to  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
Micronesia  and  to  Japan,  China,  Bermuda  and  India,  to  Turkey-European, 
Asiatic,  and  African — to  England  and  Canada,  to  Mexico  and  Peru,  to  the 
West  Indies,  and  to  various  tribes  of  North  American  Indians." 

For  many  years  the  college  maintained  a  three-year  seminary  course.  In  the 
early  '80s  the  first  degrees  were  granted.  In  1891  the  seminary  course  was 
discontinued,  and  in  the  following  year  the  name  was  changed  to  Rockford  Col- 
lege that  the  title  might  more  truly  represent  the  type  of  work  being  done. 

The  college  was  among  those  in  this  newly  opened  territory  that  was  the 
physical  embodiment  of  the  idealism  of  the  pioneers  who  pushed  out  into  this 
section  from  New  England  and  from  New  York  state.  From  almost  their  earliest 
entrance  the  seminary  idea  is  traceable.  Within  ten  years  after  Germanicus 
Kent  and  T.  Blake  had  made  the  first  permanent  settlement  at  Kent's  Creek, 
we  find  the  people  of  Rockford  thinking  about  the  higher  education  of  its  young 
people.  There  were  other  sporadic  attempts  which  have  long  since  been  for- 
gotten. In  1836  or  1837  a  joint  company  was  formed  at  Belvidere  to  build  and 
run  Newton  Academy.  On  March  fourth,  1838,  permission  was  issued  from 
Boone  County  by  Dr.  Whitney,  commissioner  of  sales  for  the  county,  con- 
veying to  John  S.  King,  Hiram  Waterman,  and  several  others,  for  the  use 
of  an  academy,  block  twenty  in  the  original  town  of  Belvidere.  The  building 
was  commenced,  and  completed  to  be  tenantable.  Between  then  and  1852 
several  masters  taught  there,  among  them  Arthur  Fuller,  the  brother  of  Mar- 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  497 

garel  Puller.  She  came  to  Belvidere  and  bought  the  property  in  person.  He 
remained  about  two  years.  In  1839  the  seminary  at  Mount  Morris  in  Ogle 
County  was  founded.  In  1839  George  W.  Lee  platted  a  town  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Kisliw;mkee,  at  the  junction  with  the  Rock  in  what  is  now  New 
Milford  township.  Quite  a  town  was  built,  including  a  building  for  a  seminary 
which  was  enclosed  and  partially  finished,  but  never  used. 

In  1843  the  discussion  of  the  need  for  a  seminary  in  the  upper  Rock  River 
Valley  had  become  acute.  At  the  general  convention  of  churches  of  the  north- 
west at  Cleveland  in  June,  1844,  at  which  education  received  attention,  it 
was  decided  that  a  college  and  a  female  seminary  in  southern  Wisconsin  and 
northern  Illinois  respectively  be  founded.  Resolutions  were  adopted  that  the 
"exigencies  of  Wisconsin  and  northern  Illinois  require  that  those  sections  should 
unite  in  establishing  a  college  and  a  female  seminary  of  the  highest  order — 
one  in  Wisconsin  near  to  Illinois  and  the  other  in  Illinois  near  to  Wisconsin." 

Tho  delegates  called  a  convention  in  Beloit  in  August,  1844.  There  were 
three  subsequent  conventions  in  Beloit  because  it  was  believed  from  the  first 
that  the  college  should  be  there.  The  resolutions  of  the  first  convention  were 
reaffirmed.  At  the  fourth  convention  Beloit  was  chosen  as  the  seat  of  the 
college,  and  a  board  was  elected,  to  which  was  entrusted  the  development  of 
both  institutions. 

There  wras  a  discussion  as  to  the  site  of  the  seminary.  Rockton  and  Rock- 
ford  were  rivals.  It  was  decided  that  Rockton  was  too  near  the  college,  and 
so  Rockford  was  favored.  In  the  Rockford  Forum  of  October  twenty-ninth, 
1845,  there  was  published  a  call  for  a  meeting  in  the  Methodist  Church  Novem- 
ber third.  The  call  was  signed  by  three  citizens,  headed  by  T.  D.  Robertson. 
At  this  meeting  the  group  resolved  to  raise  $3,500,  the  sum  set  by  the  Beloit 
trustees.  A  committee  was  formed  to  solicit  subscriptions:  Jason  Marsh, 
George  Haskell,  Willard  Wheeler,  Asa  Crosby,  Anson  S.  Miller,  P.  B.  Hop- 
kinson,  and  Horace  Foote.  The  Forum  of  November  fifth  gives  an  account  of 
the  meeting.  The  citizens  pledged  the  amount.  On  February  twenty-fifth, 
1847,  the  charter  of  the  college  wras  given  to  A.  Kent,  D.  Clary,  S.  D.  Stevens, 
A.  L.  Chapin,  R.  M.  Pearson,  G.  W.  Wilcox,  A.  Raymond,  C.  M.  Goodsell, 
E.  H.  Potter,  L.  G.  Fisher,  Wait  Talcott,  C.  S.  Hempstead,  and  Samuel  Hin- 
man  as  incorporators.  The  board  of  trustees  was  to  be  sixteen  with  the  power 
to  increase  to  twenty-four.  Disasters  in  the  village  at  this  time  prevented  the 
further  development  of  the  enterprise. 

On  June  eleventh,  1849,  Miss  Anna  P.  Sill  wdio  had  come  from  New  York 
state  to  Rockford  at  the  invitation  of  the  Rev.  L.  H.  Loss  and  in  the  hope 
that  the  school  that  she  had  planned  would  develop  into  the  projected  seminary, 
opened  her  school  in  the  old  courthouse  building  on  North  Second  Street. 
It  had  been  begun  for  the  First  Congregational  Church,  and  had  been  occupied 
by  several  churches.  This  preparatory  school  which  was  under  local  manage- 
ment, was  the  forerunner  of  the  college.  Miss  Sill  was  assisted  by  the  Misses 
Hannah  and  Eliza  Richards.  The  trustees  were  the  Reverend  L.  H.  Loss, 
Jason  Marsh,  Anson  S.  Miller,  C.  A.  Huntington,  and  S.  M.  Church.  Most 
of  the  pupils  were  under  ten  years  of  age.  The  opening  of  this  school  was 
impetus  to  the  plans  for  the  seminary  which  was  assured  to  Rockford  in  1850 


498  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

by  pledges  of  six  thousand  dollars  for  the  site  and  buildings.     Of  this  amount 
the  ladies  of  the  city  raised  one  thousand  dollars  for  the  site. 

For  two  years  Miss  Sill  conducted  her  school  independently.  In  1851  the 
trustees  of  Beloit  recognized  the  preparatory  school  as  a  department  of  Rock- 
ford  Female  Seminary  under  a  charter  already  obtained.  Full  preparatory 
and  college  courses  were  defined  and  in  September,  1851,  fifteen  students  were 
admitted  upon  examination  to  the  college  class.  Seven  of  the  fifteen  were 
graduated  in  1854,  and  half  a  century  later  the  unbroken  group  attended  the 
semi-contennial  celebration.  On  July  fifteenth,  1852,  the  corner  stone  of  the 
first  building  was  laid  by  the  Rev.  Aratus  Kent,  the  president  of  the  board 
of  trustees,  of  Galena.  He  was  a  brother  of  Germanicus  Kent,  who  made  the 
first  settlement  in  the  city. 

Even  after  the  first  building,  now  known  as  Middle  Hall,  had  been  erected, 
the  seminary  was  overcrowded.  A  hundred  applicants  were  refused  admission. 
The  resources  of  the  city  were  exhausted,  and  Miss  Sill's  health  was  in  a 
precarious  condition.  She  went  East  for  the  double  purpose  of  recuperating 
and  raising  more  funds.  The  East  had  been  generous  in  the  first  appeal  for 
funds,  and  this  time  contributed  about  $5,000.  With  this  sum  the  foundations 
of  a  new  building  were  laid,  and  money  to  complete  it  was  borrowed.  Through 
Miss  Sill's  personal  efforts  about  $10,000  was  raised  in  the  "West,  the  teachers 
contributing  $1,000  out  of  their  meager  salaries.  The  erection  of  Middle  Hall 
in  1852  was  followed  in  1854  by  the  building  of  Linden  Hall,  named  after 
the  home  of  Mrs.  "William  Bannister,  of  Newburyport,  Massachusetts,  who 
gave  largely  to  the  college.  Mrs.  Bannister  as  Miss  Zilpah  Grant  was  well 
known  in  the  educational  world  of  the  '30s,  '40s,  and  '50s.  She  was  a  teacher 
in  the  school  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Emerson  in  Ryefield,  Massachusetts,  and 
there  first  came  into  contact  with  -Mary  Lyon,  the  founder  of  Mount  Holyoke, 
upon  whom  she  had  a  strong  influence.  Later  she  and  Miss  Lyon  conducted  a 
famous  school  in  Ipswich,  Massachusetts.  When  the  question  came  as  to  who 
should  go  out  and  collect  the  funds  of  the  seminary  which  was  founded  at 
South  Hadley,  Miss  Grant  stayed  at  the  school  and  encouraged  and  advised 
Miss  Lyon  in  her  work.  She  was  the  power  behind  Mount  Holyoke.  Later 
she  married  the  Hon.  William  Bannister,  and  the3r  both  gave  largely  to  edu- 
cational enterprises.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Rev.  Joseph  Emerson  who 
so  strongly  influenced  Mrs.  Bannister  and  Miss  Lyon  was  closely  related  to 
the  Emerson  family  which  has  given  Rockford  such  splendid  aid. 

In  1866  Chapel  Hall  and  the  connecting  corridor  with  Middle  were  be- 
gun. In  five  years  followed  the  connecting  corridor  between  Middle  and 
Linden.  Each  of  these  connecting  corridors  is  a  four-story  building.  The 
entire  amount  expended  on  these  early  buildings  was  approximately  $75,000, 
of  which  Rockford  gave  about  two-thirds. 

In  the  winter  of  1866  Sill  Hall  was  completed.  It  was  built  at  a  cost  of 
about  $15,000  from  funds  donated  almost  entirely  by  citizens  of  Rockford. 
This  completes  the  number  of  buildings  erected  in  Miss  Sill's  lifetime. 

In  the  fall  of  1892  Addams  Hall  costing  about  $35,000  was  opened.  Of 
this  sum  Mr.  J.  L.  Addams,  of  Chicago,  contributed  a  large  portion.  The 
remainder  was  given  chiefly  by  Rockford  people.  Miss  Jessie  I.  Spafford,  then 
a   professor  in  the  college,   was  a  prime  factor   in  this  movement.     Addams 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  499 

Hall  contains  ;i  number  of  class  rooms,  all  the  laboratories,  the  art  studio  on 
the  top  floor,  and  rest  rooms  for  the  day  students.  In  1891  Emerson  Hall 
was  given  as  a  memorial  to  Ralph  Emerson,  Jr.,  by  Mr.  William  A.  Talcott 
and   Mr.   Ralph  Emerson,  Sr. 

Miss  Sill,  having  become  the  first  principal  of  the  seminary,  held  the  posi- 
tion until  sbe  resigned  in  the  summer  of  1884  after  thirty-five  continuous 
years  of  service.  As  Principal  Bmerita  she  retained  her  connection  with  the 
school  until  she  died  in  1889,  within  the  walls  of  the  institution  to  which  she 
had  given  the  best  years  of  her  splendid  life.  "This  (Rockford  College)  is 
her  monument  ;  with  this  her  name  and  memory  will  be  inseparably  associated, 
;is  the  name  of  .Mary  Lyon  is  associated  with  Mount  Ilolyoke,"  said  the  Rev. 
Henry  M.  Goodwin  in  his  funeral  discourse.  "The  work  of  Miss  Sill  in  con- 
nection with  Rockford  Female  Seminary  was  twofold,  requiring  a  twofold 
character.  First — the  outward  and  visible  work  of  organizing,  building  up 
and  establishing  the  Seminary  on  a  solid  and  permanent  basis.  Secondly — 
the  invisible,  moral  and  spiritual  work  of  teaching,  of  training  and  moulding 
the  mind  and  character  of  the  pupils.  Few  are  endowed  with  the  qualities 
requisite  for  both  these  kinds  of  work — with  the  executive  and  administrative 
ability  needful  for  the  first,  and  the  intellectual  and  moral  endowments  neces- 
sary for  the  second." 

Miss  Sill  was  followed  by  Miss  Martha  Hillard  who  was  principal  from 
1884  to  1888.  Her  personality  greatly  increased  the  social  power  of  the 
seminary  both  at  home  and  abroad.  Keen  regret  was  felt  when  she  resigned 
to  marry. 

Miss  Anna  Gelston  was  next  in  succession,  but  her  fragile  health  compelled 
her  to  resign  after  only  two  years. 

In  1890  Miss  Sarah  Anderson  became  acting  principal,  and  in  1891  prin- 
cipal, which  position  she  continued  to  occupy  until  1896  when  she  resigned 
to  marry.  .MLs  Anderson  was  graduated  from  the  normal  department  of  the 
seminary  in  1869,  and  for  many  years  had  been  financial  manager  of  the 
seminary.  Her  wise  financial  policy  was  the  striking  feature  of  her  admin- 
istration. The  whole  alumnae  knew  her  well,  and  were  deeply  attached  to 
her.  Through  her  efforts  and  those  of  Miss  Jane  Addams  who  went  abroad 
with  her  an  unusually  fine  collection  of  photographs  as  made  for  the  ait 
department. 

When  Miss  Anderson  resigned  in  1896  Miss  Phoebe  T.  Sutliff  became  pres- 
ident of  Rockford  College,  and  held  that  position  until  1901.  She  bent  her 
efforts  toward  raising  the  scholastic  standard  of  the  college,  and  as  a  result 
the  whole  tone  of  the  institution  improved  in  this  direction.  Her  remarkable 
scholarship  and   her   power  as  a  speaker  will   long  be   remembered    in    the   city. 

It  should  be  noted  here  that  for  some  time  in  the  past  the  trustees  had 
been  endeavoring  to  make  Rockford  a  woman's  college  of  first  rank.  In  1882 
a  collegiate  course  of  study  was  added  to  the  seminary  curriculum,  and  since 
ISS'J  students  who  have  completed  that  course  have  been  given  the  A.  B.  degree. 
In  June  1891  the  board  decided  to  discontinue  the  seminary  course,  and  in 
1892  the  name  as  changed  from  Rockford  Female  Seminary  to  that  of  Rock- 
ford College  that   it   mdghl   the  more  accurately  represent   the  work  being  done. 

Vol.  1     81 


500  THE  KOCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

The  last  seminary  graduates  belong  to  the  class  of  1895.  Beginning  with 
1896  all  graduates  have  been  of  the  college. 

When  Miss  Sutliff  resigned  in  1901  Miss  Emily  K.  Reynolds  was  elected 
president.  Her  health  unfortunately  broke  down  before  she  had  more  than 
begun  her  work,  and  she  was  obliged  to  leave  Rockford  within  two  or  three 
months.  During  this  short  space  of  time,  however,  she  succeeded  in  making 
her  influence  felt  through  establishing  the  student  self-government  system 
in  the  college. 

The  foregoing  part  of  this  chapter,  with  the  exception  of  the  opening  para- 
graph, is  taken  from  a  survey  of  the  history  of  the  institution  written  for  a 
Rockford  trade  paper  (The  Buzz-Saw )  in  1924,  by  Professor  Cederborg  of 
the  faculty  of  the  college.  The  ensuing  portion  has  been  prepared  by  other 
members  of  the  faculty. 

On  the  retirement  of  Miss  Reynolds,  Miss  Julia  H.  Gulliver  was  elected 
president.  Professor  Gulliver  came  to  the  college  in  1890  as  head  of  the  de- 
partment of  philosophy  and  biblical  literature  and  continued  after  she  was 
elected  president  as  professor  of  ethics  and  biblical  literature  until  1912.  Miss 
Gulliver  was  connected  with  the  college  in  various  capacities  for  almost  thirty 
years,  retiring  in  1919  as  president  emerita.  The  college,  like  many  in  the 
Middle  West,  was  just  beginning  in  1902  to  express  itself  as  a  college.  It 
had  but  50  students  of  college  grade ;  33  more  were  enrolled  in  the  academy 
and  22  listed  as  music  and  art  students.  There  were  8  graduates  in  June, 
1902,  and  there  was  a  faculty  and  business  staff  combined  of  20.  In  1918- 
1919,  there  were  194  college  students;  the  average  number  of  graduates  from 
1912  to  1919  was  15.  In  1902  its  endowment  fell  short  of  $100,000,  while 
the  records  show  that  $28,000  as  available  for  student  aid.  In  ]  918-1919 
the  endowment  had  been  raised  to  slightly  over  $200,000.  It  was  during  Miss 
Gulliver's  presidency  that  the  John  Barnes  dormitory  was  erected  and  a  $40,000 
memorial  fund  acquired  in  honor  of  John  Barnes  who  had  served  the  institu- 
tion as  trustee  and  friend  in  many  volunteer  capacities  from  1898  to  1916. 
Between  1909  and  1912  the  last  vestiges  of  the  preparatory  department  dis- 
appeared. A  notable  development  of  the  curriculum  was  the  addition  of  a 
number  of  practical  arts  subjects,  such  as  home  economics,  secretarial  work, 
library  science,  practice  teaching  in  special  subjects,  and  a  department  of  edu- 
cation. The  receipts  of  the  college  jumped  from  $31,000  in  1902  to  $132,000 
in  1919,  but  unhappily  receipts  did  not  keep  pace  with  expenditures  as  the 
operation  loss  from  1917  to  1920  was  $20,000. 

It  was  during  this  period  that  the  college  was  placed  on  various  lists  of 
standard  institutions  of  higher  learning- — that  of  the  North  Central  Associa- 
tion of  Colleges  and  Secondary  Schools,  1906 ;  Board  of  Regents  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  1915 ;  Class  A  at  the  University  of  Illinois,  1916 ;  the  Associa- 
tion of  University  Women,  1918 ;  and  in  1919,  the  Association  of  American 
Universities. 

In  1919,  William  Arthur  Maddox  accepted  the  presidency  of  the  college, 
coming  from  a  professorship  at  Columbia  University.  A  young  man,  he  had 
nevertheless  had  fifteen  years'  experience  as  an  educator  and  executive.  In 
his  junior  year  in  the  College  of  William  and  Mary  he  had  made  a  study  of 
Professor  John   Dewey's  early   experiments  at  the   University  of  Chicago   in 


TYPICAL  BUILDINGS  OF  ROCKFORD  COLLEGE 
Upper:   Adams  Hall.     Lower:   Lathrop  Hall 


502  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

the  development  of  method  as  applied  to  curriculum  and  class-room  procedure. 
As  student  supervisor  of  method  in  the  model  or  practice  school  connected 
with  the  department  of  education  at  William  and  Mary,  his  success  led 
to  an  appointment  to  the  principalship  of  a  grammar  school  at  Portsmouth, 
Virginia,  and  a  year  thereafter  to  the  principalship  of  the  county  high  school. 
There  he  established  in  connection  with  the  high  school  a  training  school  for 
teachers  for  country  schools,  among  the  first  in  the  state.  Thus  the  few  years 
immediately  after  his  graduation  from  college  were  spent  in  the  field  which 
he  has  ever  since  cultivated,  that  is,  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  teaching. 
As  superintendent  of  schools  in  Henrico  County,  Virginia,  in  1907,  he 
supervised  from  the  beginning  the  experiment  in  negro  rural  school  and  com- 
munity education  now  known  throughout  the  South  as  the  "Henrico  Plan" 
and  supported  by  the  General  Education  Board  in  many  counties  in  the  south- 
ern states.  This  plan  originally  consisted  of  the  employment  of  a  negro  woman 
teacher  of  many  years'  country  school  experience  who,  under  the  guidance  of  Su- 
perintendent Maddox,  devoted  her  time  to  visiting  negro  schools  and  negro  com- 
munities, organizing  parent-teacher  associations,  junior  associations,  introducing 
industrial  arts  into  the  grades,  teaching,  in  short,  adults  and  children  to  live  more 
efficiently  and  hence  more  happily;  in  other  words,  attempting  to  do  for  the 
isolated  negro  country  folk  what  Tuskegee  and  Hampton  were  doing  for  negro 
leadership  and  for  the  higher  schools.  Henrico  County  is  the  metropolitan 
area  surrounding  the  city  of  Richmond  and  had,  before  annexation  of  large 
sections  of  that  city,  a  larger  school  population  than  "Winnebago  County  in 
Illinois  now  has.  The  work  with  negroes  was,  of  course,  only  one  side  of  the 
superintendency.  The  young  superintendent's  development  of  the  plan  finally 
led  to  the  establishment  of  a  country  high  school  for  colored  youth,  one  of 
the  first  negro  consolidated  country  public  high  schools  equipped  with  dormi- 
tories in  the  South.  This  was  a  notable  piece  of  work,  worthy  a  spiritual 
descendant  of  Thomas  Jefferson.  From  such  fruitful  work  in  his  native  State 
and  three  years'  teaching  at  the  Farmville  State  Teachers  College,  he  was 
called,  after  further  graduate  study  at  Columbia  University,  to  the  State  Normal 
School  at  Oswego,  New  York,  as  director  of  professional  training.  Here  he 
led  in  the  reorganization  of  the  old  "Oswego  Plan"  of  teacher  training  which 
in  the  '60s  and  '70s  gave  such  impetus  to  the  founding  of  normal  schools  in 
the  Middle  West.  This  accumulation  of  experience  and  achievement  was  rec- 
ognized in  his  appointment,  in  1915,  to  an  assistant  professorship  at  Teachers 
College,  Columbia  University,  where  his  time  was  divided  in  teaching  between 
philosophical  aspects  in  the  history  of  education  and  practical  courses  in  the 
application  of  the  principles  of  method.  (See  his  book,  The  Free  School  Idea 
in  Virginia  Before  the  Civil  War,  1917,  and  his  chapter  on  Development  of 
Method  in  Kandel,  Twenty-five  Years  of  American  Education.  Macmillan, 
1924.)  Here  he  participated  in  the  Columbia  College  faculty  study  of  essen- 
tials of  culture  which  led,  in  1917,  to  the  War-Aims  courses,  and  later,  to 
the  pioneer  course  at  Columbia  University  known  as  Contemporary  Civiliza- 
tion, a  forerunner  of  the  "orientation  courses"  for  freshmen.  President  Mad- 
dox is  one  of  the  few  college  presidents  in  the  United  States  who  arc  specialists 
in  educational  history  and  the  theory  and  practice  of  teaching.    In  consequence, 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  503 

he  has  had  frequent  invitations  in  the  course  of  his  service  at  Rockforcl  to 
go  to  other  fields  where  such  a  specialist  is  needed. 

Rockford  College  in  11)19  needed  an  educational  expert  with  a  sound  phi- 
losophy of  education  and  a  special  knowledge  of  the  contributions  of  modern 
psychology  to  educational  philosophy  and  practice.  It  needed  a  man  who  could 
attract  to  the  college  as  teachers  men  and  women  interested  in  these  progres- 
sive ideals  and  willing  to  study  the  problem  of  adjusting  the  liberal  arts 
college,  and  specifically  the  woman's  college,  to  a  changing  world,  in  which 
heavy  and  well-nigh  overwhelming  demands  are  made  upon  those  individuals 
who  have  had  the  privilege  of  higher  education.  In  President  Maddox  the 
college  found  a  man  who  met  these  needs,  equipped  on  both  the  practical  and 
scholarly  sides,  and  who  brought  to  his  task  a  generous  enthusiasm  for  the 
problems  of  education  of  women  as  the  mothers  and  teachers  of  the  next  gen- 
eration and  as  leaders  in  their  communities. 

But  the  years  following  the  World  war  presented  a  problem  more  pressing 
than  educational  progress.  Mounting  costs  during  the  war  years,  deprecia- 
tion of  plant  and  resources  that  could  not  be  avoided,  and  deficits  that  could 
not  be  prevented,  created  a  desperate  situation  for  Rockford  as  it  did  for 
many  a  small  college.  The  financial  problem  must  find  solution  or  all  was 
lost.  Interest  in  the  college  was  low;  the  city  of  Rockford  had  to  be  con- 
vinced of  its  asset  in  the  college.  The  very  life  of  Rockford  College  was  at 
stake.  If  it  was  to  go  forward  at  all,  it  needed  reorganization  and  competent 
guidance  under  a  trained,  experienced  leader.  In  the  appointment  of  the  new 
president  and  the  cooperation  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  leading  alumnae  and 
friends  of  the  college,  and  the  city  with  him,  the  solution  was  found.  The 
result  has  been,  as  one  observer  put  it,  "a.  spectacular  but  substantial"  de- 
velopment as  revealed  in  the  following  facts: 

Material  Growth :  Great  strides  have  been  made  on  the  financial  and  ma- 
terial side.  Since  1919  Rockford  has  invested  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  million 
dollars  in  new  buildings,  equipment,  repairs,  and  renovations.  In  addition 
to  this,  it  has  raised  its  endowment  fund  for  maintenance  alone  from  $200,000 
to  the  minimum  required  for  standard  colleges  for  1927 — $600,000 — thus  tripling 
its  endowment  in  six  years.  This  endowment  goal  was  not  reached  until  an 
accumulated  deficit  of  $50,000  was  removed,  all  improvements  paid  for,  and 
the  faculty  salary  budget  raised  from  $38,000  to  over  $100,000.  In  1916  the 
college  was  given  a  share,  $256,000,  in  the  Hobart  W.  Williams  Student  Aid 
Foundation;  in  1921  the  Mary  I.  and  Anna  Beattie  bequest  added  $50,000 
for  student  aid,  enlarging  the  student  aid  endowment  to  $356,000  in  all.  The 
total  endowment,  therefore,  for  maintenance  and  student  aid  is  now  $856,000, 
and  when  all  pledges  are  complete  it  will  be  $950,000. 

Financial  Support:  Since  1919  the  college  has  acquired  the  following  sums, 
or  will  have,  with  the  fulfillment  of  pledges  made,  by  May  1,  1926:  1920 
Expansion  Fund,  $180,000;  John  T.  Buckbee,  $50,000;  Beattie  student  aid 
bequest,  $50,000;  General  Education  Board  gift  for  salaries,  $30,000;  1924 
Endowment  Fund,  $190,000;  1924  General  Education  Board  gift,  $135,000;  a 
total  of  $635,000  in  seven  years. 

The  Faculty:  Expansion  of  the  facilities  and  service  and  the  increased 
enrollment  has,  of  course,  made  necessary  an  expansion  of  the  teaching  and 


504  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

administrative  staff,  which  has  grown,  in  the  years  of  President  Maddox's 
service,  from  40  in  1919  to  59  in  1925.  There  are  now  twenty-nine  teaching 
members  on  the  staff  of  professorial  rank  as  compared  to  fifteen  in  1919.  Of 
this  number  eleven  hold  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy ;  fourteen  are  mem- 
bers of  Phi  Beta  Kappa  or  Sigma  Xi,  not  to  mention  those  who  hold  member- 
ship in  Phi  Kappa  Phi  and  a  number  of  other  honorary  societies. 

Expansion  of  Plant  and  Equipment:  More  than  $250,000  has  been  spent 
since  1920  on  the  plant  and  equipment.  Lathrop  Hall  with  its  modern  swim- 
ming pool,  class-rooms  and  dormitory  rooms  was  finished  in  1921.  It  was  named 
in  honor  of  a  member  of  the  first  class  of  the  Seminary,  Adeline  Potter  Lathrop 
and  Julia  Lathrop  and  Edward  P.  Lathrop.  Emerson  Hall,  a  large  brick 
house  given  to  the  college  in  1891  by  William  A.  Talcott  and  Ralph  Emer- 
son, Sr.,  was  converted  through  the  generosity  of  Mrs.  E.  P.  Lathrop  and  the 
other  sisters  of  Ralph  Emerson,  Jr.,  for  whom  it  is  named,  into  a  residence 
hall.  In  1920  the  large  frame  building,  Johnson,  next  to  Emerson  was  pur- 
chased, modernized  and  made  into  apartments  for  the  use  of  the  college  staff. 
In  1924,  looking  forward  to  the  time  when  the  campus  will  be  materially  ex- 
tended in  that  direction,  ninety  feet  of  property  facing  Seminary  Street  was 
purchased.  This  property  brought  with  it  two  houses,  one  of  which,  Enders, 
was  made  into  a  cottage  dormitory ;  the  other  and  vacant  lot  are  held  for 
expansion  of  facilities.  During  the  same  year  a  large  dwelling  was  purchased 
from  Mr.  Osborne  and  converted  into  a  cottage  dormitory.  The  Osborne  house 
is  just  opposite  Emerson  Hall  on  Seminary  Street.  The  addition  of  a  large 
solarium,  the  Student  Porch,  to  Middle  Hall,  just  completed,  has  enlarged  the 
space  available  for  formal  and  informal  social  gatherings,  and  other  altera- 
tions and  improvements  in  the  basement  of  the  old  buildings  have  furnished 
several  spacious  class-rooms  and  laboratories.  Laboratory  equipment  has  been 
greatly  augmented.  The  growth  of  the  library  illustrates  progress  in  a  strik- 
ing manner;  in  1919,  it  numbered  six  thousand  volumes;  now  it  has  reached 
twelve  thousand,  and  one  of  the  pressing  needs  of  the  immediate  future  is  a 
building  to  house  them. 

Enrollment  Doubles :  In  the  seven  years  of  the  present  administration, 
the  enrollment  of  students  has  increased  until  it  now  taxes  the  dormitory  and 
teaching  capacity  of  the  college.  More  important  than  mere  numbers  has 
been  the  city's  growing  interest,  the  increase  in  the  numbers  of  former  students 
returning  each  year,  and  in  the  growth  of  the  number  receiving  their  degrees. 
The  following  figures  reveal  the  facts  of  the  progress  in  this  respect: 

Enrollment  by  years:  1918-1919,  190;  1921-1922,  328;  1925-1926,  411, 
doubled. 

The  number  of  old  students  returning:  1919-1920,  73;  1921-1922,  144; 
1925-1926,  230,  doubled. 

Increase  in  city  resident  students :     1919,  34 ;  1926,  137. 

The  number  receiving  degrees :     1920,   17 ;  1926,  56. 

The  Number  of  Bachelors'  Degrees  Doubled  in  Eight  Years:  With  the 
class  of  1926,  259  degrees  will  have  been  conferred  in  June  since  the  World 
war  closed.  This  constitutes  just  fifty  percent  (50%)  or  half  the  entire  num- 
ber of  degrees  granted  in  the  history  of  the  institution. 

Liberal  Education  Extended  to  City  of  Rockford :     More  than  1,300  city 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  505 

adult  residents  have  enrolled  in  seven  years  for  college  courses  specially  de- 
signed for  them.  This  city  service  is  in  spite  of  limited  time  of  the  regular 
faculty  for  such  offerings.  The  Art  Department  of  Extension  is  cooperating 
with  the  city's  large  Art  Association,  giving  the  only  class  art  instruction  in 
Rockford.  The  music  department  maintains  four  artists  but  must  limit  its 
offerings  to  adults  outside  the  college  to  about  100,  so  great  is  the  demand  within 
it.  The  college,  too,  has  led  in  religious  education.  In  1923,  President  Maddox 
secured  a  specialist  in  this  field  and  helped  him  organize  an  interdenomina- 
tional Sunday  School  Training  School,  the  first  in  the  city,  which  enrolled  165 
superintendents  and  teachers  of  many  churches  for  a  ten-weeks'  course  in  three 
to  five  subjects. 

College  Objective  Defined:  Despite  its  recent  success,  Rockford  College's 
present  administration  is  determined  to  remain  a  "small  college"  in  size  and 
function  in  the  sense  that  term  was  used  forty  years  or  more  ago.  By  the 
same  methods  that  have  been  pursued  in  recent  years,  the  capacity  of  the 
college  could  be  extended  and  the  student  body  increased  to  one  thousand  in 
a  short  time,  but  such  an  increase  would  be  at  the  sacrifice  of  some  of  the 
ideals  that  are  giving  the  college  national  significance  among  thinking  people 
who  are  aware  of  the  advantages  for  young  people  of  study  in  a  group  small 
enough  to  preserve  some  of  the  intimate  relationships  of  the  family.  Com- 
petition with  the  state  universities  is  no  part  of  the  plan  of  the  present  ad- 
ministration of  the  college.  The  large  institutions  have  unequalled  oppor- 
tunities for  offering  special  training  to  the  mature  student.  The  small  liberal 
arts  college,  on  the  other  hand,  has  unequalled  opportunities  for  giving  the 
student  a  general  introduction  to  his  spiritual  inheritance  and  a  chance  to 
develop  his  powers  of  appreciation  and  leadership  to  the  enrichment  of  his 
own  life  and  to  the  enhancement  of  his  usefulness  to  the  world  in  any  field 
in  which  he  may  specialize. 

Community  and  College  Life:  Rockford  College  is,  as  every  small  college 
should  be,  a  closely  knit  community  in  itself.  Any  student  can  know  all  her 
fellow-students,  and  may  choose  her  friends  on  the  basis  of  common  interest. 
Teachers  and  students  are  friends  and  have  many  contacts  outside  the  class- 
room. Interest  in  the  problems  of  the  college  is  diffused  throughout  the  student 
body  and  is  keen  among  upper-classmen,  who  have  especial  responsibilities 
for  the  Self  Government  Association,  for  the  direction  of  organizations  and 
clubs,  and  for  the  management  of  student  publications.  No  student  in  Rock- 
ford is  deprived  of  abnndant  opportunity  for  valuable  experience  in  extra- 
curricular activities. 

The  social  life  of  the  college  community,  besides  being  the  special  concern 
of  the  dean  of  women,  is  organized  through  the  Tolo  Club,  1906,  to  which 
any  student  is  eligible  for  membership.  Its  object  is  to  unite  the  energies  of 
the  students  along  social  and  recreative  lines.  Informal  parties  are  of  frequent 
occurrence,  and  three  formal  gala  occasions  traditional  at  Rockford  are  man- 
aged by  Tolo,  namely,  the  Hallowe'en,  Washington,  and  May  Parties.  Every 
student,  upon  entering  the  college,  becomes  a  member  of  the  Student  Self- 
Government  Association  and  is  under  obligation  to  cooperate  with  the  admin- 
istration and  with  her  fellow  students  in  observing  the  social  regulations  and 
maintaining  the  standards  of  the  group.     The  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 


506  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

sociation  was  organized  in  1923  to  serve  the  religious  life  of  the  college,  and 
the  Athletic  Association  sponsors  such  annual  events  as  Field  Day,  an  indoor 
meet,  a  swimming  meet,  and  the  tennis  tournaments. 

The  health  of  the  students  is  under  the  care  of  the  college  physicians,  and 
since  1920  the  college  infirmary  has  been  under  the  supervision  of  a  resident 
registered  nurse.  The  staff  of  the  department  of  Physical  Education  has  been 
increased  from  one  to  three  since  1919 ;  and  such  facilities  for  exercise  and 
recreation  as  the  hockey  field,  the  gymnasium,  tennis  courts,  and  the  swimming 
pool,  installed  in  1920  as  the  gift  of  Duncan  Forbes  of  Rockford  in  memory 
of  his  father  and  mother,  are  a  delight  to  the  whole  college. 

The  intellectual  life  of  the  college  remains  the  chief  concern  of  the  ad- 
ministration and  the  faculty,  and  indeed  of  the  students  themselves,  when  they 
have  caught  the  spirit  of  their  college. 

Picking  and  Choosing  Freshmen :  Before  a  young  woman  is  admitted  to 
Rockford  from  an  accredited  high  school,  she  must  be  formally  recommended 
by  the  principal  as  having  ranked  not  lower  than  the  middle  third  of  her  class, 
preferably  in  the  upper  third;  as  having  shown  leadership  outside  the  class- 
room, as  having  a  good  record  for  health,  intellectual  interest,  truthfulness, 
industry,  and  social  adaptation.  Thus  is  insured  a  body  of  students  who  are 
capable  of  improving  the  opportunities  of  the  college  years.  All  freshmen 
are  enrolled  for  an  Orientation  Course,  worked  out  during  several  years  of 
faculty  conference  and  projected  in  1919,  established  in  1924-1925,  during  their 
first  year,  the  purpose  of  which  is  to  enable  them  to  get  their  bearings  in  the 
world  of  thought  and  human  achievement,  and  to  know  better  how  to  choose 
their  courses  in  the  remaining  years.  Study,  not  drifting  or  cramming  or 
going  perfunctorily  through  the  routine  of  required  courses,  is  the  central 
activity  of  a  student  no  matter  what  her  future  occupation  may  be.  The 
Socratic  Honor  Society,  founded  in  1920,  has  for  its  purpose  the  recognition 
of  high  scholarship.  Election  is  based  not  only  upon  class-room  work  but  upon 
evidence  shown  by  the  student  in  the  community  that  she  is  really  interested 
in  intellectual  things  and  in  serving  the  life  of  the  spirit. 

Education  Through  Activities:  Many  of  the  clubs  and  extra-curricular 
enterprises  give  the  student  opportunity  to  use  the  intellectual  power  she  has 
gained  in  study  for  the  service  of  the  college  community.  Among  these  are 
the  Social  Service  Club,  the  Dramatic  Club,  the  International  Relations  Club, 
the  Debating  Club,  and  the  student  publications  (comprising  a  weekly  paper, 
a  literary  magazine,  and  an  "annual"),  the  custom  of  a  weekly  "student 
chapel,"  and  so  on  through  a  great  variety  of  organized  effort,  most  of  which 
has  been  established  in  the  last  seven  years. 

The  Corporation  of  Rockford  College :  Rockford  College  is  an  independent, 
privately  endowed  college  without  affiliation  with  any  body  or  church  denomi- 
nation. The  corporation  consists  of  a  self-perpetuating  Board  of  Trustees. 
The  personnel  in  1926  is  as  follows:  Edward  P.  Lathrop,  Mrs.  Walter  A. 
Forbes,  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Gordon,  Raymond  L.  Grantz,  Mrs.  A.  L.  Tucker, 
Mrs.  H.  Stanton  Burpee,  Thomas  Barney  Thompson,  Harry  A.  Severson,  Mrs. 
Charles  E.  Herrick,  Webb  C.  Stevens,  Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch,  Mrs. 
H.  W.  Buckbee,  the  Hon.  Frank  0.  Lowden,  G.  J.  Boehland,  Charles  J.  Lund- 
berg,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Talcott  McMenemy,  John  S.  Barnes,  Norman  E.  Catlin, 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  507 

.AIis.  [sabelle  Snukert  Derby,  President  William  A.  Maddox,  former  Mayor 
W.  W.  Bennett,  Miss  Alice  May  Dobson,  and  George  0.  Forbes.  The  college 
alumnae  are  represented  on  this  Board  for  three-year  terms  by  Mesdames  Tucker 
and  Buckbee  and  Miss  Dobson ;  Mesdames  McCulloch,  Burpee,  Herrick  and 
Derby  are  also  graduates  of  the  college. 

Edward  P.  Lathrop,  grandson  of  one  of  the  founders,  son  of  a  graduate 
of  the  first  class  of  the  Seminary,  and  brother  of  Miss  Julia  Lathrop,  has 
for  ten  years  been  president  of  this  body.  John  S.  Barnes,  son  of  that  John 
P>arnes  whose  name  is  given  one  of  the  main  dormitories  of  the  college,  is 
vice-president.  Norman  E.  Catlin  is  secretary,  and  Mrs.  H.  Stanton  Burpee 
is  treasurer.  The  executive  committee  consists  of  Mr.  Lathrop,  President  Mad- 
dox, Mrs.  McCulloch,  Mrs.  Burpee,  Mr.  Stevens  and  Mr.  Barnes.  Mrs.  Cath- 
arine Waugh  McCulloch  has  taken  the  leadership  in  providing  the  Jane  Addams 
Social  Sen-ice  Endowment,  Mrs.  Burpee  acts  as  secretary  of  investments,  and 
.M-'ssrs.  Barnes  and  Stevens  assist  in  questions  of  physical  property,  etc.  Upon 
the  executive  committee  meeting  each  month  devolves  the  actual  work  of  ad- 
ministration and  the  solution  of  all  problems  of  finance  and  policy. 

The  Roll  of  the  Alumnae :  Thus  does  Rockford  College  endeavor  to  train 
the  minds  and  enlarge  the  interests  and  sympathies  of  its  students.  Its  alumnae 
have  carried  its  ideals  into  every  field  in  which  women  are  interested.  The 
roll  of  distinguished  women  among  its  graduates  and  former  students  is  an 
impressive  one.  It  is  significant  of  the  early  work  of  the  Seminary  that  the 
two  names  of  Jane  Addams  of  the  class  of  '81  and  Julia  Lathrop,  1875-1877, 
sometime  trustee,  daughter  of  a  member  of  the  first  graduating  class  of  the 
Seminary,  should  be  selected  by  the  National  League  of  "Women  Voters  as 
representative  of  their  class  among  the  twelve  most  distinguished  women  of 
the  United  States. 

The  college  has  conferred  the  degrees  of  A.  M.,  or  honorary  degrees  of 
A.  M..  on  four  of  its  alumnae:  on  Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch,  whose 
distinguished  career  in  her  profession  of  the  law  has  not  prevented  untiring 
service  to  her  Alma  Mater;  on  Mrs.  Charles  E.  Herrick  of  Chicago,  long  a 
trustee  and  recently  occupying  high  office  in  the  D.  A.  R. ;  on  Mrs.  Seely 
Perry,  a  leader  in  Rockford 's  club  life  for  many  years;  and  on  the  late  Mrs. 
Wm.  A.  Talcott  of  Rockford,  for  sixty  years  a  devoted  friend  of  the  college 
whose  interest  and  effort  justify  title  of  "mother"  to  generations  of  students. 
The  lives  of  these  women  and  of  many  others,  such  as  Caroline  Potter  Brazee, 
'55,  Carmelite  Brewer  Christie,  '71,  Corinne  Williams  Douglas,  '80,  Ella  Brown- 
ing Tucker,  '81,  Anna  Nicholes,  '86,  Blanche  Walker  Burpee,  '95,  Jessie  Bin- 
ford,  '00,  Lorena  M.  Church,  '05,  Helen  Douglas,  '15,  challenge  the  younger 
l-v nerat ion  to  go  out  in  their  spirit  and  labor  in  the  making  of  a  happier  and 
better  world. 

For  about  fifteen  years  after  the  Civil  war,  Rockford  was  more  or  less  at 
a  standstill.  Only  a  few  incidents  are  found  worthy  of  special  mention  in 
the  period  from  1865  to  1880. 

COURTHOUSE    COMPLETED 

Changes  naturally  were  made  in  the  downtown  district  of  interest  to  the 
antiquarian.     The  fall  of  the  courthouse,   .May  11,  1877,  merits  notice  by  the 


510  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

1924— Made  in  Rockford  Products  amount  to  $125,000,000  in  value.  Roose- 
velt Junior  High  School  completed.    Rockford  Civic  Pageant. 

1925 — Rockford  with  214  miles  of  streets  laid  out,  138  miles  of  which  are 
improved.  Abraham  Lincoln  Junior  High  School  contracted.  Estimated  popu- 
lation 83,406.  Three  hospitals  with  335  bed  capacity,  two  sanitariums,  a  mu- 
nicipal sanitarium  with  bed  capacity  of  67.  Twenty  hotels.  Two  theatres 
and  eight  picture  houses.     Bank  deposits  $28,910,376.80. 

MANUFACTURING  GROWTH   OF  ROCKFORD 

The  initial  impetus  to  the  growth  of  Rockford  into  the  second  industrial 
city  of  the  State  of  Illinois  was  given  in  1853  with  the  arrival  of  John  H. 
Manny,  the  inventor.  In  1854,  Wait  and  Sylvester  Talcott  became  associated 
with  him  under  the  name  of  J.  H.  Manny  &  Company.  With  the  addition  of 
Jesse  Blinn  and  Ralph  Emerson  to  the  firm  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  the 
firm  name  became  simply  Manny  &  Company.  Establishing,  the  next  year, 
a  reputation  abroad  for  the  Manny  reaper,  the  inventor  secured  twenty-three 
additional  patents  on  new  devices  for  the  improvement  of  his  invention. 

In  the  fall  of  1855,  Cyrus  H.  McCormick  of  Chicago  began  suit  against 
the  Manny  Company,  claiming  infringement  on  his  patents.  This  case  achieved 
national  renown  not  only  for  the  questions  involved,  but  also,  for  the  national 
reputation  of  the  attorneys  who  became  engaged  in  its  trial. 

Among  the  lawyers  employed  were  Reverdy  Johnson  of  Baltimore,  Edwin  M. 
Stanton  of  Pittsburgh,  and  Abraham  Lincoln  of  Springfield,  Illinois.  The  case 
came  up  in  1857  for  trial  before  Judge  McLean  at  Cincinnati,  in  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court.  Johnson  was  the  counsel  for  McCormick,  while  Lincoln 
was  employed  to  defend  Manny.  Lincoln,  ambitious  to  measure  swords  with 
the  then  famous  Johnson,  had  prepared  himself  with  the  greatest  care.  Upon 
reaching  Cincinnati  Lincoln  was  surprised  and  annoyed  to  learn  that  Edwin 
M.  Stanton,  as  well  as  a  Cincinnati  laAvyer,  had  been  associated  with  him. 

When  the  time  for  the  trial  approached,  the  counsel  for  defense  met  each 
morning  for  consultation.  One  morning,  one  of  the  counsel  moved  that  only 
two  of  them  should  speak  in  the  case.  As  it  had  been  understood  from  the 
first  that  Mr.  Harding  was  to  explain  the  mechanism  of  the  reapers,  the  ac- 
quiescence in  the  proposal  for  only  two  to  speak  during  the  trial  left  the  choice 
to  be  made  between  Lincoln  and  Stanton. 

It  is  "the  custom  of  the  bar,  as  between  counsel  of  equal  standing,  and 
in  the  absence  of  any  action  of  the  client,  for  the  original  counsel  to  speak." 
This  rule  gave  Lincoln  the  precedence.  Stanton,  it  is  reported,  suggested  that 
Lincoln  speak.  Lincoln,  with  natural  modesty,  answered:  "No,  you  speak," 
expecting  all  the  time  that  Stanton  would  refuse.  Stanton,  however,  replied: 
"I  will"  and,  taking  up  his  hat  said  that  he  would  go  and  make  preparations. 

While  acquiescing,  Lincoln  never  recovered  from  his  personal  grief  and 
mortification;  and,  depressed  and  melancholy,  remained  to  the  close  of  the  trial 
without  exhibiting  much  interest  in  the  case.  He  felt  then  and  afterwards 
that  Stanton  had  not  only  been  discourteous  to  him  but  had  purposely  ignored 
him  in  the  case,  treating  him  rudely  and  unkindly. 

Stanton  is  reported  as  having  described  Lincoln  as  "a  long,  lank  creature 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  511 

from  Illinois,  wearing  a  dirty  Linen  duster  Eor  a  coat,  on  the  back  of  which 
the  perspiration  has  splotched  wide  stains  thai  resembled  a  map  of  the  con- 
tinent." Despite  this  hurt  received  from  the  arrogant  Stanton,  Lincoln,  six 
years  later  as  President  of  the  United  States,  searching  for  a  capable  Secretary 
of  War.  appointed  Stanton  for  his  force  of  character  and  ability.  In  doing 
so,  Lincoln  gave  another  evidence  of  his  own  moral  greatness.  In  their  as- 
sociations at  Washington,  in  the  eventful  years  of  the  Civil  war,  Stanton,  after 
many  a  contest,  acknowledged  his  previously  decried  rail  splitter  of  Illinois 
to  bo  America's  uncrowned  Master  of  Men,  himself  included. 

Ida  M.  Tarbell  in  her  "Life  of  Lincoln,"  quoting  from  Ralph  Emerson 
of  Rockford,  one  of  the  firm  of  the  Manny  Company,  gives  another  note- 
worthy incident  of  this  trial.  "Mr.  Stanton  closed  his  speech  in  a  flight  of  im- 
passioned eloquence.  Then  the  court  adjourned  for  the  day  and  Mr.  Lincoln 
invited  me  to  take  a  long  walk  with  him.  For  block  after  block  he  walked 
rapidly  forward,  not  saying  a  word,  evidently  deeply  dejected.  At  last  he 
turned  suddenly  to  me,  exclaiming:  'Emerson,  I'm  going  home.'  A  pause. 
'I  am  going  home  to  study  law.'  'Why,'  I  exclaimed,  'Mr.  Lincoln  you 
stand  at  the  head  of  the  bar  in  Illinois  now!  AYhat  are  you  talking  about?' 
'Ah,  yes,'  he  said,  'I  do  occupy  a  good  position  there  and  I  think  I  can  get 
along  with  the  ways  things  are  done  there  now.  But  those  college-trained  men, 
who  have  devoted  their  whole  lives  to  study,  are  coming  West,  don't  you  see? 
And  they  study  their  cases  as  we  never  do.  They  have  gotten  as  far  as  Cin- 
cinnati now.  They  will  soon  be  in  Illinois.'  Another  long  pause,  then  stop- 
ping and  turning  towards  me,  his  countenance  suddenly  assuming  that  look 
of  strong  determination,  which  those  who  knew  him  best  sometimes  saw  upon 
his  face,  he  exclaimed:  'I  am  going  home  to  study  law!  I  am  as  good  as 
any  of  them  and  when  they  get  out  to  Illinois,  I  will  be  ready  for  them.'  " 

Lincoln  is  reported  to  have  visited  Rockford  once  in  connection  with  the 
case.  It  was  a  hot  summer  day  that  he  sat  with  one  of  the  clients  on  an  old 
log  on  the  bank  of  the  river  and  discussed  the  trial.  The  company  paid  him 
$1,000,  up  to  that  time  his  largest  fee. 

Upon  the  early  death  of  Mr.  Manny  the  inventor,  in  1856,  at  the  age  of 
thirty,  unconcious  of  the  wealth  his  inventions  were  to  bring  to  others,  the 
firm  was  changed  to  Talcott,  Emerson  and  Company.  The  next  year,  William 
A.  Talcott,  son  of  Wait  Talcott,  left  his  studies  in  Beloit  College  to  join  his 
father  in  the  business;  being  admitted  to  the  firm  in  1860.  Later  the  name 
was  changed  to  Emerson  &  Talcott. 

In  1895,  the  name  became  reduced  to  that  of  the  Emerson  Manufacturing 
Company,  which  extended  the  manufacture  of  farm  implements.  It  was  then 
that  Charles  S.  Brantingham,  severing  his  connections  with  the  Nelson  Knitting 
Company,  became  the  secretary  and  manager  of  the  Emerson  Manufacturing 
Company,  having  then  a  capitalization  of  only  $200,000.  By  1899,  the  capital 
became  increased  to  $500,000  and  then  doubled  in  1903. 

After  different  purchases  of  tracts  of  land  and  locations  of  the  plant,  a 
new  location  was  secured,  in  1905,  on  South  Independence  Avenue,  which  now 
comprises  over  two  hundred  acres.  The  EnierM.n-Brantingham  Company  was 
organized  in  October,  1909,  with  the  capital  increased  to  $3,000,000.  The 
capital  stock  was  enlarged  to  $.".().(  100,000  on  July  17.  1912.  with  the  plan   per- 


512  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

fected  for  including,  under  its  ownership,  several  related  plants  from  other 
cities.  This  accomplished,  the  Emerson-Brantingham  Company  became  the 
largest  manufacturing  plant  in  the  city. 

The  new  factories,  along  with  the  continued  growth  of  manufacturing  in 
Rockford,  began  the  use  of  steam  and,  later,  electric  and  gasoline  power;  so 
that  now  few  of  the  present  plants  are  run  by  water  power.  This  has  resulted 
in  a  wider  dispersion  of  the  factories  over  several  sections  of  the  city. 

So  numerous  have  the  diversified  industries  of  Rockford  become  today,  that 
mention  can  be  made  of  only  a  few  which  laid  the  foundation  of  their  re- 
spective  manufactures  in  the  city. 

In  the  leather  industry,  Hess  and  Hopkins  Leather  Company,  taking  its 
rise  under  another  name  in  1866  and  organized  in  1882,  takes  the  precedence 
of  all  others.  The  plant  covers  over  ten  acres  and  employs  more  than  five 
hundred  men. 

The  W.  F.  and  John  Barnes  Company,  founded  in  1872,  has  become  the 
leading  company  manufacturing  iron  and  wood-working  machinery.  The 
"Barnes  drills"  and  "Barnes  lathes"  have  exclusive  features  which  are  much 
demanded  in  the  domestic  and  foreign  trade. 

The  Eclipse  Gas  Stove  Company  is  reported  to  be  the  largest  gas  stove 
plant  in  the  United  States.  Taking  its  origin  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  1855, 
it  was  brought  to  Rockford  by  George  D.  Roper  who  had  secured  all  of  the 
patents  and  rights  of  the  company.  Associating  with  himself  in  the  newly 
organized  company  his  father,  Major  George  S.  Roper,  M.  J.  Green  and  "W.  H. 
Goffrey,  the  business  began  a  remarkable  growth  from  1901,  which  resulted  by 
1915  in  the  establishment  of  a  plant  capable  of  an  output  covering  a  wide 
range  of  appliances  "from  ranges  suitable  for  the  largest  hotel  to  single  burner 
hot  plate,  every  part  of  which  is  made  in  its  own  factory." 

Knitting  has  become  one  of  the  greatest  industries  of  Rockford.  There 
are  now  five  factories  giving  employment  to  over  2,000  operatives,  with  a 
normal  output  of  over  $5,000,000  annually.  To  John  Nelson  and  William 
"W.  Burson  is  given  the  credit  for  Rockford 's  preeminence  in  this  field.  These 
men  started  out  under  the  name  of  Burson  and  Nelson  to  perfect  a  knitting 
machine.  Succeeding,  patents  were  secured  in  1868-70  and  1872-3  and,  on 
July  23,  1870,  the  first  sock  was  knit  by  an  automatic  machine  in  Rockford. 
These  socks  had,  however,  to  be  separated  by  hand  as  they  came  from  the 
machine  joined;  and  the  toes  had  to  be  closed.  Later  other  patents  were  per- 
fected which  enabled  the  firm  to  turn  out  the  "Rockford  Seamless  Socks," 
thus  inaugurating,  in  the  early  '70s,  the  real  beginning  of  what  has  become 
a  great  knitting  industry. 

Other  factories,  each  with  its  own  specialty,  have  since  been  established — 
such  as  the  Nelson  Knitting  Company  in  1890;  the  Rockford  Mitten  and 
Hosiery  Company  in  1885 ;  the  Burson  Knitting  Company  in  1892 ;  the  Forest 
City  Knitting  Company  in  1870 ;  the  Burson  Ziock  and  Brown  Company  in 
1910.    About  2,200  people  are  now  employed  in  the  knitting  industry. 

The  furniture  industrjr  has  come  now  to  outrank  all  others  in  the  city  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  number  of  factories  and  workers  employed.  There  are 
now  38  furniture  factories  employing  over  3,500  workers. 

The  industry  had  its  real  origin  in  1869  when  Andrew  E.  Johnson  began 


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514  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

in  a  small  way,  adding  to  the  partnership  in  1873  the  late  Jonas  Peters  and 
L.  D.  Upson.  Their  factory  was  erected  on  the  site  of  the  Central  furniture 
plant.  Upon  the  retirement  of  his  two  partners,  E.  L.  Herrick  became  as- 
sociated with  the  firm  which  continued  under  the  name  of  Upson  and  Herrick. 
A  fire,  on  January  21,  1877,  destroyed  the  plant. 

The  organization,  in  1876,  of  the  Union  Furniture  Company  not  only  estab- 
lished the  first  big  factory  of  the  city,  but  brought  to  notice  P.  A.  Peterson, 
who  is  recognized  as  being  the  organizing  genius  of  the  furniture  industry  in 
Roekford.  Coming  to  Rockford  from  Sweden  in  1852,  the  same  year  as  Swen 
A.  Johnson,  who  is  often  credited  with  being  the  earliest  Swedish  settler  in 
the  city,  P.  A.  Peterson  joined  Jonas.  Peters,  John  Erlonger,  John  Pehrscn 
and  James  Sundquist  in  the  organization  of  the  Union  Company,  becoming 
himself  its  secretary  and  continuing  in  the  position  for  over  forty  years.  He 
became,  from  time  to  time  thereafter,  the  organizer  and  moving  spirit  in  sev- 
eral other  furniture  companies,  as  well  as  many  other  enterprises  of  vast  mag- 
nitude in  the  city.  He  is  frequently  spoken  of  as  the  most  remarkable  man 
of  the  city.  Left  with  nothing  after  the  panic  of  1893,  his  indomitable  energy 
and  keen  sense  of  honor,  enabled  him  to  retrieve  his  fortune  and  augment  it. 

Naturally,  every  success  in  furniture  manufacture  encouraged  others ;  while 
the  migration  to  the  city  of  an  increasing  number  of  Swedish  and  Norwegian 
settlers  furnished  a  very  satisfactory  labor  supply.  Having  an  acquaintance 
with  the  cooperative  plan  of  industry,  their  leaders  were  encouraged  to  appl}T 
the  system  to  several  of  the  furniture  factories  of  the  city.  While  still  some- 
what continued,  the  tendency  of  recent  years  is  reported  to  be  for  the  industry 
to  become  more  centralized. 

Rockford  today  is  engaged  principally  in  the  manufacture  of  dining-room 
and  library  furniture,  music  cabinets,  mirrors,  hall  seats;  with  one  factory 
making  upholstered  goods  and  two  manufacturing  bed-room  furniture. 

The  Piano  Industry  took  its  origin  in  the  coming  to  Rockford  of  Peter 
Nelson  in  1891  and  his  organization  of  the  Rockford  Piano  Company.  While 
this  factory  was  short  lived,  it  was  succeeded  by  two  others — The  Schumann 
Piano  Company  and  The  Haddorff  Company,  both  of  which  continue  to  be 
important  plants.  The  Haddorff,  organized  in  1903,  is  one  of  the  largest  plants 
devoted  exclusively  to  the  manufacture  of  pianos.  Here  again  we  find  P.  A. 
Peterson  associated  with  C.  A.  Haddorff  and  A.  E.  Johnson  and  having  a  pre- 
dominant control.  The  Schumann  arose  from  the  taking  over  of  the  previously 
established  Barnes  and  Son  Piano  Company  in  1904. 

The  Ingersoll  Milling  Company,  The  Free  Sewing  Machinery,  The  Greenlee 
Brothers  and  Company,  makers  of  wood-workers'  tools,  are  representatives  in 
their  lines. 

The  Barber-Coleman  Company  deserves  especial  mention  not  only  because 
of  its  unique  character,  but  also  for  the  splendid  manner  in  which  the  com- 
pany today  leads  in  the  encouragement  given  to  its  employees  in  the  organ- 
ization of  a  factory  band,  athletic  teams  and  other  associations  for  self-im- 
provement. 

While  organized  earlier,  the  company  began  first,  in  1900,  the  sale  of  a 
hand  knot-tying  implement  for  use  in  cotton  mills.  In  1904,  they  put  on  the 
market  a  warp-tying  machine  also  for  cotton  mills.     Now  their  line  covers  a 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  515 

varied  collection  of  milling  cutters  and  machine  tools  used  by  automobile  manu- 
facturers and  other  shops.     They  employ  a  thousand  or  more  men. 

other  lines,  too  numerous  to  be  mentioned,  have  been  added  from  time  to 
time  until  today,  1926,  Rockford  has  358  manufacturing  establishments;  their 
annual  products  valued  at  $12,425,000,  a  capital  investment  of  $68,562,621, 
and  the  employment  of  approximately  26,000. 

politics  since  1861 

From  the  very  inception  of  the  Republican  party  in  national  politics  to 
1912,  Winnebago  County  as  a  whole,  as  well  as  Rockford  in  particular,  has 
been  consistently  Republican.  Lincoln  carried  the  county  by  a  vote  of  3,985 
against  817  for  Douglas;  while  Richard  Yates  carried  the  county  for  governor 
by  a  vote  almost  five  times  that  cast  for  Allen,  his  Democratic  opponent. 

In  1912,  the  county  repudiated  the  new  state  constitution,  submitted  to 
the  voters,  by  a  vote  of  3,367  against  602  for  the  constitution.  In  that  same 
year,  the  voters  endorsed  the  candidacy  of  General  A.  C.  Fuller  of  Belvidere, 
then  adjutant  general  of  the  state,  for  the  nomination  of  Congressman;  but 
the  delegates  to  the  convention  deserted  Fuller  and  assisted  in  the  nomination 
of  General  John  F.  Farnsworth  of  St.  Charles. 

With  an  early  beginning  of  the  political  activities  of  1864,  the  county  con- 
vention endorsed  Lincoln  and  supported  General  Allen  C.  Fuller,  of  Belvidere 
for  governor.  The  counties  of  central  and  southern  Illinois  supported  General 
Oglesby,  who  was  nominated  and  elected. 

In  1868,  Grant  carried  the  county  by  an  overwhelming  vote,  as  did  John 
M.  Palmer,  Democrat,  for  governor.  In  1872,  Grant  again  carried  the  county, 
but  by  a  reduced  vote.  In  that  same  year  Seymour  G.  Bronson,  then  mayor 
of  Rockford,  was  the  Democratic  candidate  for  Congressman  in  the  Fourth 
district.  General  Stephen  A.  Hurlbut  of  Belvidere  defeated  him.  In  the 
peculiar  election  of  1876,  Hayes  received  4,505  votes  in  the  county  while  Tilden 
received  only  1,568  and  Cullom  for  governor,  Republican,  carried  the  county 
by  practically  the  same  vote  as  Hayes. 

In  1880,  an  unusual  interest  was  shown  in  the  presidential  election,  par- 
tially due  to  the  visit  of  General  Grant  and  his  wife  to  Rockford.  Arriving 
from  the  "West,  they  were  driven  about  the  town  and  then  served  a  dinner  at. 
the  Holland  House  (a  hotel  which  was  destroyed  by  fire  Christmas  Eve,  1896). 
In  the  afternoon,  William  Lathrop  introduced  Grant  to  the  crowd  assembled 
on  the  Courthouse  square.  Grant  made  a  second  visit  to  the  city  September 
1"),  1880,  when  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  A.  Talcott  had  him  as  a  guest  at  their  home. 
An  informal  reception  was  given  to  the  general.  At  the  rally  held  at  the 
Republican  headquarters  on  South  Main  Street  in  the  evening,  Governor  Cul- 
lom, Judge  Taft  and  local  speakers  sat  on  the  platform  with  General  Grant. 
The  principal  address  of  the  evening  was  given  by  Governor  Cullom  and  one 
by  Judge  Taft  followed. 

In  that  same  year  September  28,  Robert  G.  Ingersoll  spoke  at  the  fair 
grounds.  To  hear  the  brilliant  orator,  then  at  the  height  of  his  power  and 
fame,    special   trains   came   in   from   all   directions.     For   two   hours   Ingersoll 

VoJ.  I— S3 


516  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

charmed  the  vast  audience  with  his  wit  and  eloquence.  In  the  fall  Garfield 
carried  the  county  by  a  three  to  one  vote. 

With  the  nomination  of  Blaine  in  1884,  Rockford  and  the  county  began 
an  enthusiastic  advocacy  of  his  candidacy;  although  the  count}',  before  the 
action  of  the  convention,  had  been  pledged  for  General  John  A.  Logan.  In 
the  campaign  Logan  and  General  Oglesby  made  speeches  at  the  fair  grounds. 
Colonel  Clark  E.  Carr  of  Galesburg  and  Carl  Schurz  also  spoke,  as  did  Carter 
Harrison,  then  the  Democratic  mayor  of  Chicago.  Blaine  carried  the  county 
by  a  more  than  two  to  one  vote  over  Cleveland. 

The  Republicans  continued  their  hold  on  the  county  unaltered  even  by 
Bryan's  "16-1"  Campaign  of  1896.  With  the  year  1912  a  different  situation 
arose.  In  that  year,  Illinois  held  its  first  presidential  primary  which  resulted 
in  Theodore  Roosevelt  carrying  the  county  by  a  vote  of  5,888  to  1,399  for  Taft 
and  one  of  1,503  for  Robert  M.  La  Follette.  With  the  nomination  of  Taft 
by  the  Republican  convention  in  Chicago,  and  the  eventual  running  of  Roose- 
velt on  the  "Bull  Moose"  ticket,  Winnebago  County  for  the  first  time  repudiated 
the  Republican  nominee  and  gave  Roosevelt  a  considerably  larger  vote  than 
that  given  both  Wilson  and  Taft  together. 

The  county,  naturally,  experienced  several  rearrangements  in  the  various 
reapportionment  of  representation  in  both  the  State  Legislature  and  in  Con- 
gress. After  the  apportionment  of  1854,  the  Hon.  William  Lathrop,  it  will 
be  recalled,  represented  the  county  in  the  State  Legislature  in  1856 ;  while 
Wait  Talcott  served  the  full  term  of  four  years  as  state  senator  in  1854-1858. 
They  were  followed  at  Springfield  by  Selden  M.  Church,  William  Brown,  Abra- 
ham I.  Enoch  and  Ephraim  Sumner,  General  Allen  C.  Fuller,  John  Early. 
James  M.  Wight,  D.  Emmons  and  others  of  more  recent  dates.  Even  after 
the  passage  of  the  Illinois  minority  representation  act,  the  majority  representa- 
tion of  the  county  in  the  State  Legislature  has  continued  Republican. 

ROCKFORD  AND   MUSIC 

Music  is  decidedly  an  institution  of  Rockford.  From  earliest  days  Rock- 
ford  disclosed  a  spontaneous  love  for  music.  Unusual  has  become  its  prom- 
inence in  the  life  of  the  city. 

In  1841,  David  Merrill  began  his  long  career  as  the  first  singing  schoolteacher. 
While  now  deceased,  he  was  still  living,  in  1904,  at  the  age  of  ninety-two,  in 
Cherry  Valley. 

A  program  of  March  26,  1857,  advertises  the  fourth  grand  concert  of  the 
"Rockford  Musical  Association  at  Concert  Hall."  Daniel  N.  Hood  came  to 
Rockford  in  1858  to  be  identified  for  thirty-seven  years  thereafter  with 
the  musical  circles  of  the  day.  To  him  must  be  assigned  great  credit  for  the 
city's  remarkable  musical  growth.  He  was  always  insistent  on  the  best  musical 
achievement.  Musical  festivals  began  in  the  early  '60s  and  '70s,  first  under 
the  direction  of  Professor  J.  F.  Fargo  and  later,  under  Professor  Hood. 

L.  B.  Starkweather,  in  1863,  became  the  organizer  of  the  Haraionic  Club. 
He  was  a  vocal  teacher  of  training  and  the  first  organist  of  the  First  Con- 
gregational Church. 

In  the  year  1885,  the  Rockford  Choral  Union  was  organized  with  L.  A. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  517 

Torrens  its  musical  director.  Under  his  Leadership,  Haydn's  oratorio  "The 
('[•cation"  was  presented  at  the  opera  house  iii  dune,  1885,  with  nearly  all 
of  the  two  hundred  members  of  the  Choral  Union  singing  in  the  chorus.  The 
Union  gave  other  notable  concerts  and  did  incalculable  service  in  the  extension 
of  local  musical  interest.     It   was  disbanded  in  the  fall  of  1888. 

Upon  the  return  of  Professor  Torrens  to  Rockford  in  1899,  a  choral  society 
was  organized  which  furnished  a  number  of  great  musical  events  to  the  city. 
Of  these  were  the  two  annual  musical  festivals  which  brought  renowned  artists. 
The  concerts  were  held  in  Harlem  Park. 

It  is.  however,  in  the  origin  and  growth  of  the  Mendelssohn  Club  that 
the  musical  life  of  the  city  has  found  its  fullest  expression.  Organized  in 
lv^l  at  the  home  of  Mrs,  Chandler  Starr,  it  announced  at  the  outset  its  object 
to  be  "the  permanent  establishment  of  an  organization  for  the  musical  culture 
of  the  members  and  the  uplifting  of  the  standard  of  music  in  the  City  of 
Rockford."  Holding  its  meetings  at  first  during  the  winter  in  private  homes, 
a  public  hall  soon  became  necessary.  After  several  changes,  the  club  is  now 
conveniently  located  in  its  new  quarters  in  Tebala  Temple,  in  its  own  rooms 
specially  equipped  and  arranged. 

With  an  active  membership  limited  to  fifty,  new  members  are  admitted 
only  when  vacancies  occur,  and  then  only  after  their  proficiency  has  been 
approved  by  the  entire  active  membership.  Two  auxiliary  choruses  are  main- 
tained, one  for  women  and  one  for  men.  There  is  also  a  student  section  of 
over  one  hundred  members. 

The  club  brings  to  Rockford  each  season  a  number  of  the  world's  greatest 
artists.  The  recitals  given  by  the  club  have  become  great  occasions,  not  only 
to  Rockford  but  to  all  of  those  in  the  neighboring  towns  and  cities  who  are 
fortunate  enough  to  be  able  to  enjoy  them.  The  club  is  the  child  of  Mrs. 
Chandler  Starr  whose  motherly  devotion  to  its  development  has  been  constant 
throughout  its  history.  Having  been  almost  continually  its  president  since  its 
organization,  she,  because  of  her  unusual  leadership,  energy,  enthusiasm  and 
administrative  ability,  has  certainly  made  the  Mendelssohn  Club  one  of  the 
greatest  institutions  in  Rockford.  The  club  now  has  a  total  memberhip  of 
various  kinds,  of  1,300.  Other  prominent  leaders  in  the  organization  are  Mrs. 
George  Nelson  Bolt,  Daisy  F.  Scott,  -Mrs.  Nellie  Morrill  and  Maud  Fenlon 
I '.oilman. 

Another  strong  musical  club  is  the  Schumann  Club  of  seventy  members 
whose  creation  was  due  to  the  efforts  of  Mrs.  John  Oberg.  Their  programs 
have  been  wry  productive  of  increased  interest  in  both  vocal  and  instrumental 
music. 

Rockford,  by  reason  of  the  opportunities  given  by  these  and  other  clubs, 
together  with  those  presented  by  the  churches,  has  contributed  several  notable 
artists  to  the  world. 

lis  bands  and  orchestras  have  been  praiseworthy  organizations  ever  since 
the  days  of  the  Civil  war.  Its  Weber  Quartet,  organized  in  1888  at  first  for 
campaign  purposes,  made  such  a  hit  that  it  received  numerous  calls  from  the 
different  parts  of  the  country.  Its  original  members  consisted  of  Myron  E. 
Barnes  firsl  tenor,  Charles  G.  Rogers  second  tenor,  and  L.  J.  West  and  Frank 


518  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

H.  Andrew,  first  and  second  bassos.  For  years  its  tenor,  Myron  E.  Barnes, 
has  been  head  of  the  vocal  department  of  Rockford  College,  the  trainer  of 
numerous  pupils,  and  the  director  of  the  boys'  vested  choir  of  the  Emmanuel 
Episcopal  Church. 

ROCKFORD    PARKS   AND    RECREATIONAL    FACILITIES 

Rockford  is  justly  commended  for  its  fine  park  system  and  recreational  facili- 
ties. The  movement  began  in  1909  by  a  lively  campaign  of  education,  resulting 
in  the  voters,  at  a  special  election,  authorizing  the  creation  of  a  park  district; 
this  to  be  coextensive  with  Rockford  township  with  its  Board  of  Commissioners 
having  the  powers  provided  under  the  State  statute  of  1895. 

Upon  the  election  of  Fred  E.  Carpenter,  Robert  H.  Tinker,  H.  W.  Williams, 
George  D.  Roper  and  Levin  Faust,  as  the  initial  commisvsioners,  the  board  was 
formally  organized  April  20,  1909.  Immediately  they  tackled  the  problem  of 
finances.  As  no  tax  levy  was  available  for  use  and  no  bonds  had  been  nego- 
tiated, the  local  banks  had  to  be  resorted  to  for  a  loan  for  the  immediate  use  of 
the  board.  The  three  banks — the  First  National,  the  Winnebago  National,  and 
the  People's  Bank  and  Trust  Company,  agreed  to  advance  the  sum  of  $47,500. 
This  money  was  to  be  contributed  in  equal  amounts  by  the  three  banks,  at  six 
per  cent  interest  on  notes  personally  guaranteed  by  the  individual  commissioners 
of  the  board. 

Thus  equipped  the  board  went  energetically  about  planning  an  adequate 
park  system  for  the  city.  Its  first  great  acquisition  in  the  initial  year  of  its 
existence,  was  the  purchase  of  the  "Rood  woods,"  which  has  become  the  great 
Sinnissippi  park  of  today.  For  the  first  tract  of  seventy-seven  acres,  the  com- 
missioners paid  $47,500.  Then  on  June  24,  1909,  the  park  commissioners  voted 
a  bond  issue  of  $100,000,  selling  the  same  at  par.  With  the  fund  thus  secured, 
they  paid  their  indebtedness  to  the  banks  and  devoted  the  balance  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  park  system.  Other  tracts  were  added  which  increased  the  entire 
first  cost  of  the  land  of  Sinnissippi  park  to  $73,016.26. 

Sinnissippi  Park  now  contains  over  125  acres.  Its  name  preserves  the 
Indian  name  for  the  Rock  River  and  means  "clear  flowing."  The  park,  today. 
is  provided  with  a  fine  roadway  which  winds  gracefully  through  the  grounds, 
retaining  their  natural  beauties  enriched  by  proper  landscape  gardening.  A 
nine-hole  public  golf  course  of  unusual  excellence,  tennis  courts,  baseball  dia- 
mond, and  splendid  athletic  field,  are  now  provided  in  the  park. 

With  the  transferring  by  the  City  Council,  in  1910  of  the  management  of 
its  thirteen  parks  to  the  park  'commissioners,  the  board  inaugurated  improve- 
ments which  have  resulted  in  the  unified  park  system  of  today. 

In  1911,  the  board  made  its  next  noteworthy  purchase,  that  of  "Lathrop 
woods."  This  tract,  containing  eighty  acres,  was  long  the  property  of  the  late 
Hon.  William  Lathrop,  who  planted,  therein,  many  of  its  remarkably  fine  trees. 
Unusually  numerous  are  the  varieties  of  trees  found  here:  The  linden,  the 
walnut,  ironwood,  elm,  hard  maple,  sycamore  and  haw;  while  among  the 
climbers  are  bittersweet,  clematis,  wild  grape  and  woodbine. 

The  park  has  been  appropriately  named  "Black  Hawk."     Across  the  river 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  519 

and  a  little  north  of  Sinnissippi,  Black  Hawk  has  a  river  frontage  of  three 
thousand  feel  and  already  has  fine  interior  drives  over  its  undulating  surfaces. 
Today  the  Rockford  Park  District  comprises  572  acres,  owned  and  controlled 
by  the  city.  The  most  recent  addition  is  the  Lieutenant  Clayton  C.  Ingersoll 
Memorial  Park  of  150  acres,  including  its  eighteen-hole  public  golf  course. 
There  are  now  seven  parks  having  tennis  courts,  ten  baseball  diamonds,  ten 
trading  pools,  nine  football  fields,  one  new  swimming  pool,  and  numerous  recrea- 
tional  features   provided   in  several  of  the  other  parks. 

LIBRARY   AND   OTHER   INSTITUTIONS 

Rockford  is  justly  proud  of  its  public  library  housed  in  its  own  building 
so  splendidly  located  overlooking  Rock  River.  There  are  numerous  branches 
in  different  parts  of  the  city;  one,  the  Montague  Branch,  in  a  newly  erected 
and  attractive  building.  To  the  Main  Library  an  Industrial  Art  Department 
has  recently  been  added. 

Other  noteworthy  institutions  are  the  Winnebago  County  Home  for  the 
Aged,  the  Working  Girls'  Home,  the  Children's  Home,  the  Winnebago  Farm 
School,  the  Children's  Home  Visiting  Nurse  Association,  the  Rockford  Boys' 
Club  and  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association. 

Rockford  has  shown  its  practical  mastery  of  the  problem  of  the  solicitation 
of  funds  for  the  various  charitable  and  philanthropic  institutions  of  the  city, 
by  the  establishment  of  the  Community  Chest  method  by  which  the  nineteen 
organizations  are  taken  care  of  once  a  year  through  one  concerted  solicitation 
of  funds. 

THE  CITY   PLAN 

Rockford  again  exhibited  its  farsightedness  in  1918  in  the  adoption  of  The 
City  Plan  as  prepared  by  Myron  II.  West  of  the  American  Park  Builders, 
Under  the  chairmanship  of  George  D.  Roper,  the  City  Plan  Commission  engaged 
Mr.  West  to  prepare  a  plan  which  would  suggest  the  best  rearrangement  of 
the  city  in  contemplation  of  its  growth,  within  the  next  fifty  years,  to  a  city  of 
over  two  hundred  thousand  population. 

The  plan  outlines  a  model  city  for  future  Rockford  by  showing  how  to 
remove  the  barrier  of  present  sectionalism  between  the  east  and  west  sides  of 
the  city,  the  rearrangement  of  traffic  and  traction  company  lines  to  relieve 
congestion  in  the  business  district,  the  working  of  a  freight  and  passenger 
terminal  plan  tor  all  the  railroads  entering  Rockford,  the  segregation  of  fac- 
tories in  proper  and  convenient  districts,  the  development  of  a  comprehensive 
park  system  providing  for  a  systematic  distribution  of  parks  and  playgrounds, 
the  beaut itication  of  Rock  River,  and  the  development  of  a  wholesome  and 
well  arranged  workingman's  home  district. 

A  campaign  followed,  which  resulted  in  the  city's  adoption  of  the  plan. 
Too  much  praise  cannot  be  given  to  the  chairman,  other  members  of  the  Com- 
mission, the  newspapers,  and  all  leading  citizens  who  fought  so  bravely  this 
battle  for  the  realization  of  the  Rockford  of  tomorrow. 


520  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

SWEDISH  ELEMENT   IN  POPULATION 

While  Rockford  has  been  called  "a  cosmopolitan,  as  well  as  a  metropolitan" 
city,  with  a  score  of  languages  spoken  on  its  streets,  the  Swedish  element  of 
its  population  is  deserving  of  great  praise  and  attention.  An  adequate  history 
of  this  element  and  its  full  influence  on  the  city's  growth  has  never  been  writ- 
ten. It  ought  to  be  done.  The  brevity  of  the  following  tribute  to  the  Swedish 
population  of  the  city  is  in  no  wise  a  measurement  of  the  author's  estimate  of 
its  great  value.  Years  of  continued  contact  with,  observation  and  study  of  this 
element  have  convinced  the  writer  that  a  volume  only  could  do  justice  to  the 
contributions  of  these  people  to  the  upbuilding  of  Rockford. 

Coming  first  to  the  city  in  1852,  the  Swedish  migration  has  been  steadily 
increasing  since  1865,  until  today  something  like  15,000  to  20,000  of  the  race 
are  resident  in  the  county.  Thoroughly  American  in  spirit,  intelligent,  thrifty, 
progressive  and  of  great  organizing  capacity,  the  Swedish-Americans  have 
influenced  in  a  marked  degree  the  growth  of  industries  in  the  city.  As  pre- 
viously stated,  P.  A.  Peterson  is  one  of  the  most  outstanding  of  their  many 
leaders.  The  hosiery  industry  owes  its  development  greath'  to  the  genius  of 
another  of  the  race,  John  Nelson. 

Today  they  have  a  great  thriving  business  section  of  their  own ;  a  city  of 
distinctive  features  of  which  they  can  well  be  proud.  On  the  other  hand,  they 
enter  whole-heartedly  into  all  worthy  enterprises  of  city-wide  importance. 

Rockford  is  today  a  thriving  industrial  city  of  unusual  educational  and 
musical  advantages,  of  beautiful  well-kept  homes,  splendid  streets,  boulevards, 
parks,  public  buildings  and  a  citizenry  of  unusual  loyalty  to  its  best  develop- 
ment. ■ 

PECATONICA 

The  township  of  Pecatonica  was  settled  in  1835  by  Ephraim  Sumner,  William 
Sumner,  Mrs.  Dolly  Guilford,  Isaac  Hance  and  Elizabeth  Guilford.  The  tracts 
now  covered  by  the  village  of  Pecatonica  were  first  owned  by  Daniel  Reed  and 
William  and  Ephraim  Sumner.  In  1852,  Thomas  D.  Robertson  and  John  A. 
Holland,  of  Rockford,  purchased  interests  in  the  town  plat  and  with  Reed  laid 
out  the  town. 

Erecting  the  first  building  in  the  village  in  1852,  N.  F.  Maynard  opened 
thereon  the  first  grocery  store.  The  Seward  House,  under  the  proprietorship  of 
Sullivan  Daniels,  was  the  first  hotel.  By  September,  1853,  the  Galena  &  Chi- 
cago Union  began  operations  at  the  Pecatonica  station.  In  1853,  a  turnpike 
was  built  across  the  bottoms  for  a  distance  of  a  mile  and  a  half.  Tracy  Smith 
became  the  first  postmaster  in  the  same  year. 

Eight  churches  have  been  started  in  Pecatonica  but  the  Methodist,  Congre- 
gational, Swedish  Evangelical  Lutheran,  Catholic,  and  the  German  Evangelical 
Lutheran  alone  survive.  The  town  has  now  its  own  water  works,  two  banks 
and  two  physicians. 

ROCKTON 

The  career  of  Stephen  Mack  in  Rockton  has  already  been  told.     William  Tal- 
cott  and  his  son,  Thomas  B.,  made  claims  there  in  July  1835;  while  two  other 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  521 

Mins  of  William  Talcott,  Sylvester  and  Walter  Henry,  settled  there  during 
the  same  year  and  a  fourth  soon  came  in  1838.  J.  Ambrose  and  Timothy 
Wight  opened  the  first  store  in  1837.  A  sawmill  was  erected  in  1838  and  a  flour 
mill  in  1839  by  Talcott  and  Adams. 

While  the  village  was  laid  out  in  1840  by  William  Taleott,  the  plat  was  not 
recorded  until  May  30,  1844.  Jacob  Hyatt  built  Roekton's  firsl  hotel  in  1839, 
locating  it  on  the  south  side  of  Main  Street.  The  New  England  House  was 
completed  in  1846;  while  the  Main  House,  a  brick  building,  was  elected  by 
Poller  Vinton  and  kept  by  Samuel  Adams. 

Rev.  William  Adams  organized  the  First  Congregational  Church  in  1839, 
A  small,  temporary  structure  was  used  for  worship  from  1840  to  1848,  when  a 
substantial  stone  building  was  erected,  its  bell  being  the  gift  of  William  Talcott. 
The  Baptists  organized  in  1851  in  union  with  those  of  Roscoe ;  while  the  Meth- 
odists did  not  succeed  in  erecting  a  church  until  1859. 

The  Racine  &  Mississippi  Railroad  entered  Rockton  October  29,  1856,  when 
E.  L.  Stiles  became  the  station  agent,  retaining  the  position  for  forty-one  years. 
The  road  is  now  a  part  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul.  The  line  was 
built  connecting  Rockton  with  Rockford  in  1882. 

While  the  first  school  was  built  in  1840,  the  present  graded  school  building 
was  constructed  in  1851  and  a  large  addition  made  in  1915. 

Rockton  is  known  as  the  home  of  Brigadier  General  Elon  J.  Farnsworth  who 
fell  at  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg,  July  3,  1865,  aged  twenty-five  years.  He  was 
the  nephew  of  Colonel  Farnsworth,  organizer  of  the  famous  Eighth  Illinois 
Cavalry.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  he  was  living  on  a  farm  near  Rockton 
with  his  father,  J.  P.  Farnsworth. 

Due  to  the  desire  of  the  Beloit  people  to  be  honored  by  the  presence  of  the 
General's  remains  in  the  Beloit  cemetery,  they  secured  permission  of  the  father 
for  their  removal.  The  monument,  already  erected  at  Rockton  was  thereupon 
taken  to  Beloit.  The  Grand  Army  men  and  others  of  Rockton  very  properly 
began  action  to  induce  the  father  to  let  the  body  of  his  famous  son  remain  in 
Rockton  on  the  ground  that  he  was  an  Illinois  boy  who  had  fought  in  an  Illinois 
regiment  until  the  time  of  his  promotion.  Under  the  urgent  presentation  of 
their  petition  by  Comrade  Charles  C.  Coons,  their  request  was  granted  and  the 
Rockton  people  gladly  paid  the  expense  of  bringing  the  monument  from  Beloit 
and  replacing  it  in  the   Rockton  cemetery  at  the  grave  of  their  greatest  hero. 

Pate,  in  the  shape  of  fires,  seemed  directed  against  Roekton's  efforts  at 
growth  after  the  Civil  war.  The  old  Talcott  flouring  mill,  operated  originally 
by  Talcott  &  Company,  hut  sold  later  to  William  Clark,  was  burned  to  the 
ground.  After  M.  D.  Keeney  &  Brother  had  built  an  air-dried  board  mill  and 
were  doing  a  prosperous  business,  a  fire  destroyed  it  on  December  11,  1866. 
Undaunted,  the  Keeney  Brothers  secured  the  machine  and  foundry  property 
of  Fountain  and  Widdowson  and  erected  thereon  a  large  storm-dried  board  mill. 

In  1876,  the  Bradner  Smith  &  Company  mill  was  destroyed  with  a  loss  of 
$30,000  above  the  insurance.  Again  a  new  mill  was  erected  upon  the  same  water 
power.  In  187^  the  fourth  fire  destroyed  the  rebuilt  Keeney  mill.  In  1879, 
.M.   D.   Keeney  &  Son  rebuilt  and  operated  the  plant. 

On   April  25,    1879,  the  Coles  &  Gates  merchant  flouring  mills  were  burned 


522  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

with  such  a  loss  as  to  prevent  the  rebuilding  of  the  mills.  Their  power  came 
thereafter  into  the  possession  of  Bradner  Smith  &  Company. 

Another  discouragement  followed  when  the  Northwest  Paper  Mills  were  de- 
stroyed in  1884  while  in  the  possession  of  B.  B.  Gates.  They  were  rebuilt  in  1886 
by  W.  T.  Randall.  In  1886  the  Keeney  mill  burned  for  a  third  time,  incurring 
a  loss  to  its  new  owners,  Bradner  Smith  &  Company  who  had  leased  the  prop- 
erty to  W.  T.  Randall  then  operating  it. 

Fire  also  consumed  the  original  home  of  William  Talcott,  located  on  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Bridge  streets ;  while  in  1894,  another  conflagration  destroyed 
several  buildings  on  Main  Street,  the  store  of  E.  J.  Veness,  three  dwelling 
houses,  one  bakery  and  two  barns.  In  1907,  on  Hallowe'en  night,  a  fire,  arising 
mysteriously  in  the  block  in  which  the  old  New  England  house  was  located 
consumed  the  buildings  of  eight  business  firms  and  the  Masonic  Hall.  Nat- 
urally, the  present  residents  appreciate  the  improved  water  works  system  of 
today. 

Rockton  rejoices  in  the  possession  of  the  Talcott  Free  Library,  founded  by 
the  gift  of  W.  A.  Talcott  and  his  father,  Hon.  Wait  Talcott,  in  1888.  The  gift, 
consisting  of  the  lot,  building  and  furniture,  was  presented  as  a  memorial  upon 
the  township  obligating  itself  to  support  it  by  a  tax. 

Incorporated  as  a  town  September  10,  1872,  Rockton  is  now  conveniently 
placed  on  the  line  of  the  Rockford,  Beloit  &  Janesville  interurban,  has  motor 
'bus  service  to  the  same  cities  and  a  fine  concrete  road  construction.  The  village 
has  a  population  of  850  with  the  township  population  of  over  2,000. 

ROSCOE 

Guided  by  a  Pottawatomie  Indian,  Robert  J.  Cross  of  Coldwater,  Michigan, 
and  Col.  Van  Hovenburg  came  in  August,  1835,  from  Milwaukee  into  what  is 
now  the  township  of  Roscoe.  Buying  a  claim  of  Lavec,  an  employee  of  Stephen 
Mack,  Cross  settled  there.  Elijah  H.  Brown,  James  B.  Lee  and  William  Mead 
came  the  same  year  from  La  Porte  County,  Indiana.  Not  until  1837  was  a 
post  office  established  at  Roscoe.  Up  to  that  time,  the  settlers  obtained  their 
mail  first  from  Chicago  and  then  from  Beloit  after  the  establishment  of  a  post 
office  at  the  latter  place. 

Messrs.  Lelands,  Jenks  and  Tuttle  laid  out  the  village  and  recorded  the  plat 
in  August,  1841,  the  town  deriving  its  name  from  William  Roscoe,  a  noted  Eng- 
lish biographer.  In  1843,  the  Congregational  church  was  organized  and  it  has 
continued  together  with  the  Methodist  church  to  serve  the  community.  Rev. 
Eaton,  the  father  of  Edward  Dwight  Eaton,  the  second  president  of  Beloit 
College,  served  many  years  as  the  pastor  of  the  Roscoe  Congregational  Church. 

In  1858,  a  noteworthy  disaster  overwhelmed  the  village.  A  high  embank- 
ment had  been  thrown  up  at  the  crossing  of  the  creek  about  a  half  mile  above 
the  village  in  building  the  Madison  branch  of  the  Chicago  &  Galena  railroad. 
The  culvert  was  too  small  for  the  volume  of  water  and,  up  to  the  afternoon  of 
the  catastrophe,  a  pond  two  miles  long,  a  half  mile  in  width  and  twenty  to 
thirty  feet  in  depth  had  formed  above  the  embankment.  The  culvert  caved 
in  about  midnight  of  June  3,  1858,  the  embankment  gave  way  and  the  water 
rushed  down  in  a  mighty  torrent,  carrying  away  several  houses  among  which 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  523 

was  tin-  brick  house  occupied  by  the  Rev.  Ilsley  and  family.  This  house  toppled 
over  and  buried  beneath  its  ruins  Mrs.  Ilsley  and  seven  children.  Mr.  Ilsley, 
who  had  lost  a  [eg,  became  helpless  and  was  carried  away  by  the  flood  nearly 
down  to  Rock  River,  where  he  was  caught  in  a  tree  and  held  until  rescued  by 
L.  .M.  Richardson. 

DUBAND 

L.  V.  Cleveland,  John  A.  Johnson  and  Frederic  Sidorus  came  about  1837 
iido  the  section  north  of  the  Pecatonica  River  which  later  became  the  village 
of  Durand.  When  the  population  reached  the  point  at  which  the  location  of 
a  village  was  suggested,  the  site  was  decided  through  a  compromise  between  the 
various  interested  parties  which  resulted  in  the  purchase  of  the  site  of  John 
F.  Pettingill,  Price  B.  Webster  and  Edward  Pepper.  The  purchasers,  John  F. 
Pettingill,  Bruce  B.  Webster,  Edward  Pepper,  L.  V.  Cleveland,  Solomon  Web- 
ster, Duncan  J.  Stewart,  M.  C.  Churchill,  G.  H.  Sackett,  John  R.  Herring, 
William  Randall  and  D.  H.  Smith,  conveyed  their  interests  in  trust  to  J.  R. 
Herring  who  laid  out  the  town  in  1856.  The  name  was  chosen  from  that  of 
H.  S.  Durand,  the  first  president  of  the  Racine  &  Mississippi  railroad.  Due  to 
its  being  the  terminus  of  the  Western  Union  railroad,  the  town  made  quite 
rapid  growth. 

The  Durand  House  was  erected  by  John  F.  Pettingill.  The  town  today  has 
two  state  banks,  a  four-year  high  school,  and  the  usual  lodges  and  churches. 

Miss  Ellen  Gates  Starr,  now  of  Chicago  and  long  associated  with  Miss  Jane 
Addams  at  Hull  House,  is  a  former  resident  of  Durand  of  whom  its  citizens 
are  proud.  Andrew  Ashton,  the  Rockford  merchant,  conducted  for  years  a 
general  store  at  Durand  and  was  at  that  time  elected  a  member  of  the  State 
Legislature  in  1874  and  1876,  when  the  Granger  movement  was  at  its  height 
in  the  State. 

WINNEBAGO 

David  Adams  Holt  became  in  1835,  the  first  settler  in  Winnebago  township. 
Two  of  his  brothers  came  in  the  following  years.  Buck  Horn  Tavern  at 
West  field  Corners,  run  by  Duty  Hudson,  was  the  first  public  house  in  the  town- 
ship. The  name  was  acquired  from  his  placing  an  immense  pair  of  buck  horns, 
or  antlers,  in  the  front  of  the  building  on  the  center  of  the  cross-beam  con- 
nect ing  two  upright  posts.  The  house  was  a  station  on  the  stagecoach  line  from 
Chicago  to  Galena,  where  a  change  of  horses  was  made. 

The  village  of  Winnebago  was  not  laid  out  until  1854.  Then  the  Galena 
&  Chicago  railroad  reached  the  village.  J.  D.  Warner  became  the  first  station 
agent,  holding  the  position  for  over  twenty  years.  N.  G.  Warner  opened  the 
first  store  in  1855.  The  Winnebago  House,  the  first  hotel,  was  opened  in  the 
fall  of  1859.  The  village  became  electrically  lighted  in  1916  and  is  now  a  hamlet 
of  some  five  hundred  people. 

CHERRY  VALLEY 

Joseph  P.  Griggs  first  settled  in  1835  on  land  within  the  present  village  of 
Cherry  Valley,  building  a  small  cabin  on  the  west  side  of  the  Kishwaukee  River. 


524  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

The  Gleasons,  A.  C,  W.  and  S.  W.,  were  also  early  settlers,  while  Densley  Kiser 
came  in  1836  or  1837.  John  Waterman  opened  the  first  store  while  the  first 
hotel  was  the  Ingram  Tavern.  A  grain  warehouse  was  erected  by  Mr.  Calkins 
in  1851  and  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  railroad  reached  the  town  the  follow- 
ing year.  The  village  known  to  all  today  to  be  on  the  main  route  from  Rock- 
ford  to  Chicago  is  a  town  of  five  hundred  population. 

OTHER  TOWNS  OP  THE  COUNTY 

The  following  is  a  pleasing  account  of  the  early  settlement  of  Guilford  town- 
ship. "In  August,  1835,  William  E.  Enoch,  the  eldest  son  of  Henry  Enoch, 
accompanied  by  two  or  three  other  men  from  Will  County,  came  to  what  is 
now  known  as  Guilford  township  on  a  land  prospecting  tour.  While  out  on 
the  trip,  young  Enoch  was  taken  sick  and  returned  home.  In  September  fol- 
lowing, his  father  and  brothers,  Richard  H.  and  A.  I.  Enoch,  started  out,  and 
following  the  directions  given  them  by  William  struck  the  Rock  River  at  Rock- 
ford.  Leaving  his  sons  in  camp  the  father,  Henry,  started  out,  and  going  north- 
east two  or  three  miles  struck  the  spring  brook  known  as  Bucklen  Creek.  He 
followed  it  to  its  source  which  he  found  in  the  northeast  corner  of  section 
11,  town  44,  range  2,  now  in  the  township  of  Guilford.  Here  in  the  center  of 
a  great  prairie,  he  found  a  spring  of  water  twenty-five  feet  in  diameter,  the 
water  about  twenty-four  inches  deep,  and  coming  from  numerous  places  in  the 
bottom  through  snow-white  sand.  The  water  was  as  cold  and  clear  as  crystal ; 
the  bank  of  the  spring  fringed  with  tall  grass  and  bright  prairie  flowers.  He 
was  so  charmed  with  the  location,  the  great  spring,  the  apparent  fertility  of 
the  soil  and  the  general  beauty  of  the  surroundings  that  he  at  once  made  up 
his  mind  to  make  it  the  future  home  of  himself  and  family.  Going  to  a  thicket 
of  hazel  and  young  poplar  trees  a  few  rods  distant,  he  cut  a  small  stake  and 
planted  it  on  the  bank  of  the  spring  declaring  it  his  'claim.'  The  location 
was  known  for  many  years  as  the  big  spring  of  Uncle  Enoch."  Mr.  Enoch 
made  this  claim  his  permanent  home  until  the  fall  of  1846.  The  spring,  how- 
ever, became  dry  in  the  early  '70s. 

Among  other  early  settlers  of  Guilford  were  Elisha  A.  Kirk,  Thaddeus  Davis, 
Sr.,  and  his  sons,  David  A.,  Thaddeus,  Jr.,  and  Daniel,  and  Harry  Doolittle, 
J.  H.  Kirk,  Giles  C.  Hard,  G.  L.  Horton  and  Dr.  Charles  Church.  Today  the 
town  hall  stands  on  the  Guilford  Center  road,  five  miles  northeast  of  Rockford. 

In  1835,  a  Mr.  Brayton,  making  a  claim  on  section  35,  became  the  first  settler 
in  Harrison  township.  By  1840,  the  settlers  desired  to  form  a  new  precinct. 
At  the  time,  the  majority  were  democrats.  Having  to  petition  the  county  com- 
missioners, they  induced  Isaac  Parker  to  carry  their  petition.  He  went  to 
Rockford  and  experienced  no  difficulty  in  getting  the  new  precinct  formed ; 
but  when  asked  what  name  it  should  be  given,  answered  immediately  "  Harri- 
son," he  being  a  Whig.  Upon  his  return  his  democratic  friends  were  naturally 
disgusted  with  the  name,  but  it  "stuck."  The  village  of  Harrison,  located  in 
the  northeastern  part  of  the  township  at  the  junction  of  the  Sugar  and  Peca- 
tonica  rivers,  is  still  a  small  settlement  having  no  railroad  connections. 

Shirland,  originally  called  Kapota,  an  Indian  name,  is  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  township  of  the  same  name,  which  borders  on  the  State  line.     With  less 


THE  ROCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  525 

than  two  hundred  inhabitants,  it  is  located  on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St. 
Paul  railroad. 

In  the  southwest  corner  of  Winnebago  County  is  the  township  of  Seward. 
with  its  village  on  the  Illinois  Central  railroad.  Here  early  settlement  was 
made  by  Ephraim  Sunnier  in  1835,  who  engaged  in  milling  and  farming  near 
Twelve  -Mile  Grove  and  became  a  large  land  owner.  In  1845,  he  became  post- 
master of  Vanceborough,  another  name  for  Twelve  Mile  Grove,  on  the  State 
road  about  half  way  from  Rockford  to  Freeport.  The  stone  house  built  by  him 
is  still  in  a  good  state  of  preservation,  although  it  has  well  nigh  outlived  the 
memory  of  the  town  which,  along  with  other  primitive  villages  along  the  old 
stage  lines,  have  been  superseded   by  the  railroad  stations. 

In  Harlem  township  the  first  settlement  was  on  the  east  side  of  Rock  Rivet- 
on  what  was  called  Big  Bottom,  nearly  opposite  the  stone  quarry.  A  man 
named  Wattles  platted  his  farm  as  a  village  and  called  it  Scipio,  but  failed  to 
induce  anyone,  besides  himself,  to  build  a  house  thereon. 

The  charming  hamlet  of  Argyle,  near  the  Boone  County  line,  was  early 
settled  by  Scotchmen  from  Argyleshire.  Their  descendants  sustain  one  of  the 
most   prosperous  county  Presbyterian  churches  found  in  the  state. 

Into  Burriti  township  came  James  Atkinson  in  1837  from  England.  Thomas 
J.  At  wood,  Albert  J.  At  wood,  George  A.  Atkinson,  Edward  II.  Boomer,  Jacob 
B.  Conklin,  William  Dickinson,  Jesse  I  Ierrington,  Joseph  Jennings,  William 
Ludley  and  Jefferson  Southard  were  other  pioneers.  Never  securing  a  railroad, 
neither  towns  nor  villages  developed  in  the  township. 

Settlers  came  into  Owen  township,  which  lies  directly  north  of  Rockford, 
as  early  as  1838.  Latham  Park  is  now  its  station  on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee 
&  St.  Paul  railroad. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
BOONE  COUNTY,  ILLINOIS 

PHYSICAL    FEATURES    OF    BOONE BELVIDERE    PRECINCT,    FATHER    OF    THE    COUNTY 

BELVIDERE    SETTLED THE    TOWN    PLATTED THE    CREATION    OF    BOONE    COUNTY 

■ — FIRST  OFFICERS  AND  LEGISLATION COUNTY  SEAT  LOCATED — COURTHOUSE  COM- 
PLETED^— COUNTY    EXTENDED    WESTWARD THE    DEVELOPMENT    OF    BELVIDERE — 

CHANGE   IN    COUNTY    ORGANIZATION BELVIDERE    UNDER    CORPORATE    FORM BEL- 
VIDERE  OF    THE   PRESENT OUTSIDE    OF    BELVIDERE. 

Boone  is  among  the  smallest  of  Illinois  counties,  only  nine  in  the  State 
being  of  minor  area.  It  is  in  the  first  tier  of  northern  counties  bounded  by 
the  Wisconsin  line  and  lies  in  a  minor  valley  of  the  Rock  River  system  formed 
by  the  Kishwaukee.  The  county  lies  in  the  corn  belt  of  northern  Illinois  and 
is  covered  with  prosperous  farms  and  sprinkled  with  rural  communities.  Bel- 
videre  is  the  only  center  of  population  of  considerable  size,  such  settlements 
and  railroad  stations  as  Capron,  Poplar  Grove  and  Garden  Prairie,  being  pretty 
little  villages  of  about  600  population  down  to  200.  The  total  population  of 
the  county  is  between  15,000  and  16,000. 

PHYSICAL    FEATURES    OF    BOONE 

The  physical  characteristics  of  Boone  County  are  not  remarkable.  All  the 
surface  south  of  the  Kishwaukee  River,  except  Shattuck's  grove,  is  virtually 
a  treeless  prairie — not  level,  however,  but  a  series  of  long,  low,  undulating 
billows  of  land,  with  low  ridges  and  ranges  of  hills.  In  some  places,  there 
are  swales  and  sloughs  of  limited  extent,  between  marshes  and  fat  meadow 
lands.  A  few  trees  skirt  Coon  Creek  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  county, 
and  scattered  patches  of  timber  relieve  the  landscape.  A  broad,  rich,  com- 
paratively level  prairie,  these  sections  still  preserve  some  of  that  primitive 
beauty  from  which  Spring  and  Flora  townships  derived  their  names. 

North  of  the  Kishwaukee  River,  the  face  of  the  country  becomes  more  roll- 
ing, and,  although  still  good  for  agricultural  purposes,  the  soil  becomes  thinner 
and  lighter  colored.  The  streams  increase  in  number  and  are  margined  with 
hills  and  hilly  barrens.  There  are  wide  stretches  of  rather  light  timber  and 
brushwood  that  extend  for  miles  along  these  streams  and  over  the  intervening 
highlands.  Occasionally  a  better  grove  of  timber  may  be  found.  Small  prairies, 
prairie  openings  and  long  stretches  of  prairie,  still  exist  in  every  direction. 
The  northwestern  part  of  the  county  has  considerable  prairie,  as  well  as  much 
wet  land;  the  northeastern  has  more  timber  and  is  higher  and  dryer,  and  to- 
ward the  Big  Foot  Prairie  in  southern  Wisconsin  contains  good  farming  lands. 

The    well-watered,    gently-rolling  lands   of   Boone   County,    are    admirably 

526 


KISHWAUKEE   RIVEB  IX  THE  BELVIDEBE  REGION 
Upper:    The   Bond.     Lower:   The    Mill    Race 


528  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

adapted  to  the  raising  of  beef  cattle  and  the  dairy  stock,  also.  This  state- 
ment is  supported  by  reference  to  the  table  published  in  the  chapter  on  the 
live  stock  interests  of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  in  which  a  comparison  is  pre- 
sented of  the  various  counties  in  that  section  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin. 

The  Kishwaukee  River  enters  the  county  on  the  east,  and  crosses  it  in  long, 
easy  flowing  curves,  bordered  with  gracefully  bending  trees  and  lily  beds.  It 
enters  Winnebago  County,  at  the  village  of  Cherry  Valley.  Coon  Creek  joins 
the  Kishwaukee  from  the  southeast,  and  on  the  north  is  the  Piscasaw,  which 
discharges  into  the  parent  stream  a  short  distance  east  of  Belvidere.  Beaver 
Creek  enters  from  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  county  flows  west  of  south 
and  joins  the  Kishwaukee  a  short  distance  above  the  village  of  Cherry  Valley. 

The  timber  in  Boone  County  consists,  for  the  most  part  of  various  varieties 
of  the  oak,  black  walnut  and  butternut,  shell  bark  and  common  hickory,  cotton- 
wood,  sugar  maple,  honey  locust,  sycamore,  elm,  haw,  dogwood,  poplar,  ash, 
red  cedar,  white  pine,  linden  or  bass  wood,  and  common  swamp  willow.  The 
groves  are  made  up  chiefly  of  the  black  and  white  oaks  to  be  found  in  the 
poorer-timbered  regions  of  northern  Illinois.  The  alluvial  lands  skirting  the 
larger  streams  are  the  only  sections  where  many  of  the  species  of  trees  above 
mentioned  are  to  be  found. 

BELVIDERE    PRECINCT;,    FATHER    OP    THE    COUNTY 

After  the  passage  of  the  act  creating  the  County  of  Winnebago,  January 
16,  1836,  and  some  time  previous  to  its  organization,  Charles  Reed  had  oc- 
cupied a  tract  of  land  on  the  west  side  of  Rock  River  about  two  miles  above 
the  present  site  of  Rockford.  His  claim  comprised  an  Indian  "float,"  and 
the  town  which  he  platted  thereon  he  named  Winnebago,  which  he  sought  to 
make  the  seat  of  justice  for  the  new  county.  About  the  same  time,  Germanicus 
Kent,  Dr.  George  Haskell,  Selden  M.  Church  and  Daniel  S.  Haight,  with  others, 
had  taken  more  substantial  claims  farther  down  the  river,  where  the  city  of 
Rockford  was  afterward  located.  The  rivalry  for  the  county  seat  continued 
for  seven  years  between  Mr.  Reed,  the  champion  of  Winnebago,  and  those 
who  stood  for  the  claims  of  Rockford. 

At  the  first  election  in  Winnebago  County,  held  on  the  first  of  August, 
1836,  Simon  P.  Doty  was  elected  county  commissioner  for  the  Belvidere  elec- 
tion precinct,  one  of  the  three  precincts  into  which  the  county  had  been  divided. 

BELVIDERE   SETTLED 

It  is  claimed  that  the  first  land  to  be  occupied  in  Boone  County  was  a 
tract  north  of  the  Kishwaukee  River,  now  included  in  the  site  of  North  Bel- 
videre and  in  the  summer  of  1835  "squatted"  upon  by  Oliver  Robbins  and 
brothers.  What  became  of  the  Robbins  brothers  or  their  claim  is  an  unen- 
lightened matter,  but  it  is  known  that  the  land  was  occupied  soon  after  their 
disappearance  by  Archibald  Metcalf  and  David  Dunham.  Soon  afterward,  John 
K.  Towner,  Cornelius  Cline  and  Erastus  A.  Nixon,  old  New  York  friends 
looking  for  homes  in  the  West,  arrived  at  the  Kishwaukee.  having  walked  from 
Chicago,  which  was  a  sore  disappointment  to  them.    Here  they  rested  and  made 


THE  ROCK  K  IV ER  VALLEY  529 

local  history.  First,  Mr.  Towner  bought  a  part  of  the  Metcalf-Dunham  claim 
thai  included  some  timber  and  added  to  it  a  tract  of  land  that  covered  both 
sides  of  the  river.  Arranging  with  Mr.  ('line  for  the  erection  of  a  log  cabin, 
he  started  to  walk  to  Chicago,  take  a  lake  vessel  to  Detroit  and  bring  his  wife 
and  Family  from  Detroit  to  his  new  location  on  the  banks  of  the  Kishwaukee. 
After  a  day  or  two  of  rest,  the  Towner  goods  were  repacked  and  reloaded 
for  Chicago.  There  he  abandoned  the  water,  and  bought  four  pair  of  oxen 
and  what  was  then  known  as  a  Pennsylvania  wagon — a  vehicle  rechristened 
by  the  West  as  a  Prairie  Schooner.  Laying  in  a  small  supply  of  provisions, 
such  as  flour  and  bacon,  and.  his  wife  taking  charge  of  the  horse  team  that 
had  hauled  them  from  New  York,  through  Canada  and  Michigan,  to  Chicago, 
the  last  stage  of  their  journey  was  commenced.  At  midnight  of  the  last  day 
of  • I uly,  is:!."),  .Mrs.  Towner,  with  the  younger  children  and  her  carriage  ar- 
rived on  the  south  bank  of  the  Kishwaukee,  and  joined  her  husband. 

The  house  for  which  Mr.  Towner  had  contracted  on  his  first  visit  had  only 
been  raised  four  "rounds" — that  is,  four  logs  high  on  each  side— and  until 
it  was  completed  the  family  moved  into  the  Metcalf-Dunham  shanty.  While 
occupying  this  make-shift  for  a  few  days  Simon  P.  Doty  and  Dr.  D.  H.  Whitney 
appeared  on  the  ground  (some  time  in  the  early  part  of  August,  1835).  Later 
in  the  month,  Ebenezer  Peck  and  Dr.  Josiah  C.  Goodhue,  of  Chicago,  seeking 
restful  homes  and  investments  in  this  beautiful  frontier  region,  still  the  favorite 
resort  of  the  Pottawatomies,  determined  to  stop  here  and  invest.  In  connec- 
tion with  Dr.  Whitney  they  purchased  the  claims  of  Metcalf  and  Dunham, 
and  named  the  locality  Belvidere  in  honor  of  Mr.  Peck's  native  town  in  Canada. 

THE    TOWN    PLATTED 

In  September,  1835,  Deacon  Nathaniel  Crosby,  then  of  Predonia,  New  York, 
visited  the  settlement  and  purchased  an  interest  in  these  claims,  and  returned 
Bast  to  make  arrangements  to  build  a  mill  at  Belvidere  the  next  year.  "About 
this  time,"  says  Dr.  Whitney  in  a  series  of  letters  published  in  a  Belvidere 
newspaper,  "the  company  bought,  the  claims  of  Messrs.  Payne  and  Wheeler, 
two  Hoosiers  of  the  claim-making  persuasion  who  resided  on  Fox  River.  They 
had  cut  logs  for  a  cabin,  and  Dr.  Whitney  had  them  hauled  up  on  the  site 
intended  for  the  town  plot,  where  he  used  them  for  the  erection  of  a  double 
log  house,  which  was  the  first  building  in  Belvidere  that  could  be  dignified 
by  the  name  of  a  house.  It  was  christened  the  Belvidere  House  and  Simon 
P.  Doty  was  installed  as  landlord.  Mr.  Doty  continued  in  the  management 
of  this  hostelry  until  the  fall  of  1836,  when  he  moved  into  his  own  house,  the 
tirst  frame  building  erected  in  Boone  County.  The  Belvidere  House  was  the 
only  first-class  hotel  in  the  city,  and  as  its  landlord  knew  how  to  keep  hotel, 
and  was  withal  a  popular  gentleman  and  an  unadulterated  whig,  it  was  a  place 
of  popular  resort,  and  besides  serving  as  a  hotel  was  used  as  a  place  for  holding 
public  meetings.  In  the  latter  part  of  October,  1835,  the  marshal  for  La  Salle 
County  for  taking  the  census  came  to  number  the  people  of  Belvidere,  and 
the  entire  population  was  returned  at  thirty-seven  men,  women  and  children." 

Early  in  1836,  Nathaniel  Crosby  returned  from  New  York,  and  the  claims 
covering  the  town  plot  of  Belvidere  were  divided  into  ten  shares,  representing 


530  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

$1,000  each.  The  shares  were  taken  hy  John  S.  King,  Jacob  Whitman,  Josiah 
C.  Goodhue,  Simon  P.  Doty,  Frederick  W.  Crosby,  John  P.  Chapin,  Joel  Parker, 
Henry  L.  and  Nathaniel  Crosby,  the  last  named  being  chosen  general  manager 
in  the  construction  and  operation  of  the  contemplated  mills.  The  sawmill 
was  completed  and  set  in  operation  during  the  fall  of  1836.  About  this  time 
Mr.  Doty,  the  popular  whig  and  landlord  of  the  Belvidere  House,  was  elected 
to  represent  the  Belvidere  precinct,  which,  as  has  been  noted,  had  achieved 
considerable  standing  in  the  body  politic  of  Winnebago  County. 

THE  CREATION  OF  BOONE  COUNTY 

During  the  session  of  the  Legislature  of  1836-37,  an  act  was  passed  pro- 
viding for  the  erection  of  Boone  County.  As  approved  March  4,  1837,  it  read : 
"Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  represented  in  the  General 
Assembly,  That  all  that  tract  of  country  beginning  at  the  northeast  corner 
of  township  46  north,  range  4  east ;  thence  south  with  the  line  dividing  ranges 
4  and  5  east,  to  the  southwest  corner  of  township  43  north ;  thence  west  on 
said  line  to  the  southeast  corner  of  Winnebago  County;  thence  north  to  the 
place  of  beginning  on  the  north  boundary  of  the  State,  shall  form  a  county 
to  be  called  Boone,  in  honor  of  Colonel  Daniel  Boone,  the  first  settler  of  the 
State  of  Kentucky." 

As  thus  defined,  Boone  County  was  eleven  miles  wide  from  east  to  west 
and  twenty-four  miles  long  from  north  to  south.  There  was  a  strip  of  land 
a  mile  in  width  between  Boone  and  Winnebago  counties,  which,  under  the 
government  survey,  seemed  to  belong  to  the  new  county,  but  which  was  held 
out  for  the  future  action  of  the  voters. 

FIRST  OFFICERS   AND   LEGISLATION 

The  original  act  also  provided  for  the  election  of  officers  in  Boone  and 
DeKalb  counties  on  the  first  Monday  of  May,  1837.  Until  so  organized  Boone 
and  Stephenson  counties  should  continue  to  form  a  part  of  Jo  Daviess,  and 
when  organized  should  "continue  attached  to  the  Count}'  of  Jo  Daviess  in  all 
general  elections  until  otherwise  provided  by  law."  The  law  providing  for 
the  election  in  Boone  County  fixed  the  polling  place  for  the  Belvidere  precinct, 
which  included  all  of  the  county,  at  the  house  of  Simon  P.  Doty.  According 
to  law,  the  polls  were  opened  and  the  result  of  the  viva  voce  vote,  as  announced 
in  the  evening,  was  the  choice  of  Milton  S.  Mason,  Cornelius  Cline  and  John 
0.  A.  Rollins  for  county  commissioners ;  Simon  P.  Doty,  sheriff;  and  John  Handy, 
coroner;  Seth  S.  Whitman,  recorder,  and  S.  P.  Hyde,  county  surveyor.  At  the 
first  meeting  of  the  Commissioners'  Court,  held  May  3,  1837,  Dr.  Daniel  H.  Whit- 
ney was  appointed  and  qualified  as  clerk  of  that  body.  As  an  organized  county, 
therefore,  Boone  dates  from  that  first  formal  meeting,  at  Mr.  Doty's  house. 
On  the  following  day,  the  organization  was  made  more  close  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  trustees  of  school  lands  and  supervisors  of  the  four  road  districts  into 
Avhich  the  county  was  divided. 

John  K.  Towner,  who  had  been  appointed  a   justice  of  the  peace,  turned 
the  first  money  into  the  Boone   County  treasury,  in   the   shape   of  fines   and 


THE  ROCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  531 

costs,  to  the  amount  of  $35.15]  ,.  and  dated  May  30,  1837.  Early  in  the  fol- 
lowing month,  the  clerk  of  the  Commissioners'  Court  granted  licenses  to  Simon 
P.  Doty  and  Charles  F.  H.  Goodhue  to  "retail  ardent  spirits  by  the  small 
measure,"  for  which  they  were  each  charged  $5. 

These  were  the  first  licenses  issued  in  the  county  for  such  purposes.  In 
those  days  all  business  houses,  of  whatever  character,  had  to  obtain  a  license 
from  the  County  Court  before  they  could  commence  operations.  In  almost 
every  pari  of  the  county,  where  settlements  were  made,  some  one  would  take 
out  a  license  for  keeping  a  tavern,  for  which  the  charges  ranged  from  $5  to 
$25.  This  was  one  source  of  revenue,  but  sometimes  applicants  for  such  per- 
mission being  short  of  funds  would  give  their  notes,  and  afterward  take  them 
up,  in  whole  or  in  part,  with  county  warrants  issued  to  them  for  some  kind 
of  service  rendered  the  county.  Quite  often,  the  result  was  a  serious  limita- 
tion of  the  county  funds.  For  instance,  in  September,  1837,  it  was  reported 
to  the  Commissioners'  Court  that  the  available  means  of  the  county  amounted 
to  $40  and   its  liabilities  to  $41.84. 

COUNTY    SEAT    LOCATED 

On  the  31st  of  October,  1837,  James  II.  Woodworth,  of  Cook  County,  and 
John  M.  Wilson,  two  of  the  three  commissioners  appointed  to  select  the  site 
for  the  seat  of  justice,  located  it  upon  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  26, 
township  44  north,  range  3  east,  or  Belvidere  north  of  the  river.  The  county 
had  to  borrow  $40  from  Cephas  Gardner  and  assume  a  bill  of  $8  presented 
by  Landlord  Doty  in  order  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  locating  commissioners. 
They  designated  where  the  county  seat  should  be  by  driving  a  stake  in  the 
ground  on  the  mound  where  the  courthouse  was  afterward  erected  and  under 
the  laws  then  in  force  the  county  offices  were  required  to  be  kept  within  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  courthouse.  Later,  the  violation  of  this  provision 
made  some  trouble  for  Dr.   Whitney,  the  county  clerk. 

COURTHOUSE    COMPLETED — COUNTY    EXTENDED    WESTWARD 

The  county  seat  having  been  located,  the  claim  donated  to  the  commis- 
sioners for  public  purposes  by  the  Belvidere  Company  was  surveyed  into  lots 
and  blocks,  a  plot  of  ten  acres  for  county  buildings  being  reserved  on  the 
highest  point  of  the  land.  On  account  of  the  hard  times,  the  sale  of  lands 
under  the  management  of  County  Clerk  Whitney  yielded  very  small  returns. 
Collector  Doty  was  no  more  fortunate,  and  although  taxes  to  the  amount  of 
$234  on  the  taxable  property  (land  being  then  excluded)  were  valued  at  about 
$31,000,  it  was  another  story  to  collect.  The  building  of  the  courthouse,  bids 
for  which  had  been  advertised  in  the  spring  of  1838,  made  no  progress;  but 
the  completion  of  a  jail  was  a  more  pressing  matter.  The  north  room  of  Mr. 
Doty's  house  was  first  used  as  a  county  jail,  but  in  June  he  contracted  to 
build  a  block  jail  for  $*_)~>0,  and  in  April,  1839,  it  was  inspected  and  accepted 
by  the  Commissioners'  Court.    The  keys  veere  then  turned  over  to  II.  C.  Walker, 

who  had  become  a  merchant  of  Belvidere  and  the  sheriff  of  the  county. 

te—i  "k>a 


532  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

It  was  not  until  March,  1839,  that  the  county  commissioners  ordered  the 
courthouse  to  be  built.  Its  body  was  to  be  of  brick ;  dimensions  on  the  ground 
40  by  30  feet;  posts  25  feet  long,  with  entry  for  stairs  on  each  side  of  front 
door;  hall  five  feet  wide  through  lower  story,  with  back  door  and  two  rooms 
on  each  side  of  the  hall;  the  upper  room  to  be  arched  overhead  and  arranged 
in  a  plain,  neat  and  convenient  manner  for  holding  court.  Contracts  were 
let  for  the  lumber,  brick  and  stone  (for  the  foundation)  required,  but  so  many 
delays  occurred  that  the  builders  were  not  ready  to  commence  work  until 
August,  1840.  When  all  was  in  readiness  to  lay  the  foundation  walls  of  stone, 
it  was  found  that  the  jail  erected  by  Doty  had  been  built  on  the  site  intended 
for  the  courthouse.  The  jail  was  therefore  moved  to  a  site  selected  for  it. 
The  work  commenced  in  the  fall  of  1840  slowly  progressed,  and  another  serious 
delay  occurred  in  February,  1842.  At  that  time,  the  commissioners  declared 
the  bond  of  the  contractor  forfeited,  who  had  assumed  the  responsibility  of 
framing  and  finishing  the  outside  of  the  Courthouse.  A  new  contractor  was 
therefore  given  that  work  and  it  was  not  until  sometime  in  1843,  six  years 
after  the  organization  of  the  county,  that  the  courthouse  was  ready  for  oc- 
cupancy. 

In  the  meantime,  the  mile-wide  strip  west  of  the  limits  of  Boone  County, 
which  for  several  years  had  been  a  bone  of  contention  between  Winnebago 
and  Boone,  had  been  awarded  to  the  latter  by  popular  vote.  The  Legislature 
of  1842-43  passed  an  act  to  allow  the  settlers  on  the  debatable  strip  to  express 
their  wish  as  to  county  affiliation.  The  situation  is  thus  described  by  a  local 
historian  of  fifty  years  ago:  "None  but  those  immediately  interested  as  set- 
tlers were  allowed  to  vote.  The  interest  became  warm.  As  a  natural  con- 
sequence, the  people  of  Boone  County  favored  the  scheme.  They  could  not 
vote,  but  they  could  talk,  and  their  best  talkers  were  set  to  work  'where 
they  could  do  the  most  good';  and  they  worked  earnestly.  No  others  were 
more  interested  than  the  people  of  Belvidere.  The  eastern  part  of  Winnebago 
County,  the  settlers  on  the  strip  excepted,  opposed  the  scheme,  for,  if  it  pre- 
vailed, it  would  involve  the  establishment  of  their  county  seat  in  some  doubt, 
and  weaken  their  chances  of  securing  the  seat  of  justice  at  East  Rockford. 
The  people  of  the  western  part  of  Winnebago  County  favored  the  scheme, 
because,  if  successful,  it  would  strengthen  their  chances  for  securing  the  county 
seat  at  West  Rockford,  or  on  the  west  side  of  Rock  River." 

The  legislative  act  to  settle  the  matter  as  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  mile 
strip  was  approved  February  28,  1843,  and  provided  for  holding  an  election 
at  the  house  of  Samuel  Keith,  at  the  village  of  Newburg,  Winnebago  County, 
on  the  4th  of  May,  1843,  to  determine  by  action  of  the  voters  residing  in  the 
contested  territory  whether  it  should  be  attached  to  Boone  or  Winnebago  County. 
Benjamin  Hoyd,  Samuel  Keith  and  A.  W.  Canfield  were  appointed  judges  of 
election.  The  polls  were  open  from  10  o'clock  A.  M.  to  5  o'clock  P.  M.,  and 
the  result  of  the  voting  was  a  declaration  of  51  votes  for  annexation  to  Boone 
County  and  44,  against.  The  result  was  to  cut  away  from  Eastern  Winne- 
bago County  twenty-five  valuable  sections  of  land  and  add  them  to  Boone 
County,  and  to  throw  the  balance  of  power  to  West  Rockford  in  the  contest 
for  the  county  seat  being  waged  with  East  Rockford. 


THE  BOCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  533 

THE   DEVELOPMENT  Of   BELVIDERE 

The  lir^t  real  impetus  given  to  the  growth  of  Belvidere  was  caused  by  the 
building  of  the  sawmill  and  gristmill  by  the  Belvidere  Company  in  t he  year 
1836.  Nathaniel  Crosby  and  Dr.  John  S.  King  were  the  leaders  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  these  industries,  which  made  the  county  seat  such  a  lively  and 
indispensable  center  for  the  settlers  for  miles  around. 

Hut  Belvidere  did  not  have  a  monopoly  of  these  early-day  advantages; 
for  while  its  sawmill  was  being  built,  Colonel  Mahlon  Savers  had  laid  out  his 
town  of  Newburg,  about  five  miles  below  Belvidere,  and  was  losing  no  time 
to  complete  a  similar  plant  In  June,  1836,  when  the  State  Road  between 
Chicago  and  Belvidere  was  being  located,  there  was  a  lively  contest  between 
the  two  towns  as  to  which  should  be  a  station,  or  stopping  place  for  the  stages 
on  the  line.  Belvidere,  under  the  leadership  of  Simon  P.  Doty,  won  the  fight 
and  Newburg  collapsed.  The  commissioners  to  locate  that  road  were  James 
Harrington  and  Mark  Daniels  of  Kane  County  and  John  Phelps,  the  rival 
of  John  Dixon,  of  Ogle  County.  Claims  along  the  line  of  the  road  at  once 
rose  in  value,  and  claim  hunters  rushed  out  to  meet  the  commissioners  and 
make  their  selections.  The  road  established,  it  became  the  great  route  between 
Chicago  and  Galena.  The  travel  was  so  heavy  that  in  the  summer  and  fall, 
numerous  four-horse  coaches  were  used,  and  in  the  winter,  four-horse  sleighs. 
In  December,  1836,  a  post  office  was  established  at  Belvidere,  the  first  on  the 
northern  section  of  the  State  Road.  S.  S.  Whitman  was  appointed  postmaster 
and  held  the  office  about  six  years. 

In  the  fall  of  1836,  Mr.  Doty  and  Deacon  Crosby  had  established  the  cor- 
ners of  State  and  Mechanics  streets  with  an  old  iron  carpenter's  square.  State 
Street,  which  bore  a  little  west  of  north,  was  named  from  the  State  Road  which 
went  through  the  town,  and  Mechanics  Street  was  so  called  because  the  Bel- 
videre Company  had  resolved  to  donate  building  lots  to  mechanics  who  would 
improve  and  reside  upon  them.  Doty  himself  commenced  the  building  cam- 
paign in  that  section,  and  houses  and  business  places  followed.  The  location 
of  the  county  seat  at  Belvidere  and  the  coveted  addition  of  the  western  sec- 
tions to  the  territory  of  Boone,  with  the  final  completion  of  the  courthouse, 
increased  the  confidence  of  the  little  town,  and  drew  to  her  many  newcomers. 

Previous  to  the  completion  of  the  Galena  division  of  the  Chicago  &  North 
Western  Railroad  to  Belvidere  on  its  way  to  Rockford  (in  December,  1852) 
the  growth  of  the  town  had  been  confined  to  the  north  side  of  the  Kishwaukee, 
as  contemplated  when  the  county  seat  was  located  on  the  mound.  When  the 
line  of  the  road  was  established,  however,  about  half  a  mile  south  of  the  river, 
building  commenced  on  that  side,  the  result  of  which  was  to  transfer  the  bulk 
of  the  business  to  the  vicinity  of  the  road,  with  the  consequent  following  of 
residences,  churches  and  schools.  For  thirty  years  from  1837,  several  bridges 
were  built  across  the  Kishwaukee  River  along  State  Street,  the  Trnesdell 
wrought-iron  bridge  being  completed  in  the  fall  of  1867.  The  business  and 
resident  districts  are  now  pretty  evenly  distributed  between  the  different  sec- 
tions of  the  city,  divided  by  the  river. 

For  the  decade  after  the  erection  of  the  first  courthouse  in  Belvidere,  the 
population   of  the   town   and  the   county   showed   a   marked   increase;   the   in- 


534  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

crease  of  the  county  business  demanded  enlarged  and  improved  official  quarters. 
In  1853,  arrangements  were  therefore  made  for  tearing  down  the  old  structure 
and  erecting  a  new  one,  which  should  include  a  substantial  jail  as  well.  In 
March,  1854,  an  order  was  issued  to  borrow  $5,000  to  aid  in  its  construction. 
Finally,  in  May,  1854,  the  Board  of  Supervisors  entered  into  a  contract  with 
John  Higby  to  erect  a  courthouse  and  jail  for  $9,000,  the  material  in  the  old 
courthouse  being  accepted  in  part  payment.  The  building  committee  which 
finally  superintended  the  building  of  the  new  courthouse  consisted  of  Allen 
C.  Fuller  and  L.  M.  Beebe.  In  September,  1855,  they  reported  their  task  com- 
pleted and  were  thanked  by  the  Board  for  their  good  work. 

CHANGE    IN    COUNTY    ORGANIZATION 

Boone  County  continued  to  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Commissioners' 
Court  from  the  date  of  its  organization  in  1837  until  April,  1850,  when  the 
township  organization  system  was  put  in  force.  After  the  ratification  of  the 
State  constitution  by  the  people  on  March  6,  1848,  and  until  the  township 
organization  system  should  be  submitted  to  popular  vote  on  the  first  Monday 
in  April,  1850,  the  management  of  county  affairs  was  conducted  by  a  county 
judge  and  two  associates.  In  November,  1849,  the  first  election  of  these  tem- 
porary officials  for  Boone  County  resulted  in  the  selection  of  Daniel  H.  Whitney 
for  county  judge,  and  Edward  Hawley  and  Lucius  Fuller,  for  associate  justices. 
John  Jackson  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  Count}"  Court.  Boone  was  among 
the  first  counties  in  the  State  to  adopt  township  organization.  Several  other 
counties,  particularly  in  the  southern  part  of  Illinois,  rejected  it. 

The  first  Board  of  Supervisors  for  Boone  County  was  elected  in  April, 
1850,  and  held  the  first  meeting  on  June  11th  following,  in  response  to  a 
notice  issued  to  them  by  Judge  Whitney.  The  members-elect  were  Frederick 
P.  Low,  Fairfield  (now  Flora)  township;  Nathaniel  Crosby,  Belvidere  town- 
ship ;  Henry  Jenks,  Caledonia  township ;  Charles  W.  Libby,  Manchester  town- 
ship; William  Raymond,  Leroy  township;  Hiram  C.  Miller,  Boone  township; 
Isaac  Miller,  Bonus  township,  and  Charles  B.  Lord,  Concord  (now  Spring) 
township.  At  that  meeting,  H.  C.  Miller,  of  Boone,  was  elected  chairman 
pro  tem.,  and  Allen  C.  Fuller,  county  attorney.  After  the  transaction  of  some 
unimportant  business,  the  Board  adjourned  until  November  11th,  the  time  fixed 
by  law  for  the  regular  meeting;  then  the  full  management  of  the  county 
affairs  was  turned  over  to  the  new  body. 

BELVIDERE    UNDER    CORPORATE    FORM 

Belvidere  was  first  incorporated  under  the  general  laws  of  the  State  in 
1847,  but  only  remained  under  such  government  about  one  year,  when,  the 
local  government  not  proving  satisfactory  to  the  people  they  voted  the  cor- 
poration down.  Until  1857,  there  was  no  town  or  village  government,  but  about 
that  time  the  citizens  were  granted  a  special  charter.  It  was  approved  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1857,  and  the  corporate  name  was  the  "Presidenl  and  Trustees  of 
the  Town  of  Belvidere."  lis  area  was  defined  as  all  of  section  26  and  the 
west   half  of  section  25,  township  44,  north  of  range  3  east,  and  all  additions 


NATIONAL   SEWING    MACHINE    COMPANY.   BELVIDERE 


IIKill    SCHOOL,    BELVIDERE 


536  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

of  lots,  blocks  and  out-blocks  to  said  town,  which  have  been  laid  out  and  re- 
corded in  the  recorder's  office  of  Boone  County,  provided  that  the  Board  of 
Trustees  might  not  extend  the  limits  of  the  corporation  beyond  two  square 
miles  of  land.  At  the  first  election  of  trustees  on  the  second  Monday  in  March, 
1857,  the  choice  fell  upon  John  K.  Towner,  Israel  Tripp,  D.  W.  Read,  Cephas 
Gardner  and  Warren  Pierce.  Mr.  Pierce  was  chosen  president  of  the  Board, 
Asher  E.  Jenner,  clerk,  Mark  Ramsey,  treasurer,  and  William  Haywood,  as- 
sessor. Belvidere  remained  under  this  form  of  government  for  nearly  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  and  in  1881  had  reached  such  a  stage  of  population  and  all- 
around  development  that  it  was  incorporated  by  an  act  of  the  General  As- 
sembly as  a  city. 

BELVIDERE   OF   THE   PRESENT 

A  thriving,  clean  little  city  of  more  than  8,000  people,  lying  on  both  sides 
of  the  Kishwaukee  River,  and  divided  longitudinally  by  State  Street,  Belvidere 
is  one  of  the  best  residence  places  in  the  Rock  River  Valley.  It  is  the  center 
of  a  beautiful  and  fertile  agricultural  and  dairy  country  and  draws  for  its 
immediate  support  upon  more  than  130,000  acres  of  improved  land.  It  is  a 
gem  city  set  in  the  midst  of  rolling,  well  drained  lands,  checkered  with  pros- 
perous-looking farms  and  flecked  with  herds  of  dairy  cattle.  Although  the 
raising  of  sheep  is  relegated  to  the  background  of  the  live  stock  industries, 
the  feeding  of  sheep  which  come  from,  the  far  West  and  are  headed  for  the 
Chicago  market  is  one  of  the  specialties  of  Belvidere,  and  its  yards  are  among 
the  largest  in  the  Middle  West. 

The  banks  of  the  Kishwaukee  are  not  only  naturally  beautiful,  but  have 
been  utilized  by  the  people  of  the  city  for  purposes  of  pleasure  and  conven- 
ience of  pedestrians  and  tourists.  About  eighty  acres  of  ground  have  been 
laid  out  into  pleasure  grounds,  and  provided  with  tennis  courts,  wading  pools 
and  picnic  conveniences.  The  township  maintains  also  a  fine  outdoor  bathing 
beach,  known  as  Marshall  beach,  at  which  are  diving  and  sliding  devices,  and 
a  gate  for  controlling  the  water  and  making  it  possible  to  clean  and  refresh 
it.  As  Belvidere  is  on  the  Rainbow  trail  running  from  Chicago  to  Yellow- 
stone Park,  its  camp  for  tourists  one  mile  from  the  down-town  district  is 
equipped,  in  the  modern  fashion,  with  good  water,  firewood  for  cooking  and 
other  domestic,  conveniences.  The  Bel  Mar  Country  Club  also  supports  a  golf 
club  at  the  edge  of  the  city.  The  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railway  has  fur- 
nished transportation  for  more  than  seventy  years,  with  ever-increasing  im- 
provements, and  the  city  is  right  in  the  meshes  of  the  interurban  system  which 
has  made  northern  Illinois  famous.  Grant  highway,  one  of  the  main  arteries 
of  travel  leading  out  of  Chicago  also  runs  through  Belvidere ;  so  there  is  no 
excuse  for  one  living  there  to  be  isolated  or  even  lonesome. 

The  water  supply,  which  is  municipally  owned,  comes  from  artesian  wells. 
The  water  is  so  pure  that  filtration  or  chemical  treatment  is  unheard  of  in 
the  city.  Health  records  therefore  show  that  the  mortality  of  Belvidere  is 
unusually  low.  Property,  as  well  as  the  public  health,  is  well  protected,  and 
since  the  paid  Fire  Department  was  organized  its  efficiency  has  kept  pace 
with  the  times.     It  has  been  completely  motorized  for  some  time. 


THE  BOCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  537 

Belvidere  has  for  some  years  gone  far  toward  realizing  the  ambition  of 
its  founders  to  make  it  an  industrial  center.  Flouring  mills  and  wagon  and 
carriage  works,  as  well  as  plow  factories,  had  the  pioneer  inning.  The  early 
mills  of  the  Belvidere  (  ompany  were  followed  by  the  Baltie  and  Big  Thunder 
(named  alter  the  Indian  chief)  of  1845.  The  Longcor  Plow  Works  were  started 
a  few  years  earlier,  and  in  1849  J.  V.  Wing  founded  his  wagon  and  carriage 
factory,  which  was  the  progenitor  of  a  long  line  of  similar  industries  which 
sprung  up  in  the  middle  and  late  '50s.  Of  late  years,  the  manufactories  which 
have  found  a  foothold  in  Belvidere  have  met  modern  conditions  of  free  com- 
munication with  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  thorough  means  of  communica- 
tion and  distribution,  with  a  consequent  variation  of  articles  placed  on  the 
market.  The  flouring  mills  have  been  abandoned  in  favor  of  the  greater  centers 
such  as  .Minneapolis  and  Chicago,  while  nourishing  local  industries  have  ap- 
peared based  both  on  the  natural  products  of  the  surrounding  country  and 
a  demand  for  certain  manufactured  articles  in  more  distant  parts.  Thus  two 
targe  plants  are  devoted  to  the  manufacture  of  dairy  products,  ice  cream  and 
bottled  beverages,  one  of  them  also  making  artificial  ice.  Another  is  devoted 
to  the  specialty  of  manufacturing  milk  bottle  caps. 

The  most  important  industry  of  recent  years  is  that  identified  with  the 
canning  of  beets,  string  beans,  tomatoes,  peas,  carrots  and  to  a  minor  extent, 
apples.  There  are  three  large  plants  of  this  kind — two  on  the  south  side  of 
the  river,  and  one  on  the  north  side.  The  oldest  is  that  founded  about  1880 
by  Otis  Coleman.  Great  areas  of  land  formerly  cultivated  to  the  cereals,  the 
profitable  market  for  which  is  so  uncertain,  are  now  turned  over  to  the  assured 
demand  of  the  canneries.  Judge  Charles  Fuller  stated  the  matter  at  a  late 
gathering  of  farmers  in  this  strain:  "There  is  a  branch  of  agriculture  grow- 
ing np  that  is  tending  to  make  farming  much  more  profitable,  and  therefore 
more  attractive;  that  is,  the  canning  of  fruits  and  vegetables.  The  men  who 
cultivate  the  soil  are  learning  that  an  acre  of  ground  used  to  raise  fruits  and 
vegetables  to  be  canned  for  winter  consumption  is  much  more  profitable  than 
the  same  ground  used  to  raise  farm  products  which  are  disposed  of  in  the 
ordinary  way."  Judge  Richard  V.  Carpenter  adds  that  the  canning  industry 
is  "the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  fanning;  the  adaptation  of  the  old  methods 
to  the  demands  of  the  present  age  and  the  growing  call  of  the  great  cities 
for  luxuries  of  the  table;  the  increase  of  profits  by  more  scientific  handling  of 
output;  the  planting  of  lands  formerly  sown  to  corn  and  oats  with  the  less 
plentiful  and  more  sought  for,  vegetables  and  truck  produce.  It  will  solve 
in  part,  as  .Judge  Fuller  says,  the  problem  of  how  to  keep  the  boys  (and  the 
girls)   on  the  farm,  and  add  materially  to  the  prosperity  of  Boone  County." 

By  far  the  greatest  industry  of  Belvidere  is  known  as  the  National  Sewing 
Machine  Works  which  stretch  along  the  Kishwaukee  east  of  State  Street.  It 
is  not  too  much  to  say  thai  Belvidere  depends  to  a  large  extent  upon  this 
great  concern,  which  is  known  throughout  the  country,  for  its  substantial  growth 
and  present  prosperity.  Its  products  include  sewing  machines,  screw  machine 
products  and  washing  machines,  and  when  bicycles  were  more  in  vogue  thou- 
sands of  the  "Eldredge  wheels"  were  turned  out  of  the  plant  of  the  company. 
The  industry  owes  its  standing  largely  to  B.  Eldredge  and  F.  P.  Eldredge. 
The  Belvidere  Screw  and  Machine  Company  also  turns  out  screw  machine  prod- 


538  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

ucts,  spark  plugs  and  special  machinery,  and  there  are  also  industries  de- 
voted to  radios  and  auto  accessories,  furniture  and  other  polishes,  corsets  (H.  W. 
Gossard  Company),  artificial  flowers,  overalls,  porcelain  products  and  casket 
hardware.  All  of  which  enumeration  bears  out  the  statement  already  made 
— that  Belvidere  has  a  metropolitan  range  of  manufactures. 

The  four  banks  of  Belvidere  have  total  resources  of  more  than  $4,000,000, 
and  since  the  First  National  Bank  was  organized  in  May,  1865,  with  Allen 
C.  Fuller  as  president,  none  of  her  financial  institutions  has  failed.  As  an- 
nounced by  one  of  her  citizens:  "Belvidere  never  had  a  bank  failure,  a  panic 
or  a  boom." 

The  uplifting  institutions  of  Belvidere  have  mainly  been  her  schools  and 
churches,  and,  in  a  minor  degree,  her  public  library,  which  is  now  founded 
on  a  Carnegie  endowment.  Since  the  founding  of  the  Baptist  church  by  Rev. 
John  S.  King  in  March,  1836,  Belvidere  has  been  considered  one  of  the  pioneers 
in  the  cause  of  Christ  in  the  Rock  River  Valley,  and  there  is  no  denomination, 
orthodox  or  liberal,  which  has  not  at  some  time  been  represented.  Miss  Har- 
riet King,  daughter  of  Rev.  Dr.  King,  was  one  of  the  first  teachers  to  ply  her 
calling  in  Belvidere.  The  Newton  Academy,  diagonally  across  from  the  south- 
east corner  of  the  courthouse  square,  was  built  about  1837.  It  was  the  first 
distinctive  school  building  in  town.  Dr.  King  was  one  of  the  trustees  who 
controlled  the  property  and  Professor  S.  S.  Whitman  taught  in  the  academy, 
which,  in  the  fall  of  1843,  was  diverted  to  other  purposes.  In  1854,  a  public 
school  building  of  stone  was  erected  in  the  public  square  and  was  the  most 
pretentious  educational  institution  in  the  country.  Later  the  south  side  de- 
manded and  obtained  school  privileges.  Since  then  the  public  school  system 
has  expanded  with  the  general  growth  of  the  city,  so  that  it  now  embraces 
four  modern  graded  schools  and  a  high  school,  with  substantial  buildings  and 
up-to-date  arrangements.  About  sixty  teachers  are  employed,  including  prin- 
cipals and  supervisors.  The  value  of  the  city  school  property  approaches 
$500,000.  The  Public  Library  which  has  come  to  be  regarded  in  every  Amer- 
ican community  as  an  institution  necessary  to  its  higher  development,  had  its 
inception  as  early  as  1851.  The  weak  initial  attempt  was  abandoned  after  four 
or  five  years,  and  it  was  not  until  twenty  years  later,  in  May,  1874,  that  a  few 
cultured  ladies  got  together  some  120  books  and  formed  the  Belvidere  Librarj- 
Society.  This,  also,  was  a  subscription  library,  and  in  a  few  years  had  grown 
to  a  collection  of  1,000  volumes.  In  1885,  Gen.  A.  C.  Fuller  gave  $9,000  to 
the  city  to  be  expended  in  the  purchase  of  books.  The  ordinance  authorizing 
the  library  was  approved  in  May  of  that  year,  and  it  was  named  Ida  Public- 
Library  in  memory  of  General  Fuller's  deceased  daughter.  It  was  first  in- 
stalled in  the  city  hall  over  the  post  office  and  finally,  through  the  use  of  the 
Carnegie  library  fund,   obtained  its  own  building. 

OUTSIDE    OF    BELVIDERE 

Capron  and  Poplar  Grove  are  small  villages  or  stations  on  the  North  Western 
Railroad,  north  of  the  central  part  of  Boone  County.  The  first  settlers  of 
that  portion  of  the  county  came  about  1837-38  and  located  at  or  near  what 
is  now   Poplar  Grove,   which    is   divided   by   Boone   and    Caledonia   townships. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  539 

One  of  the  6rs1  settlers  known  by  name  was  Bradford  Dean,  the  first  school 
teacher,  and  justice  of  the  peace,  who  taught  in  Boone  township  and  lived 
just  over  the  line  in  Caledonia.  The  village  of  Poplar  (irove,  originally  called 
Shermantown,  was  laid  out  by  I.  V.  Sherman  in  1859.  The  Madison  branch 
of  the  Chicago  &  North  Western  line  had  been  completed  through  the  county 
six  years  before,  and  both  ('apron  and  Poplar  (irove  were  made  stations  on  it. 
They  have  continued  to  develop  as  shipping  points  for  grain  and  live  stock 
and  as  centers  lor  quite  an  expanse  of  local  trade,  ('apron  has  rather  out- 
grown  Poplar  (irove,  its  population  being  about  (300  as  compared  with  some 
350  for  the  latter. 

Caledonia,  a  village  of  300  people,  is  in  the  western  part  of  the  county  and 
the  early  settlers  of  the  township  by  that  name  commenced  to  locate  in  con- 
siderable numbers  in  1838-39.  During  the  latter  year  Caledonia  precinct  was 
set  oft'  from  Beaver  precinct.  In  1843,  a  post  office  was  established  in  what 
is  now  the  southern  part  of  Caledonia  township,  and  David  Drake,  a  pioneer 
of  that  locality,  was  appointed  postmaster  of  Precinct  post  office,  as  it  was 
called.  Ten  years  later,  when  the  Chicago  &  North  Western  line  was  completed 
the   post   office  was  moved  to  Caledonia   station. 

Garden  Prairie  is  a  little  village  of  two  or  three  hundred  people  and  a 
station  on  the  Chicago  &  North  Western,  a  few  miles  east  of  Belvidere  on  the 
south  hank  of  the  Kishwaukee  River.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  good  farming 
and  dairy  district  and  is  a  typical  rural  settlement.  Although  there  were 
settlements  in  Bonus  township  as  early  as  1836,  Garden  Prairie  is  an  out- 
growth of  the  Galena  division  of  the  railroad  and  was  laid  out  by  David  H. 
Sackett,  one  of  the  first  of  the  pioneers,  about  1852. 

Thus,  outside  of  Belvidere,  even  the  evidences  of  village  life  are  not  note- 
worthy. The  county,  as  a  whole,  is  a  characteristic  section  of  the  State  which 
has  laid  the  basis  of  the  substantial  prosperity  of  Illinois  in  the  character  of  a 
contented,  industrious  and  thrifty  middle-class  rooted  in  the  fertile  soil  and 
its  varied  products.  At  the  same  time,  Boone  County  has  produced  many  able 
men,  and  their  achievements  may  be  traced  in  such  chapters  as  those  devoted 
to  the  politics  and  the   bench   and  bar  of  Hock   River   Valley. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
STEPHENSON  COUNTY 

THE  GODFATHER  OF   STEPHENSON   COUNTY FIRST  SETTLERS PERMANENT   SETTLERS 

AND    SETTLEMENTS — THE    PAPER    TOWN    OF    RANSOMBERG THE    REAL    TOWN    OF 

FREEPORT ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    COUNTY ORIGINAL    ELECTION    PRECINCTS 

FREEPORT  SELECTED  AS  THE  COUNTY   SEAT THE  EPOCHAL  YEAR,   1837 THOMAS 

J.  TURNER TAXES  AND  WEALTH  OF  THE  COUNTY  IN  1838 IMPROVEMENTS  CEN- 
TERING IN  FREEPORT,  1838-40 — COMING  OF  THE  NORWEGIANSi — ONECO  AND 
ORANGEVILLE THE  VILLAGE  OF  WINSLOW CEDARVILLE ANOTHER  DEVELOP- 
MENTAL YEAR,  1850 — FREEPORT  INCORPORATED  AS  A  TOWN CHOLERA  IN  1850-52 

— THE  VILLAGE  OF  LENA- — DAVIS  AND  DAKOTA ROCK  CITY — RIDOTT VILLAGES  OF 

LATER  FOUNDING  AND  GROWTH FREEPORT 's  GROWTH  FOR  FORTY  YEARS HORATIO 

C.    BURCHARD THE    PANIC     OF     1857 THE    FREEPORT    OF    TODAY STEPHENSON 

COUNTY,  AGRICULTURALLY  CONSIDERED. 

Stephenson  is  one  of  the  northern  tier  of  Illinois  counties  and  the  second 
east  of  the  Mississippi.  It  has  a  population  of  37,743,  and  an  area  of  559 
square  miles,  or  357,760  acres.  Physically  speaking,  it  lies  outside  the  main 
valley  of  the  Rock  River,  but  is  in  the  watershed  of  the  Pecatonica  and  its  trib- 
utaries, Yellow,  Cedar  and  Richland  creeks  and  smaller  streams  which  furnish 
the  county  with  excellent  drainage.  The  Pecatonica  River  enters  Stephenson 
County  from  Wisconsin  about  seven  miles  from  its  northwestern  corner,  flows 
southeastwardly  to  Freeport  and  thence  east  into  Winnebago  County,  where  it 
joins  the  Rock  River  at  Rockton.  The  current  of  the  Pecatonica  is  slow  and 
its  course  very  tortuous,  so  that  the  uncertain  derivation  of  its  Indian  name 
has  reasonably  been  accepted  to  mean  either  "muddy  water"  or  "crooked 
stream."  The  Pecatonica  and  its  chief  tributary,  Yellow  Creek,  are  constantly 
depositing  rich  alluvial  soil,  which,  with  proper  drainage,  cannot  be  excelled  for 
fertility. 

The  river  and  the  creek  mentioned  formed  an  east-and-west  barrier  against 
the  prairie  fires  that  formerly  swept  toward  the  north  and  destroyed  miles  of 
valuable  timber.  The  consequence  is  tbat  south  of  these  water  courses  there  is 
little  woodland.  Large  groves  of  white  oak  and  other  valuable  timber  were 
swept  away,  never  to  be  replaced.  The  principal  varieties  north  of  the  Peca- 
jonica  and  Yellow  Creek  are  hickory,  black  walnut,  sugar  maple,  oak,  butternut, 
elm  and  poplar.  Although  the  general  aspect  of  the  land  throughout  the  county 
is  that  of  a  rolling  prairie,  there  are  numerous  roads  in  the  country  distivicts  that 
take  one  through  beautiful  groves,  rich  valleys  and  wooded  hillsides. 

540 


E   §  1 


STEPHENSON   COUNTY'S  FIRST  COURT  HOUSE 
Completed  in  1840 


THE  COURT  HOUSE  OF  TODAY,  FREEPORT 


542  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

THE  GODFATHER  OP  STEPHENSON  COUNTY 

The  county  derives  its  name  from  Colonel  Benjamin  Stephenson,  a  Ken- 
tuckian,  who  became  prominent  in  the  early  period  of  the  Territory;  was  a 
colonel  of  the  Illinois  militia  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  afterward  a  congressional 
delegate  and  register  of  the  land  office  at  Edwardsville.  His  son,  Captain  James 
W.  Stephenson  was  prominent  in  the  Black  Hawk  war  and  throughout  the  Galena 
district  in  public  life.  For  several  years  he  was  register  of  the  land  office  at 
Galena,  but  his  father,  the  Colonel,  was  of  far  more  prominence. 

FIRST  SETTLERS  OF  THE   COUNTY 

Oliver  W.  Kellogg,  a  native  of  New  York  State,  came  to  Burr  Oak  Grove, 
in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  county  between  the  Pecatoniea  and  Yellow  Creek, 
and  in  1827  commenced  to  make  a  few  improvements  in  that  locality.  It  soon 
became  known  as  Kellogg 's  Grove,  although  the  pioneer  who  gave  his  name  to  the 
locality  remained  in  the  Grove  less  than  two  years.  He  then  was  replaced  by  a 
wandering  Frenchman,  Lafayette,  who  occupied  the  Kellogg  premises  until  the 
winter  preceding  the  Black  Hawk  war.  The  Kellogg-Lafayette  cabin  was  stand- 
ing and  furnished  a  shelter  for  Major  Dement  and  his  rangers  when  they  were 
so  closely  besieged  by  Black  Hawk.  It  enabled  him  to  hold  out  until  reenforce- 
ments  reached  him  and  his  threatened  defeat  was  transformed  into  the  victory 
of  June,  1832,  which  broke  the  power  of  the  wily  and  able  Sauk  warrior. 

Prior  to  the  Black  Hawk  war,  Stephenson  County  had  been  invaded  by  white 
men  other  than  those  mentioned;  but  their  coming  was  even  more  indecisive  than 
the  short  residence  of  Kellogg  and  Lafayette.  In  1827  Colonel  Henry  Gratiot, 
the  Winnebago  Indian  agent,  is  said  to  have  ridden  on  horseback,  with  a  single 
companion,  through  Stephenson  County,  by  way  of  the  Rock  River  ford,  at 
what  is  now  Dixon,  and  Kellogg 's  Grove.  He  was  riding  from  Peoria  to  Apple 
River,  Galena.  A  man  named  Baker,  a  former  resident  of  St.  Louis  and  who 
worked  for  Colonel  Gratiot  in  the  lead  mine  region,  is  reported  to  have  built  a 
cabin  at  Buffalo  Grove,  in  what  is  now  Stephenson  County,  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  a  trading  station  there.  He  remained  in  his  cabin  less  than  a  year, 
and  it  is  probable  that  he  left  because  of  impending  trouble  witli  the  Indians. 
He  was  the  first  white  to  build  a  cabin  in  Stephenson  County.  He  was  an  enter- 
prising Hoosier,  who  passed  into  the  lead  mine  region  of  Jo  Daviess  Comity, 
afterward  returned  to  Peoria,  and  in  1835,  witli  his  son,  built  the  first  cabin 
on  the  site  of  Freeport. 

PERMANENT  SETTLERS  AND  SETTLEMENTS 

But  William  Waddams,  a  native  of  New  York  State,  came  to  the  grove  which 
bears  his  name  in  the  fall  of  1832  and  soon  after  Black  Hawk's  defeat  at  the 
Bad  Axe,  Wisconsin,  he  staked  out  his  claim.  He  had  lived  in  Southern  Indiana 
and  in  Peoria  and  Galena,  Illinois,  but  evidently  desired  a  more  quiet  and  pleas- 
ant home  than  he  could  establish  in  the  lead  regions  of  Northwestern  Illinois  or 
Southwestern  Wisconsin.  In  the  spring  of  1833  he  therefore  built  a  log  cabin 
for  his  family  and  brought  them  to  the  Grove. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  :.»:; 

As  Mr.  Waddams  thus  founded  the  firsl  permanent  household  in  Stephenson 
County,  a  brief  description  of  him  and  his  surroundings  is  in  place.    His  was 

the  typical  frontier  log  cabin.  It  was,  in  fact,  hewed  out  of  the  forest.  The 
trees  were  selected,  cut  down  and  shaped  into  logs,  notched  near  the  ends.  The 
rafters  and  joints  were  eu1  and  split  out  of  the  green  saplings.  The  puncheon 
floor  was  of  the  usual  order.  The  hoards  were  rived  on  the  ground  and  the 
window  frames  were  smoothed  up  by  use  of  a  jacknife.  The  great  fireplace 
occupied  almost  all  of  one  end  of  the  house.  Such  a  house  could  be  built,  as 
many  of  them  were,  with  no  other  tools  but  an  axe  and  an  auger.  A  thatched 
roof  log  barn  was  quickly  built  and  afforded  protection  for  grain  and  stock.  Mr. 
Waddams  was  a  native  of  the  State  of  New  York  and  Mrs.  Waddams  of  the 
Slate  of  Vermont.  There  were  no  schools  in  the  first  years  of  Mr.  Waddams'  life 
in  Illinois  but.  being  interested  in  the  education  of  his  children,  he  procured 
the  services  of  a  private  teacher.  He  was  forty-seven  years  old  when  he  built 
the  first  permanent  residence  in  this  county  on  section  13,  in  West  Point  town- 
ship. He  was  a  man  of  decided  opinions  and  in  polities  was  first  a  whig  and 
then  a  republican.  Mr.  Waddams  was  the  pilot  who  led  the  way  for  many  a 
family  into  Stephenson  County.  Many  a  settler  partook  of  his  hospitality  while 
on  bis  way  to  select  a  claim  here.  Frequently  he  hitched  his  team  to  the  end 
of  the  new  comer's  wagon  tongue  and  pulled  him  through  mud  holes  or  across 
the  fords  on  the  Pecatonica.  He  was  for  a  long  time  justice  of  the  peace  and 
earned  the  title  of  Squire  Waddams.  One  of  his  specialties  as  justice  was  mar- 
riages. 

Before  Mr.  Waddams  brought  his  family  to  the  Grove,  a  settlement  had  been 
started  at  Brewster's  Perry  on  the  Pecatonica,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  south  of 
the  presenl  village  of  Winslow.  In  1834  George  Payne  stopped  for  some  time 
near  t lie  ferry  and  in  November  of  the  same  year  William  Robey  and  family 
settled  in  the  vicinity  of  what  is  now  Cedarville.  About  that  time  George  W. 
Lott  located  in  a  cabin  between  Winslow  and  Oneeo,  in  the  extreme  northern 
pari  of  the  county.  It  is  claimed  that  a  son  was  born  in  the  Lott  family  during 
1835;  if  line,  this  was  the  first  white  child  born  in  Stephenson  County.  Others 
claim  that  Amanda  Waddams,  born  at  the  Waddams  home  in  February,  1836, 
was  the  first  native  child  of  the  county. 

In  1835,  .lames  Timms  and  family  came  from  Jo  Daviess  County  and  bought 
the  old  Kellogg  site.  He  was  a  soldier  of  the  Black  Hawk  war  and  during  hos- 
tilities his  family  had  been  protected  in  the  Apple  River  fort.  Many  settlers 
were  added  to  the  population  of  the  county  during  that  year,  and  in  1836  Thomas 
l.ott  built  a  sawmill  on  the  present  site  of  the  village  of  Winslow.  Not  long 
after,  the  village  site  and  a  large  quantity  of  adjoining  land  were  bought  by 
a  Boston  company. 

THE   PAPER   TOWN   OF  RANSOMRERG 

While  settlers  were  coming  into  the  country  with  some  misgivings,  a  bold  real 
estate  boomer  named  A.  < '.  Ransom  unhesitatingly  laid  out  his  town  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  below  Brewster's  ferry.  The  resultant,  Kansomberg,  was  the  first 
town  to  be  platted  in  Stephenson  County  the  year,  1834.    Its  proprietor  issued 


544  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

charts  and  maps,  showing  regular,  wide  streets  and  beautiful  parks,  flaming 
with  vari-colored  foliage.  Mr.  Ransom  built  a  store  and  is  said  to  have  sold  a 
corner  lot  to  a  St.  Louis  gentleman  for  $500.  That  was  the  extent  of  the  develop- 
ment of  Ransomberg,  whose  projector  disappeared  in  the  wilds  of  Texas. 

THE  REAL  TOWN  OF  FREEPORT 

The  Bakers,  father  and  son,  having  built  the  first  cabin  on  the  site  of  Free- 
port,  in  December,  1835,  prepared  to  bring  Mrs.  Baker  to  the  place  which  they 
considered  a  favorable  town  site  on  the  banks  of  the  Pecatonica  River.  Assisted 
by  Benjamin  Goddard  and  George  Whiteman,  late  arrivals,  the  head  of  the 
Baker  family  erected  a  hewn  log  home — an  improvement  on  the  first  cabin.  They 
both  stood  near  the  foot  of  Stephenson  Street  on  the  railroad  grounds  of  today. 
In  February,  1836,  Mrs.  Baker  occupied  the  hewn  log  house  and  was  joyfully 
installed  as  the  first  woman  on  the  site  of  the  town  soon-to-be. 

"William  Baker  then  made  preparations  to  establish  an  Indian  trading  post 
and  a  hotel.  A  tribe  of  Winnebagoes  was  still  in  the  community  and  the  tavern 
would  be  convenient  for  travelers  or  those  seeking  locations  in  the  neighborhood. 
But  soon  the  idea  of  a  new  town  came  uppermost  in  Mr.  Baker 's  mind,  and  Wil- 
liam Kirkpatrick  and  W.  T.  Galbraith  were  similarly  obsessed.  The  real  estate 
firm  of  Baker,  Kirkpatrick,  Galbraith  &  Company  was  formed  to  promote  the 
new  town,  which  was  laid  out  early  in  1836  on  the  north  part  of  the  northeast 
portion  of  section  31.  Previous  to  this  platting,  the  settlement  had  been  called 
Winneshiek,  after  the  Winnebago  chief  by  that  name  who  had  his  village  where 
the  Illinois  Central  station  now  stands.  It  is  not  known  who  named  the  place 
Winneshiek,  and  it  is  not  known  as  a  certainty  how  the  platted  village  came  to 
be  called  Freeport. 

But  the  story  accounting  for  the  change  is  not  a  bad  one ;  so  let  it  go  for 
what  it  is  worth.  As  related,  William  Baker  had  established  a  tavern  on  the 
river  front.  He  was  a  hospitable  gentleman  by  nature,  and,  as  he  was  an  enter- 
prising real  estate  man,  perhaps  as  a  matter  of  business  policy,  newcomers  were 
given  the  glad  hand  in  true  frontier  fashion  and  the  latchstring  was  always  out 
at  Baker's.  Many  of  these  strangers  were  entertained  by  Baker  without  charge. 
This  generosity  levied  heavily  upon  the  stock  of  provisions  at  Baker's  and  kept 
the  landlady  hard  at  work.  Mrs,  Baker  finally  became  annoyed  and  tired  at  her 
husband's  reckless  hospitality,  and  gave  vent  to  her  feelings  one  morning  at 
breakfast,  announcing  that  henceforth  the  place  should  be  called  "free  port." 
The  incident  and  the  name  spread  rapidly — so  runneth  the  tale. 

The  progess  of  Freeport,  even  in  its  early  career,  was  not  to  be  without  its 
stumbling  blocks.  When  the  Indians  disposed  of  the  title  to  their  lands  in  this 
portion  of  the  country,  the  government  reserved  to  the  half-breeds  certain  tracts 
of  land  which  they  might  select  in  whatever  part  of  the  unoccupied  territory 
they  might  choose,  and  frequently,  through  their  own  shrewdness  or  that  of  their 
advisers,  these  people  made  selections  which  turned  out  to  be  of  considerable 
value  or  gave  the  occupants  much  trouble.  As  soon  as  it  became  known  that 
Baker  and  his  associates  had  laid  out  a  town,  one  of  these  half-breeds,  Mary 
Myott,  through  her  agent,  Nicholas  Baldwin,  located  her  claim  on  the  section 


THE  ROCK  RIVEK  VALLEY  545 

which  had  been  .selected  for  the  site  of  Freeport,  and  the  town  builders  moved 
their  stakes  farther  west. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  COUNTY 

Thus  was  laid  the  foundation  of  Stephenson  County,  in  the  coming  of  sturdy 
pioneer  from  every  section  of  the  county.  It  is  impossible  to  mention  them  a'l, 
but  they  came  so  rapidly  in  1835-36  that  there  was  a  general  demand  for  sep- 
aration from  Jo  Daviess  County  and  a  distinct  political  organization.  In  re- 
sponse to  the  strong  public  sentiment,  the  General  Assembly  in  session  at  Van- 
dalia,  passed  an  act  on  March  4,  18137,  providing  for  the  organization  of  Stephen- 
son, Boone  and  DeKalb  counties.  The  measure  relating  to  Stephenson  reads  as 
follows : 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  represented  in  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  that  all  the  tract  of  country  within  the  following  boundaries, 
to-vvit:  Commencing  on  the  northern  boundary  of  the  State,  where  the  section 
line  between  sections  3  and  4,  in  town  20  north,  range  5,  east  of  the  principa' 
meridian,  strikes  said  line,  and  thence  east  on  the  northern  boundary  line  of 
the  State,  to  the  range  line  between  ranges  9  and  10  east,  thence  south  on  said 
range  line  to  the  northern  boundary  of  Ogle  County,  thence  west  on  the  northern 
boundary  of  Ogle  County  to  and  passing  the  northeast  corner  of  the  county  to 
the  line  between  sections  33  and  34,  in  township  26  north,  range  5  east,  to  the 
place  of  beginning  shall  form  a  county  to  be  called  Stephenson,  as  a  tribute  of 
respect  to  the  late  Colonel  Benjamin  Stephenson. 

"Section  2.  An  election  shall  be  held  at  the  house  of  William  Baker,  in  said 
county,  on  the  first  Monday  of  May  next,  for  one  sheriff,  one  coroner,  one 
recorder,  one  county  surveyor,  three  county  commissioners,  and  one  clerk  of  the 
County  Commissioners  Court,  who  shall  hold  their  offices  till  the  next  succeed- 
ing general  elections,  and  until  their  successors  are  elected  and  qualified;  which 
said  election  shall  be  conducted  in  all  respects  agreeable  to  the  law  regulating 
elections.  Provided  that  the  qualified  electors  present  may  elect  from  their  own 
number  three  qualified  voters  to  act  as  judges  of  said  election,  who  shall  appoint 
two  qualified  voters  to  act  as  clerks." 

Under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  the  121  voters  who  met  at  Mr.  Baker's  house 
on  the  first  Monday  in  May  selected  as  judges  of  election,  Orleans  Daggett, 
James  W.  Fowler  and  Thomas  J.  Turner,  who,  in  turn,  appointed  Benjamin 
Goddard  and  John  C.  Wickham  as  clerks.  The  election  passed  off  in  a  quiet  and 
orderly  fashion,  as  it  was  too  early  for  the  people  to  split  into  factions.  Wil- 
liam Fitzpatrick  was  elected  sheriff;  Lorenzo  Lee,  coroner;  Orestes  II.  Wright. 
commissioners'  clerk  and  recorder;  Lemuel  W.  Streator,  Isaac  S.  Forbes  and 
Julius  Smith,  commissioners;  and  Frederick  I).   Buckley,  county  surveyor. 

On  the  8th  of  May,  1837,  the  County  Commissioners'  Court  held  its  first 
meeting  at  the  residence  of  0.  H.  Wright,  and  the  officials  elected  duly  qualified. 
The  county  machine  was  fairly  in  motion,  although  its  seat  of  justice  had  not 
yet  been  fixed.  At  this  initial  meeting,  the  County  Court  also  laid  out  six 
election  precincts  and  appointed  three  judges  over  each.  The  bounds  of  these 
precincts,  with  the  judges  of  election,  indicate  the  nature  of  this  first  subdivision 
of  the  county  and  its  political  preparation  for  local  government. 


546  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

ORIGINAL    ELECTION    PRECINCTS 

Freeport  precinct  began  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Central  precinct,  south 
to  the  south  line  of  the  county,  west  to  the  east  line  of  Waddams  precinct,  north 
to  the  south  line  of  Central  precinct  and  east  to  the  place  of  beginning-.  Seth 
Scott,  A.  0.  Preston  and  L.  0.  Crocker  were  judges  of  election. 

Central  precinct  commenced  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Silver  Creek  precinct, 
south  five  miles,  west  13  miles,  north  to  the  southwest  corner  of  Brewster  pre- 
cinct, thence  east  to  the  place  of  beginning.  Ira  Jones,  Levi  Lucas  and  Alpheus 
Goddard,  judges. 

Brewster  precinct  commenced  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Rock  Grove  precinct, 
running  south  6  miles,  west  11  miles,  north  to  the  State  line  and  east  to  the 
place  of  beginning.    L.  R.  Hull,  John  M.  Curtiss  and  N.  E.  Ransom,  judges. 

Rock  Grove  precinct  began  at  the  northeast  corner  of  the  county  and  ran 
south  6  miles,  west  9  miles,  north  to  the  State  line  and  east  to  point  of  starting. 
J.  R.  Blackmore,  Jonathan  Cora  and  Eli  Frankenberger,  judges. 

Waddams  precinct  began  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Brewster  precinct,  south 
to  the  south  line  of  the  county,  west  on  the  county  line  to  the  west  line  of  the 
county,  north  to  the  north  line  of  the  county,  and  east  to  the  point  of  starting. 
William  Waddams,  Othmiel  Preston  and  John  Garner,  judges. 

Silver  Creek  precinct  commenced  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Rock  Grove  pre- 
cinct, south  to  the  south  line  of  the  county,  7  miles  west,  north  to  the  line  of 
Rock  Grove  precinct,  thence  east  to  the  place  of  beginning..  Horace  Colborn, 
Nelson  Salsburg  and  Philo  Hammond,  judges. 

At  this  first  session  of  the  County  Commissioners  Court,  which  seemed  to 
have  been  packed  with  business,  an  ordinance  was  passed  prohibiting  inn  keep- 
ers from  charging  more  than  371/2  cents  for  a  meal,  12y2  cents  for  a  night's  lodg- 
ing and  25  cents  for  a  measure  of  oats  and  the  same  price  for  a  horse  to  "hay" 
over  night. 

The  newly  elected  sheriff,  Kirkpatrick,  was  also  called  upon  to  do  his  duty 
while  the  first  court  was  in  session,  for  a  man  who  had  imbibed  too  freely  started 
out  to  make  a  disturbance,  and  the  sheriff  locked  him  up  in  William  Baker's 
root  house  until  he  could  become  normal  in  his  actions.  He  was  then  released 
without  fine  or  trial.  A  real  jail  and  courthouse,  which  implied  a  county  seat, 
were  crying  necessities. 

FREEPORT  SELECTED  AS  THE  COUNTY  SEAT 

The  General  Assembly  had  appointed  Vance  L.  Davidson,  Isaac  Chambers 
and  Miner  York  to  locate  a  seat  of  justice  for  Stephenson  County  and  Cedar- 
ville,  near  the  territorial  center,  and  Freeport,  quite  a  distance  south  of  the 
center,  were  the  chief  contenders  for  the  honor.  Cedarville  was  not  even  a  set- 
tlement, to  say  nothing  of  never  having  been  platted  as  a  town  or  village,  while 
Freeport  had  been  surveyed,  and  contained  half  a  dozen  houses,  a  store,  a  hotel, 
;i  trading  post,  a  ferry  and  a  saloon.  The  land  company  had  laid  out  the  town, 
offered  to  give  $6,500  for  the  erection  of  county  buildings,  and,  furthermore, 
besides  donating  the  site  for  the  buildings,  held  out  the  inducement  of  a  lot 
to  each  of  the  commissioners.     Many,  including  Rev.  F.   C.  Winslow,  claimed 


I 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  547 

thai  these  various  inducements  prejudiced  the  commissioners  in  favor  of  Free- 
port;  which  may  be  true,  as  at  the  time,  there  was  uothing  to  Cedarville 
except  its  location.  Whatever  the  underlying  considerations  which  determined 
the  location,  on  the  12th  of  June,  1837,  V.  L.  Davidson  and  [ssae  Chambers 
made  the  following  report:  "We,  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Legis- 
lature of  the  State  of  Illinois  to  locale  the  county  scat  of  Stephenson  County 
in  the  State  aforesaid,  have  located  said  seat  of  justice  on  the  northwest  Yl 
i  f  section  31  in  township  27  north,  range  8  east  of  the  4th  principal  meridian, 
now  occupied  and  claimed  by  William  Kirkpatrick  &  Co.,  William  Baker  and 
Smith  Gilbraith." 

THE    EPOCHAL    YEAR,    1837 

The  county  commissioners  added  to  the  epochal  nature  of  the  year  1837 
by  cunt  raiting  with  Thomas  J.  Turner  for  the  erection  of  a  frame  courthouse 
and  log  jail.  The  specifications  laid  down  for  the  building  of  the  jail,  twenty 
by  twenty-four  feet  in  dimensions,  indicate  that  it  was  to  be  constructed  of 
hewn  oak  logs,  with  a  stone  foundation  laid  in  "lime  mortar."  It  was  to  be 
a  two  story  structure,  with  two  barred  windows  and  a  white  oak  stairway; 
door  in  the  center  of  the  gable,  and  a  strongly  protected  trap  door  in  the 
upper  floor.  For  some  reason.  Air.  Turner  transferred  his  jail  contract  to 
Messrs.  Truax  &  Hollenbeck,  but  contracted  to  build  the  frame  courthouse 
in  December,  1837,  and  completed  it  in  1840.  Twice  it  was  struck  by  lightning, 
and  continually  delayed  because  of  the  hard  times  and  the  heavy  discount  on 
county  orders.  When  finally  completed,  however,  it  appears  to  have  heen  well 
built,  for  its  served  its  purposes  for  thirty  years.  It  was  a  two-story  frame 
structure,  and  considered  a  model  of  its  kind.  .Mr.  Turner  was  a  millwright 
by  trade  and  for  some  time  before  locating  in  Stephenson  County  had  earned 
a  livelihood  by  constructing  bellows  for  the  furnaces  in  the  Galena  lead  mines. 
In  May,  1836,  he  built  a  sawmill  near  Farwell's  ferry  on  the  Pecatonica  near 
the  mouth  of  Rock  Run,  and  nearby,  with  Julius  Smith  and  B.  Thatcher,  he 
erected  a  cabin  home.  Xot  long  before,  while  residing  at  Galena  he  had  visited 
Freeport  in  search  of  supplies,  and  fortunately  reached  the  Baker  House 
shortly  before  its  genial  and  generous  head  returned  from  Peoria  with  a  goodly 
supply.  As  was  customary,  the  Baker  home  and  Freeport,  as  a  whole,  were 
thrown  open  to  the  hardy  and  attractive  young  man.  That  was  his  intro- 
duction to  William  Baker  and  wife,  and  probably  one  of  the  reasons  why  in 
1837  he  secured  the  contract  for  building  the  courthouse.  Mr.  Turner  liked 
Freeport  so  well  that  he  remained  there,  and  his  associate,  Smith,  directed 
the  work  of  getting  out  the  first  timbers  for  the  erecting  of  the  courthouse 
in  the  winter  of  1837-38. 

THOMAS    J.    TURNER 

If  for  no  other  reason  than  that  Thomas  J.  Turner  came  to  Freeport  to 
live  in  1837,  that  year  would  have  been  epochal.  For  considerable  more  than 
three  decades  he  was  her  foremost  citizen.  Like  Lincoln,  he  was  self-educated. 
In  1840,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  being  then  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and 

Vol.  1—35 


548  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

in  the  following  year  was  elected  probate  judge  of  Stephenson  County.  Soon 
afterward,  Governor  Ford  appointed  him  prosecuting  attorney,  in  which  ca- 
pacity he  secured  the  conviction  and  punishment  of  the  murderers  of  Colonel 
Davenport.  In  1846  he  was  elected  to  Congress  as  a  democrat,  and  in  the 
following  year  founded  the  Prairie  Democrat  (afterward  the  Freeport  Bulletin), 
the  first  newspaper  published  in  the  county.  Elected  to  the  Legislature  in 
1854,  he  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  house  and  in  the  following  year  became 
the  first  mayor  of  Freeport.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Peace  Conference  of 
1861,  and  in  May  of  that  year  was  commissioned  by  Governor  Yates  colonel 
of  the  Fifteenth  Illinois  Volunteers,  but  resigned  in  1862.  Mr.  Turner  served 
as  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1869-70  and  in  1871  was 
again  elected  to  the  Legislature,  where  he  received  the  democratic  caucus  nomi- 
nation for  United  States  senator  against  General  Logan.  In  1871  he  moved 
to  Chicago,  and  was  twice  an  unsuccessful  candidate  for  the  office  of  state's 
attorney.  In  February,  1874,  he  went  to  Hot  Springs,  Ark.,  for  medical  treat- 
ment, and  died  there  on  the  following  3rd  of  April. 

In  1837,  many  other  new  arrivals  of  unusual  worth  strengthened  the  count}*  's 
settlements.  Among  these  were  Isaac  Stoneman,  Richard  Earl,  John  A.  Mc- 
Dowell, Major  John  Howe,  Luther  and  Charles  Hall,  Chancellor  Martin,  Rich- 
ard Hunt,  Abraham  Johnson,  William  Stewart  and  L.  W.  Guiteau,  who  set- 
tled in  Freeport.  Quite  a  colony  of  Pennsylvania  Dutch,  led  by  Dr.  Van 
Valsah,  also  settled  on  a  claim  near  Cedarville  purchased  from  John  Goddard. 
Irish  Grove  in  Rock  Run  township  and  Dublin  in  Erin  township  were  prin- 
cipally settled  in  1837  and  1842,  although  the  pioneers  of  these  Irish  colonies, 
Bartholomew  Doyle  and  Michael  Murphy,  came  in  1835  and  located  in  the 
range  known  as  Dublin  settlement.  Doyle  remained  on  his  farm  long  enough 
to  improve  the  land  and  donate  three  acres  for  the  erection  of  St.  Mary's 
Catholic  Church,  one  of  the  first  religious  bodies  to  be  organized  in  the  county. 
In  1837,  Nelson  Martin  opened  a  school  in  Freeport.  William  Waddams, 
Thomas  Crain,  James  Timms  and  others  had  hired  private  teachers,  but  the 
Freeport  institution  was  the  pioneer  school  of  any  "standing"  to  be  estab- 
lished in  the  county.  At  the  same  time  that  Mr.  Martin  opened  his  school, 
the  county  commissioners  bought  the  lot  which  afterward  became  the  site  of 
the  First  Ward  public  school  building. 

Damascus  and  McConnell,  in  Waddams  township,  were  also  products  of 
the  busy  year,  1837.  Norman  Phillips,  a  settler  of  the  previous  year,  founded 
Damascus.  He  became  its  postmaster  and  members  of  the  family  were  the 
leaders  in  pushing  the  place  into  quite  a  settlement.  Being  situated  on  the 
Pecatonica  River  at  one  of  the  few  points  where  the  stream  was  crossed  by  a 
bridge,  and  being  near  the  center  of  the  county,  it  even  put  forth  its  claims 
to  county-seat  honors. 

In  1837,  the  town  of  McConnell  was  laid  out  by  John  Dennison,  on  land 
which  he  had  purchased  the  year  before,  and  in  1838  Robert  McConnell  ar- 
rived from  Pennsylvania,  purchased  the  land  and  improvements  and  called 
the  settlement  McConnell's  Grove.  He  opened  a  store,  bringing  his  goods  from 
Galena,  but  the  village  did  not  grow  to  any  extent  until  the  Illinois  Central 
secured  its  site,  and  made  it  a  station  on  its  Dodgeville  branch  which  was 
built  through  the  county  in  1854.     McConnell,  the  center  of  a  rich  dairy  dis- 


THE  ROCK  BIVEB  VALLEY  549 

trict,   is   now   a    village  of  about  400   people,   while   Damascus,   denied  direct 
railway  accommodations,  is  almost  deserted. 

TAXES  AND  WEALTH  OF  THE  COUNTY   IN   1838 

At  the  election  for  county  officers  held  in  1838,  L.  0.  ('rocker,  who  opened 
the  tirst  store  in  Freeport,  was  elected  assessor  and  Hubbard  Graves,  tax  col- 
lector. All  kinds  of  personal  property  were  listed  for  taxation  and  assess- 
ments were  made  as  high  as  the  law  allowed.  A  cheap  watch  cost  its  owner 
(>'  |  cents,  and  three  of  the  wealthier  men  in  the  county  paid  $2  tax  each  on 
their  watches.  The  rate  was  45c  on  the  $100,  and  Collector  Graves  turned 
into  the  county  treasury  $96  and  some  cents,  which  would  make  the  entire 
assessed  valuation  $21,333. 

IMPROVEMENTS   CENTERING   IN    PREEPORT,   1838-40 

Iii  the  late  '30s,  the  stage  line  was  to  Stephenson  County  and  the  western 
frontier  what  the  railroad  is  today;  and  enterprising  stations  on  it,  like  Free- 
port,  drew  both  business  and  permanent  settlers.  So  that  in  1838,  when  Frink 
&  Walker's  stage  line  was  opened  from  Chicago  to  Freeport,  via  Galena,  two 
new  hotels  were  opened  in  the  village — the  City  Hotel,  by  H.  G.  Fads,  and 
the  .Mansion  House,  by  Benjamin  Goddard.  In  the  judgment  of  that  day, 
the  latter  a  nine-room  hostelry  fully  lived  up  to  its  name.  The  stage  came 
to  Preeport  three  times  a  week.  The  trip  required  two  and  a  half  days  to 
complete  it.  and  each  of  the  ten  passengers  in  the  big  stage  paid  $5.  The 
stage  driver  of  that  day  was  in  a  class  by  himself.  He  was  an  engineer  just 
as  much  as  the  man  who  holds  the  throttle  over  the  Twentieth  Century  Lim- 
ited, lie  was  a  marvelous  expert  in  handling  the  reins,  the  whip  and  several 
brands  of  profanity.  Slow  as  it  was,  the  stage  was  an  important  factor  in 
advertising  and  developing  Stephenson  County.  It  brought  new  settlers,  was 
an  express  and  carried  the  mail.  It  kept  the  permanent  settlers  in  touch  with 
the  outside  world,  and  served  a  limited  purpose  until  the  railroad  came. 

After  many  trials  and  tribulations,  the  courthouse  was  in  partial  use.  By 
legislative  act  of  February,  1839,  Stephenson  County  continued  in  the  Sixth 
•Judicial  Circuit,  which  also  included  Jo  Daviess,  Boone,  Winnebago,  White- 
side, Rock  Island  and  Carroll  counties.  The  first  session  of  the  court  to  be 
held  in  Stephenson  County  covered  three  days  in  August,  1839,  and  Daniel 
Stone  was  the  presiding  judge.  The  new  law  of  February  23,  1841,  abolished 
the  office  of  circuit  judge,  appointed  additional  Supreme  Court  judges  and 
rearranged  the  districts. 

Freeport  and  the  entire  county  had  a  set-back  in  1839  when  both  the  vil- 
lage and  many  of  the  country  districts  were  swept  by  bilious,  intermittent  and 
all  Other  kinds  of  fevers.  It  has  gone  down  in  county  history  as  the  "fever 
year." 

In  1840,  Freeport  contained  about  forty  houses.  The  growth  of  the  town 
was  slow,  largely  because  of  a  lark  of  surrounding  country  upon  which  to  draw. 
The  three  local  stores  were  those  of  O.  II.  Wright,  L.  W.  Guiteau  and  I).  A. 
Kuowlton.     There  were  no  banks.     Farmers  left  their  monev  with  merchants 


550  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

who  deposited  in  cities  having  safe  deposits.  Liquor  was  sold  at  three  saloons 
and  at  all  hotels  except  the  Mansion  House.  Gambling  was  quite  as  general 
as  drinking.  Faro  was  dealt  openly.  Debauches  and  disorder  were  not  in- 
frequent. The  rougher  element  was  augmented  by  many  transients,  who  were 
going  to,  or  coming  from  the  lead  mines.  These  men  aided  in  giving  the  town 
a  reputation  for  drinking,  gambling  and  disorder,  which  it  was  slow  to  shake 
off.  In  those  days,  Freeport  was  not  unlike  the  typical  frontier  town  of  the 
far  West  at  a  later  period. 

In  1840,  under  the  leadership  of  Rev.  F.  C.  Winslow  and  John  A.  Clerk, 
there  was  a  widespread  protest  against  the  continuance  of  this  deplorable 
state  of  affairs.  Meetings  were  held  in  the  courthouse,  schoolhouse  and  in 
private  rooms,  and  even  in  the  building  where  James  Rock  conducted  the 
most  notorious  gambling  place  in  town. 

COMING    OF    THE    NORWEGIANS 

In  October,  1839,  occurred  an  event  which  is  memorable  in  the  history 
of  Stephenson  County  and  the  Northwest.  A  delegation  of  Norwegians  ar- 
rived at  the  settlement  at  Rock  Run  mills,  and  there  formed  what  has  been 
claimed  to  be  the  first  distinctive  settlement  of  those  nationals  in  the  United 
States;  without  doubt,  it  was  one  of  the  earliest.  Among  the  Norwegians 
who  settled  then  and  there  were  C.  Stabeck,  whose  descendants  afterward  be- 
came identified  with  the  village  of  Davis;  Ole  Anderson,  the  progenitor  of  a 
line  of  good  farmers  in  Rock  Run  township ;  Canute  Canuteson,  who  opened 
the  first  blacksmith  shop  in  the  township,  and  Civert  Oleson  and  Ole  Civert- 
son,  who  started  the  first  wagon  shop.  In  the  following  year,  fresh  arrivals 
were  numerous  at  the  various  settlements,  especially  at  the  Norwegian  colony 
at  Rock  Run  mills  and  Irish  Grove. 

ONECO   AND    ORANGEVILLE 

The  tale  of  Oneco  and  Orangeville  is  oft-repeated  in  the  history  of  Amer- 
ican communities.  The  great  American  stimulus,  the  railroad,  left  Oneco 
stranded  and  the  place  shriveled  and  died;  while  Orangeville  which  seemed 
to  be  headed  for  oblivion  was  stationed  on  its  line  and  revived.  The  village 
sites  are  only  about  two  miles  apart.  Oneco,  somewhat  the  elder,  was  located 
on  the  old  stage  road  to  the  lead  regions,  and  Henry  Cor  with,  in  behalf  of 
J.  K.  Brewster  platted  it  in  1840.  Additions  were  afterward  laid  out  to  the 
original  plat.  The  first  disappointment  in  the  development  of  Oneco  was  that 
the  water  power  furnished  by  Honey  Creek  was  inconstant.  At  times  the 
stream  was  swollen  with  floods,  but  during  the  greater  portion  of  the  year 
was  valueless;  therefore  its  first  mill  venture  was  a  failure  and  thereby  its 
future  was  discounted.    In  the  pioneer  period,  a  town  without  mills  was  hopeless. 

Orangeville,  on  the  other  hand,  is  located  on  Richland  Creek,  with  its  swift 
current,  Avhich  furnished  constant  water  power  for  the  people  of  that  town, 
as  well  as  for  Scioto  Mills  and  other  points.  The  first  settler  on  the  site  of 
Orangeville  was  John  M.  Curtis.  Small  saw  and  grist  mills  were  soon  after 
erected  by  him,  and  about  1845  John  Bowers  bought  these  improvements  with 


HISTORIC  BOULDER  AT  FREEPORT 
Murks  site  of  famous  Lincoln-Douglas  debate  of  August  27,  18;18 


552  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

320  acres  of  surrounding  land.  A  year's  residence  on  his  new  farm  convinced 
Mr.  Bowers  that  he  had  purchased  a  favorable  town  or  village  site.  Although 
all  around  was  virgin  country,  he  secured  the  cooperation  of  Marcus  Montelius, 
who  surveyed  and  platted  fifteen  acres  of  his  land  into  the  village  site  of 
Bowersville.  Its  location  and  local  advantages  attracted  settlers  from  the  first. 
It  was  about  the  right  distance  from  Freeport,  the  lots  were  very  cheap  and 
the  water  facilities  good.  As  building  material,  such  as  lumber  and  shingles 
could  not  be  obtained  in  the  region,  Mr.  Bowers  hauled  it  from  Chicago  in 
his  own  wagon  when  he  had  torn  down  the  old  Curtis  mills  and  replaced  the 
plant  with  a  frame  three-story  structure.  It  was  completed  in  1850  at  a  cost 
of  $8,000.  The  industry  has  come  down  to  the  present,  with  some  interrup- 
tions, as  the  Orangeville  Mills,  but  has  been  contracted,  so  that  the  gristmill 
is  alone  utilized. 

In  1867,  the  town  was  incorporated  as  the  village  of  Orangeville  and  in 
1888,  when  it  became  a  station  on  the  Madison  branch  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  its  status  as  one  of  the  most  flourishing  places  in  the  county  was 
fixed.  Not  many  years  ago,  the  original  mill  found  an  industrial  associate 
in  the  steam  plant  which  was  placed  in  operation  as  a  combined  grist,  saw 
and  planing  mill.  The  local  creamery  is  another  important  industry.  The 
Orangeville  State  Bank  was  established  in  1909.  The  Orangeville  Courier, 
which  was  established  in  1884  by  William  H.  McCall  is  also  one  of  the  local 
institutions  which  has  always  helped  the  town.  It  has  a  population  of  more 
than  400  people,  with  good  schools  and  several  large  churches.  The  Lutherans 
and  members  of  the  Reformed  Church  united  in  1851  to  form  the  Salem  Con- 
gregation of  the  United  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  and  in  1856  the  Orange- 
ville circuit  of  the  United  Brethren  Association  was  formed.  The  Methodists 
and  the  United  Evangelical  Society  also  include  the  village  in  their  circuits. 
The  first  village  schoolhouse  was  built  before  1850  and  stood  on  the  present 
site  of  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed  church.  In  1860,  the  school  was  graded 
and  the  Orangeville  High  School  was  founded  in  1909. 

THE  VILLAGE  OF   WINSLOW 

While  Freeport  was  growing  apace,  other  villages  were  just  coming  from 
the  chrysalis.  William  Brewster  was  the  first  settler  in  Winslow  township,  in 
the  northwestern  part  of  the  county,  and  in  1834  erected  a  comfortable  house 
and  established  Brewster's  ferry  across  the  Pecatonica.  He  was  a  native  of 
Vermont  and  most  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  region  were  New  Englanders. 
In  1838,  there  came  from  Plymouth  County,  Massachusetts,  the  first  colonists 
of  the  Boston  Western  Land  Company  to  develop  the  tract  which  had  been 
selected  and  which  included  the  site  of  the  village  of  Winslow.  W.  S.  Russell, 
the  agent  of  the  company,  gave  the  township  its  name  in  honor  of  Massachusetts' 
provincial  governor.  The  claims  of  the  Boston  Western  Land  Company  cov- 
ered 700  acres  in  Winslow  township,  and  it  is  said  that  at  one  time  it  owned 
72,000  acres  in  Wisconsin,  Illinois  and  Missouri.  In  1844,  the  company  sent 
out  an  energetic  agent  named  Cyrus  Woodman,  who,  in  that  year  surveyed 
and  platted  the  village  of  AVinslow.  He  laid  off  an  imposing  city  with  public 
square,  streets,  avenues  and  wharf  on  the  shores  of  the  Pecatonica.     Later,  the 


THE  ROCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  553 

company  decided  to  sell  farms,  instead  of  town  Lots,  and  thus  disposed  of  its 
holdings. 

The  village  was  organized  in  18f>0,  and  although  it  did  nol  realize  the  greal 
ambitions  of  its  foundation  year  it  developed  into  a  fairly  prosperous  com- 
munity, which  has  hovered  around  the  400  mark  in  population  for  fifteen  or 
twenty  years.  It  has  several  substantial  stores,  two  or  three  churches,  a  school; 
a  State  Bank,  founded  in  1915,  and  a  newspaper  (the  Register),  established 
in  1896.  It  is  the  last  village  of  any  importance  in  Stephenson  County  on 
the    Illinois   Central. 

I  EDARVILLE 

After  the  platting  of  Winslow,  in  1844,  the  next  village  of  standing  to 
emerge  was  Cedarville.  which  was  laid  out  by  George  Ilgen  in  1849.  Several 
years  before,  Dr.  Van  Valzah,  Levi  Lucas  and  Josiah  Clingman  and  his  wife 
had  settled  on  and  near  the  site  of  the  village,  which  was  surveyed  by  Marcus 
Montelius  for  Mr.  Ilgen.  About  1850,  James  Canfield  set  up  a  brick  kiln  two 
miles  west  of  the  village,  and  a  store  and  post  office  building  were  erected  in 
town.  But  Cedarville,  when  it  took  on  a  little  substance,  never  seemed  to 
fully  recover  from  her  earlier  disappointment  of  losing  the  county  seat  fight. 
Although  at  one  time,  a  number  of  factories  and  mills  were  in  operation,  several 
events  tended  to  cut  around  her  substantial  advance.  The  Illinois  Central 
passed  just  far  enough  to  the  west  to  leave  it  out  of  its  system.  Steam  power 
replaced  water  power,  and  several  of  its  'industries:  moved  to  Freeport  six  miles 
south.  Despite  these  drawbacks,  Cedarville  continued  to  grow  slowly,  her  rep- 
resentative men  and  women,  whether  of  the  old  days  or  the  newT,  being  re- 
markably intelligent  and  earnest.  It  is  a  village  of  churches,  four  houses  of 
worship  having  been  erected — the  Methodist,  in  1849,  the  German  Reformed 
and  Lutheran  in  1854,  the  Evangelical  in  1859,  and  the  Presbyterian,  in  1876. 
Although  schools  were  opened  near  the  village  as  early  as  1836  and  1846,  within 
the  limits  of  Cedarville  the  first  school  room  seems  to  have  been  installed  in 
the  basement  of  the  Lutheran  church  in  1853.  In  1855,  the  village  completed 
a  two-story  brick  building  both  for  educational  purposes  and  as  a  public  hall. 
Cedarville  schools  have  always  stood  well,  and  its  library  dates  from  1846. 
For  many  years,  also,  it  has  maintained  one  of  the  best  bands  in  Northern 
Illinois.  In  a  word,  albeit  that  Cedarville  has  been  denied  some  of  the  ad- 
vantages which  ensure  business  and  industrial  growth,  it  is  a  model  rural 
village  for  quiet  and  pleasant  residence;  and  in  population,  even,  is  among 
the  largest  towns  outside  of  the  City  of  Freeport.  The  last  census  gives  it 
a  population  of  over  1,100. 

ANOTHER  DEVELOPMENTAL   YEAR,   1850 

In  various  matters  connected  with  the  growth  of  the  county,  the  year 
1850  stands  beside  that  of  1837.  The  most  important  event  was  the  change 
in  county  government  from  the  commissioner  form  to  that  of  township  or- 
ganization, conducted  by  a  Board  of  Supervisors.  The  Constitutional  Con- 
vention of  184S   provided  that  the  question  of  a  change  be  submitted  to   the 


554  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

voters  of  the  county,  and  at  the  election  of  November  5,  1849,  the  result  was 
973  for  township  government  and  99  against.  In  November  of  the  following 
year  (1850)  the  following  were  elected  supervisors  of  the  original  townships: 
Lancaster  township,  Jonathan  Reitzell;  Rock  Run,  C.  G.  Edley;  Rock  Grove, 
James  J.  Rogers;  Oneco,  George  Cadwell;  Winslow,  Cornelius  Judson;  Wad- 
dams,  Michael  Lawver ;  Buck  Eye,  Marcus.  Montelius ;  West  Point,  Daniel  Wil- 
son ;  Harlem,  William  M.  Buckley ;  Erin,  John  I.  F.  Harmon ;  Florence,  Conrad 
Van  Brocklin ;  Ridott,  Gustavus  A.  Farwell ;  Silver  Creek,  Samuel  McAffee ; 
Freeport,  E.  S.  Hanchett,  and  Loran,  Hiram  Hart. 

In  December  following  the  election  of  1850,  the  Freeport  Journal,  the  sec- 
ond newspaper  published  in  the   county,  gave  the   population  of  Stephenson 
by  townships,  as  follows:    Freeport,  1,436;  Buck  Eye,  1,271;  Waddams,  1,160 
Rock  Run,  1,037;  Erin,  886;  Oneco,  882;  Lancaster,   835;  Rock  Grove,  727 
Loran,    654;    Ridott,    652;    Silver    Creek,    603;    Florence,    444;    Harlem,    444 
Winslow,  384;  West  Point,  250.     Total  for  the  county,  11,665. 

The  four  townships  first  named,  it  will  be  seen,  had  in  1850  nearly  half 
the  population  of  the  entire  county.  They  were  not  only  rich,  naturally,  but 
had  gathered  considerable  centers  of  population  within  their  limits.  Freeport 
was  growing  quite  rapidly  for  those  times ;  Cedarville  was  in  Buck  Eye  town- 
ship ;  McConnell  and  Damascus  in  Waddams  and  the  Germans,  Irish,  Nor- 
wegians and  Yankees  were  flocking  to  the  fertile  lands  of  Rock  Run  township, 
and  bringing  its  population  well  to  the  front. 

The  census  of  1850  showed  of  the  9,800  native-born  inhabitants  of  Stephen- 
son County,  Pennsylvania,  furnished  about  one-third,  Illinois  nearly  as  large 
a  proportion  and  New  York  about  one-seventh.  The  foreign-born  residents 
numbered  less  than  2,000.  Germany  led,  with  a  trifle  over  800,  and  Ireland 
furnished  about  half  as  many.  The  German  contingent  was  materially  in- 
creased by  the  settlement  of  a  large  colony  in  Ridott  township,  the  members 
of  which  formed  the  little  settlement  of  Baalton,  long  afterward  the  village 
of  German  Valley. 

FREEPORT    INCORPORATED    AS    A    TOWN 

It  was  in  1850,  when  Freeport  had  reached  a  population  of  nearly  1,500, 
that  the  citizens  of  the  county  seat  asked  that  their  old  village  organization 
be  replaced  by  a  town  form  of  government.  During  the  summer  of  that  year 
Freeport  was  therefore  incorporated  as  a  town  under  the  laws  of  the  State 
of  Illinois,  and  at  the  election  held  later  in  the  year  the  following  were  elected 
trustees:  Thomas  J.  Tuxmer,  Julius  Smith,  John  K.  Brewster,  John  Rice  and 
Joseph  B.  Smith. 

Rock  Grove  village,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county,  was  platted  by 
Samuel  Guyer  in  1850,  although  settlers  had  been  locating  in  the  neighbor- 
hood for  fifteen  years.  The  place  never  made  much  progress,  as  Orangeville, 
a  few  miles  to  the  west,  got  the  start  of  it  by  several  years,  and  has  main- 
tained the  lead.  Rock  Grove  is  a  rural  hamlet,  without  direct  railroad  con- 
nections, and  is  the  center  of  a  restricted  trade,  as  well  as  the  home  of  a 
number  of  retired  farmers.  Since  1920,  it  has  enjoyed  banking  privileges 
through  a  State  institution,  and  is  no  longer  dependent  upon  Orangeville,  on 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  555 

the    Illinois   Ccnlral    to  the   west,    nor  upon    Rock    City,   on   the   Chicago,   Mil- 
waukee  &   St.    Paul    Railroad    to  the   southwest. 

CHOLERA    IN    1850-52 

The  wave  of  prosperity,  noticeable  in  so  many  ways  through  Stephenson 
County  in  1850,  was  east  back  upon  itself  by  an  epidemic  of  Asiatic  cholera 
which  in  1850-52  swept  over  the  southern  districts.  The  people  of  Freeport 
and  the  settlements  in  Loran  and  Ridott  townships  suffered  the  most,  and 
Kirkpatrick's  Mills,  or  Mill  Grove,  and  the  village  of  Nevada,  which  had  just 
been  platted  by  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railroad  Company,  were  de- 
serted and  wiped  from  the  map  of  living  villages.  A  traveler  passing  through 
the  county  at  the  time  said  that  there  was  hardly  a  family  on  the  old  State 
Road  in  which  one  of  its  members  was  not  stricken  with  the  plague,  dying 
or  buried. 

Most  of  the  cholera  victims  in  Freeport  were  along  the  creek.  Eighteen 
deaths  occurred  in  one  day  there.  The  physicians  throughout  the  infected 
area,  as  well  as  unprofessional  men  and  women,  took  their  lives  in  their  hands, 
and  labored  night  and  day,  as  long  as  human  endurance  could  sustain  them, 
in  their  ministration  to  the  suffering  and  terror-stricken.  Among  the  more 
prominent  of  the  physicians  who  gave  their  lives  in  this  work  were  Dr.  Chan- 
cellor Martin,  Dr.  L.  A.  Mease,  Dr.  F.  J.  Hazlet  and  Dr.  Robert  H.  Van 
Valzah.  Many  years  afterward,  Mrs.  A.  Oscar  Taylor,  who  passed  alive  through 
this  terrible  period  of  suffering  and  death,  tells  her  story  thus:  "With  a 
sense  of  security  in  the  present,  everyone  was  looking  forward  to  a  time  of 
continued  prosperity  when  suddenly,  in  18f)0,  across  the  sunshine  of  our  hopes 
fell  the  black  shadow  of  the  terrible  visitation  of  cholera,  remembered  still 
with  a  shudder  by  all  who  can  look  back  to  it.  Like  a  thief  in  the  night  it 
came,  st liking  first  in  a  house  near  the  head  of  the  creek  and  crossing  the 
town.  In  a  home  where  five  were  living  the  day  before,  in  the  morning  all 
were  dead  except  an  infant.  The  woman  who  took  this  child  died  two  clays 
later.  A  great  horror  settled  over  the  community.  The  paralysis  of  fear 
added  greatly  to  the  danger  from  the  disease,  and  an  attack  meant  in  most 
cases  death.  The  physicians  were  almost  as  ignorant  of  the  treatment  of  cholera 
as  were  the  citizens.  Xo  nurses  were  to  be  had  and  the  victims  were  depend- 
ent on  friends  and  neighbors  for  care.  When  quaking  with  fear  we  were 
often  called  upon  to  minister  to  the  dying,  or  to  prepare  the  dead  for  burial. 
And  we  mothers.  ;is  we  closed  for  the  last  time  the  eyes  of  some  neighbor's 
child,  thought,  with  sickening  dread,  of  the  morrow  for  our  own  little  ones. 
Not  often  was  there  a  funeral  service.  The  dead  were  taken  quickly  to  the 
cemetery  by  the  old  sexton,  Giles  Taylor.  As  far  as  business  went,  the  wreek 
days  were  like  Sundays  and  country  people  were  afraid  to  come  near  the  in- 
fected town.  When  the  shadow  lifted  with  the  end  of  summer,  one-tenth  of 
the  population  of  Freeport  had  been  taken  away." 

Oil  the  hanks  of  Yellow  Creek,  in  18:5."),  William  Kirkpatrick  established 
his  home  and  erected  a  mill,  which  the  community  came  to  patronize.  The 
only  competitor  of  the  industry  were  the  Van  Valzah  mills  at  Cedarville. 
Other    settlers    built    their    cabins    and    brought    their    families    to    the    vicinty 


556  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

of  the  Kirkpatriek  mill,  and  Mill  Grove  arose  and  became  quite  a  village  by 
1850.  Both  that  year  and  in  1852,  the  people  of  the  little  hopeful  settle- 
ment were  attacked,  terrified  and  almost  obliterated  by  the  epidemic.  Mill  Grove 
was  abandoned  and  its  name  almost  forgotten. 

Farther  east  and  beyond  Freeport,  on  the  Pecatonica,  the  Chicago  &  Galena 
Union  Railroad  established  a  station,  in  1852,  and  named  it  Nevada.  It  was 
thus  christened  because  Daniel  Wooton,  who  formerly  owned  the  land  on  which 
the  town  was  platted,  had  died  in  Nevada  City,  Colorado,  en  route  to  the 
California  gold  fields  in  1849.  But  hardly  had  the  Nevada  of  Ridott  town- 
ship, Stephenson  County,  felt  itself  established  than  the  cholera  wave  of  1852 
swept  away  nearly  half  its  people.  The  next  visitation  of  1854  was  nearly 
as  fatal  and  disconcerting.  The  site  of  Nevada  seemed  fated.  No  attempt  was 
made  to  revive  the  town,  and  several  years  afterward  the  village  of  Ridott 
was  founded  a  short  distance  east. 

Mill  Grove,  Nevada  and  other  towns  and  settlements  were  abandoned  be- 
cause of  the  ravages  of  the  cholera  in  1850  and  1852,  and  there  was  a  notice- 
able decrease  in  the  population  of  the  county  during  those  years.  Emigrants 
went  through  or  around  the  county  and  settled  elsewhere.  Many  returned  to 
the  East  and  others  who  had  prepared  to  locate  in  Stephenson  County  were 
deterred  from  making  the  venture.  It  was  a  hard  blow  to  the  county  and 
checked  its  growth  for  some  time.  In  1854,  the  epidemic  again  appeared,  but 
in  a  milder  form  and  in  the  face  of  more  efficient  means  for  combating  it, 
gained  by  sorrowful  experience  and  thorough  investigation  and  study. 

THE    VILLAGE    OF    LENA 

Northwest  of  the  central  part  of  Stephenson  County,  on  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral Railroad,  is  the  village  of  Lena.  It  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  enter- 
prising centers  of  population  in  the  county,  and  is  in  the  township  of  West 
Point.  The  latter  is  one  of  the  original  townships  organized  in  1850,  and  the 
first  settlement  of  the  county  was  made  in  1833  at  Waddams  Grove  a  short 
distance  northwest  of  the  site  of  Lena.  At  the  instigation  of  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral Railroad  Company,  Samuel  F.  Dodds  laid  off  100  acres  for  a  village  site 
and  named  it  Lena.  It  was  platted  in  1854,  when  the  line  was  built  through 
the  township  and  on  toward  Warren,  Jo  Daviess  County.  The  location  proved 
to  be  a  good  one,  and  after  the  village  secured  railroad  connections  its  growth 
was  substantial  and  constant.  It  now  has  a  population  of  1,200,  with  two 
State  banks  having  a  combined  capital  of  $100,000  and  deposits  of  over  $1,- 
000,000.  One  of  them  was  founded  in  1867  and  the  other  in  1880.  Another 
evidence  of  Lena's  solid  standing  among  the  villages  of  the  county  was  the 
establishment  of  the  Star,  in  1866.  As  noted,  it  preceded  the  first  bank,  which 
was  established  as  a  private  institution.  Samuel  J.  Dodds,  the  postmaster, 
was  the  first  editor  of  the  Lena  Star,  and  it  was  in  a  log  cabin  on  his  farm 
that  the  first  school  was  opened  before  even  the  village  was  platted.  In  1854 
the  old  stone  schoolhouse  was  built  at  the  corner  of  Franklin  and  Lena  streets; 
five  years  afterward  a  substantial  two-story  building  was  erected  for  school 
purposes,  and  in  1868,  after  the  two  districts  had  been  combined,  even  more 
generous  accommodations  were  provided  for  the  village  people.     In  the  midst 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  557 

o!'  ;i  productive  agricultural  district,  and  the  center  of  a  Large  trade,  with 
adequate  school  privileges  and  well  supported  churches,  Lena  is  an  attractive 
home  tows  and  developing  conservatively  and  substantially. 

DAVIS    AND    DAKOTA 

The  villages  of  Davis  and  Dakota,  in  the  northeastern  part  of  Stephenson 

Comity,  are  in  Rock  Hun  township  and  are  the  children  of  what  is  now  the 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad  Company.  In  1857,  when  the  Western 
Union  Railroad  had  surveyed  its  route  through  the  county  and  was  making 
preparations  to  build  its  line,  it  became  evident  that  one,  if  not  two  stations, 
should  lie  established  to  accommodate  the  farmers  of  the  northeastern  dis- 
trict. Accordingly  during  that  year,  Samuel  Davis,  John  A.  Davis,  Thomas 
J.  Turner  and  Ludwig  Stanton,  who  owned  the  land  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
present  village,  donated  a  tract  of  160  acres  for  a  village  site.  Soon  after- 
ward, the  village  of  Davis  was  platted  thereon,  and  by  1858  the  sale  of  lots 
commenced.  The  panic  of  1857,  the  bad  effects  of  which  had  not  much  softened, 
interfered  greatly  with  the  new  village,  but  it  felt  a  revival  with  the  actual  com- 
pletion of  the  railroad  in  1859  and  the  running  of  trains  through  Davis  to 
Preeport.  The  greal  event  was  celebrated  in  connection  with  the  holding  of 
the  State  Fair  at  Freeport.  But  from  1858  to  1863  there  was  little  cause  for 
encouragemenl  ;  the  period  from  1863  to  1869  witnessed  much  progress,  and 
in  1872  a  regular  village  corporation  was  adopted  by  the  64  local  voters.  Since 
that  time.  Davis  has  maintained  itself  as  the  shipping  and  banking  center 
of  a  restricted  area  of  a  prosperous  agricultural  district.  It  has  a  creamery, 
a  grain  elevator,  several  stores  and  the  Farmers  Bank.  The  last  named  was 
founded  in  1895  by  T.  Stabeck,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Norwegian  colony  established  in  the  township  during  1839.  The  village  has 
a  population  of  about  400  people. 

Dakota,  a  few  miles  to  the  southwest,  was  founded  in  1857  by  the  Western 
Union  Railroad  Company.  Its  site  was  originally  owned  by  Robinson  Baird 
and  Ludwig  Stanton.  Mr.  Baird's  claim  passed  successively  to  Thomas  J. 
Turner  and  S.  J.  Davis.  Messrs.  Stanton  and  Davis  therefore  platted  the 
village  of  "Dakotah'*  in  1857,  and  soon  afterward  the  postoffice  of  "Dakota" 
was  established.  The  latter  spelling  has  been  generally  adopted,  although  after 
the  Chicago.  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  absorbed  the  Western  Union  Railroad,  it 
continued  the  station  as  "'Dakotah."  Its  experience  as  a  village  was  similar 
in  that  of  the  village  of  Davis.  In  1860  and  from  1869  to  1873,  its  growth  was 
quite  rapid.  Then  its  boom  completely  collapsed  under  the  panic  of  1873.  At 
prevent  its  population  is  about  the  same  as  that  of  Davis.  It  has  a  grain 
elevator,  several  stores  and  a  bank — the  last  named  a  State  institution  estab- 
lished in  1911.  Dakota  has  churches  and  schools  of  good  standing — its  high 
school,  known  as  the  Interior  Academy  of  Northern  Illinois,  having  been  founded 
as  early  as  1881  by  Rev.  Frank  C.  Wetzel,  then  pastor  of  the  local  Reformed 
Church. 

ROCK    CITY 

What's  in  a  name,  surely.'  For  Rock  City,  a  station  on  the  Chicago,  Mil- 
waukee &    St.    Paul    line   between    Davis   and    Dakota,    is    well    described   thus: 


558  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

"It  is  doubtful  if  a  spot  more  completely  devoid  of  life  is  existent  in  the 
county."  At  most,  the  settlement  cannot  be  numbered  at  over  200  people. 
It  was  platted  in  1859,  upon  the  completion  of  the  Western  Union  Railroad 
through  the  county,  and  is  the  historic  successor  of  the  old  Rock  Run  Mills 
post  office,  and  Jamestown  or  Grab-Ail,  which  disappeared  from  the  map 
before  Rock  City  adorned  it. 

RIDOTT 

When  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railroad  was  built  through  Stephen- 
son County  in  1852,  its  station  of  Nevada  was  established,  a  short  distance 
west  of  the  present  village  of  Ridott.  Then  came  the  sweep  of  the  cholera 
and  the  crushing  of  the  "old  town,"  as  Nevada  is  now  known  by  the  early 
citizens  of  Ridott.  In  1860,  the  Cochran  brothers  (J.  S.  and  Freeport)  con- 
tracted with  the  railroad  company  to  lay  out  a  town,  provided  the  station  was 
transferred  from  Nevada  to  the  new  place.  The  agreement  was  made,  and 
not  only  was  Cochranville  platted,  but  the  post  office  was  moved  thither  from 
the  deserted  village,  and  the  structure  provided  for  the  government  service 
was  the  first  building  erected  in  the  village.  The  first  store  was  soon  after 
built  by  the  Cochran  brothers  and  named  the  Farmers'  Store.  About  the 
same  time,  Oscar  H.  Osborn  built  a  house  near  the  track  which  he  used  both 
as  a  residence  and  a  saloon.  A  few  other  buildings  were  erected  in  1861,  and 
in  the  fall  of  that  year  the  name  of  the  village  was  changed  to  Ridott,  which, 
with  that  of  the  township,  is  said  to  honor  an  official  of  that  time  in  the  post 
office  department  at  Washington.  After  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  the  progress 
of  the  village  was  revived,  and  in  1875  its  incorporation  was  effected.  Then 
followed  another  period  of  slower  advancement,  which  was  again  stimulated 
by  the  building  of  the  Rockford  and  Freeport  line,  with  increased  railroad 
facilities  for  Ridott.  The  village  is  now  one  of  the  most  promising  in  the 
county  and  has  a  population  of  nearly  1,200. 

VILLAGES  OF   LATER    FOUNDING   AND   GROWTH 

Among  other  villages  and  railroad  stations  established  at  a  later  date  than 
those  already  mentioned  are  the  following :  Kent,  platted  as  a  station  on  the 
Chicago  Great  Western  Railroad,  in  1887 ;  Pearl  City,  a  village  of  some  500 
people,  on  the  same  line  and  farther  to  the  southeast,  which  was  laid  out  about 
the  same  time  as  Yellow  Creek,  and  has  a  newspaper  (the  Pearl  City  News), 
founded  in  1889 ;  and  Red  Oak,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county,  at  the 
junction  of  the  two  northern  branches  of  the  Illinois  Central,  a  short  distance 
northwest  of  Cedarville.  Red  Oak  is  still  only  a  railroad  junction,  although 
it  was  founded  as  such  in  1888.  It  was  originally  called  Cedarville  Junction. 
A  few  miles  north  of  Red  Oak  is  Buena  Vista,  simply  a  station  on  the  Illinois 
Central,  founded  and  platted  as  early  as  1852,  weakly  revived  when  the  rail- 
road came  through  in  1888,  but  never  reaching  beyond  the  stage  of  a  little 
settlement,  with  nothing  to  encourage  it.  Others  might  be  mentioned,  if  to 
do  so  would  serve  any  useful  purpose. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  559 

freeport 's  growth  FOR  FORTY  years 

The  preceding  narrative  left  Freeport  a  town  of  1,500  people,  in  1850, 
after  which  it  browsed  through  the  county  and  traced  the  founding  and. de- 
velopment of  outside  towns  and  villages  well  along  to  1890.  What  of  moment 
has  been  happening  in  Freeport  during  that  period  is  the  scope  of  this  sub- 
division of  the  chapter.  The  main  features  of  the  city's  growth  have  been  so 
varied  as  to  forbid  classification  and  to  make  the  chronological  form  desirable. 

1850,  January  14th:  Meeting  held  at  Freeport,  to  organize  for  action  on 
the  proposed  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railroad;  with  Jared  Sheetz,  chairman 
and  F.  W.  S.  Brawley,  secretary.  O.  H.  Wright  was  made  chairman  of  a 
committee  to  select  delegates  to  the  Rockford  Railroad  Convention.  The  fol- 
lowing solution  was  adopted:  "Resolved,  That  we,  the  citizens  of  Stephenson 
County,  are  in  favor  of  a  tax  of  1%  per  annum,  for  three  years  in  succes- 
sion, to  aid  in  the  construction  of  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railroad, 
provided  said  road  is  located  through  this  county." 

January  26th:     Tax  vigorously  opposed  at  a  meeting  held  on  this  date. 

January  28th:  The  Journal  says:  "The  cars  are  now  running  to  Elgin, 
about  one-fourth  the  distance  from  Chicago  to  Galena." 

June  14th:  A  large  and  enthusiastic  railroad  meeting  held  at  the  court- 
house, Freeport.  John  H.  Adams  was  chairman  and  Charles  Betts,  secretary. 
Speeches  were  made  by  Hon.  W.  B.  Ogden,  president  of  the  Galena  &  Chicago 
Union  Railroad  Company,  and  Hon.  Thomas  J.  Turner. 

June  24th  :  John  A.  Holland,  of  Rockford,  and  D.  A.  Knowlton,  of  Free- 
port,  reported  that  Stephenson  County  had  subscribed  $40,000  toward  the 
building  of  the  railroad. 

1853,  August  26th:  The  Freeport  Journal  says:  "At  last,  after  all  the 
disappointments  and  difficulties  of  reaching  us,  the  cars  have  come.  We  have 
seen  and  heard  the  panting  of  the  iron  horse  and  heard  the  shrill  whistle  of 
the  locomotive  for  the  first  time  in  Freeport.  Yesterday  the  construction 
train  crossed  the  bridge  over  the  Pecatonica  and  today  will  probably  reach 
the  depot  grounds  at  the  lower  end  of  the  town." 

January  11th:  The  Freeport  Literary  Institute  organized  at  the  office  of 
Thomas  J.  Turner. 

HORATIO    C.    BURCHARD 

1  B54 :  Hon.  Horatio  C.  Burchard  locates  in  the  city.  For  fifty-four  years 
considered  a  resident  of  Freeport,  although  for  nearly  a  third  of  that  period 
he  gave  valuable  national  service  in  Washington,  was  a  native  of  New  York. 
His  father  came  to  Beloit,  Wis.,  in  1840,  but  the  son  pursued  his  higher  studies 
in  Hamilton  College,  New  York,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1850.  Two  years 
later  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  began  practice  in  Monroe,  Wis.  In  1854 
Mr.  Burchard  located  in  Freeport  and  was  principal  of  the  Union  School.  He 
resumed  the  practice  in  1855  and  was  for  some  time  in  partnership  with 
Thomas  J.  Turner.  In  1857  Mr.  Burchard  was  county  school  commissioner 
and  served  in  the  Legislature  for  two  terms  commencing  1862  and  1864.  In 
1869  he  was  elected  to  Congress  and  for  a  decade  was  recognized  as  one  of 


560  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

its  ablest  representatives.  He  was  director  of  the  United  States  Mint  from 
1879  to  1885,  and  in  1886  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Oglesby  on  a  com- 
mission to  revise  the  revenue  laws  of  Illinois.  He  then  resumed  his  practice, 
at  one  time  forming  a  partnership  with  Hon.  Louis  H.  Burrell,  and  was  thus 
actively  and  ably  engaged  at  the  time  of  his  death  March  14,  1908. 

1855,  April  2nd:  Under  the  terms  of  the  municipal  charter  granted  by 
the  State  Legislature,  of  that  year,  the  following  officers  were  elected :  Mayor, 
Hon.  Thomas  J.  Turner;  treasurer,  E.  W.  Salisbury;  clerk,  H.  N.  Hibbard; 
marshal,  W.  W.  Smith. 

October  16th :  The  Freeport  Gas,  Light  &  Coke  Company  was  organized 
at  this  time  under  a  charter  which  the  Legislature  had  granted  in  the  preced- 
ing February.  Its  officers  were:  Thomas  J.  Turner,  president;  E.  H.  Hyde, 
treasurer;  Homer  N.  Hibbard,  secretary.  The  gas  works  were  completed  early 
in  1856. 

1856 :  Pells  Manny  and  his  son,  J.  N.  Manny,  commenced  the  manufac- 
ture of  the  reapers,  subsoil  plows  and  hay  presses,  which  had  been  established 
a  few  years  before  at  Rockford,  and  which  gave  Freeport  its  first  industrial 
impetus. 

THE    PANIC   OF    1857 

1857:  The  aftermath  of  the  panic  is  thus  described:  "The  effect  of  the 
panic  of  1857  was  direct  and  real.  Immigration  slackened,  hard  money  was 
scarce,  loans  were  withheld,  interest  was  high,  markets  were  slow,  trade  de- 
clined, business  and  industry  came  to  a  standstill,  and  laborers  were  thrown 
out  of  employment.  Land  values  declined  and  lots  and  farms  were  a  drug 
on  the  market.  There  was  no  money  to  move  the  crops  and  farmers,  in  man}?- 
cases  discouraged  because  of  lack  of  a  market,  let  much  of  their  lands  lie  idle. 
Merchants  bought  but  little  new  stock,  right  glad  to  avoid  bankruptcy  on  stocks 
in   store.     All   over  the  country,   banks,    corporations   and   individuals   failed. 

"In  a  business  and  industrial  way,  Freeport  was  making  rapid  progress 
and  just  at  the  time  when  it  seemed  that  the  city's  development  might  move 
along  by  leaps  and  bounds,  the  panic  dampened  the  ardor  of  enthusiasts. 
There  was  little  recovery  from  this  condition  until  about  1862  and  1863,  when 
the  demands  of  the  Civil  war  revived  a  lagging  business," 

1858,  August  27th :  Lincoln-Douglas  debate  of  this  date,  one  of  the  series 
in  the  historic  clash.     Full  details  given  in  another  chapter. 

1861,  April  17th :  First  mass  meeting  of  the  Civil  war  in  Stephenson 
County  was  held  in  Plymouth  Hall,  Freeport,  the  day  following  Lincoln's  first 
call  for  volunteers  to  put  down  the  rebellion. 

May  1st :  The  first  company  leaves  Freeport,  viewed  by  3,000  people.  Dur- 
ing the  entire  war,  the  county  sent  3,168  men  to  the  front;  about  700  lost 
their  lives  in  support  of  the  Union.  The  part  taken  not  only  by  Stephenson 
County,  but   the  entire  Rock  River  Valley   of   Illinois  is  described   elsewhere. 

1864,  February  24th :  Organization  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Free- 
port,  with  capital  stock  of  $50,000.  George  F.  DeForest  was  elected  president; 
Esrom  Mayer,  cashier;  W.  P.  Malburn,  L.  L.  Munn,  O.  B.  Bidwell,  C.  J.  Fry. 
Esrom  Mayer,  G.  F.  DeForest  and  L.  F.  Burrell,  directors. 


THE  ROCK  RIVFR  VALLEY  561 

May:  Organization  of  the  Second  National  Bank,  also  with  capital  of 
$50, ( )(K).  Its  first  president  was  .John  II.  Addams,  of  Cedarville,  and  the  secre- 
tary, Alexander  Stone.  The  establishment  of  these  institutions,  under  the  na- 
tional banking  act,  marked  a  revival  of  better  times,  which  endured  for  almost 
twenty  years,  or  until  the  panic  of  1873  and  the  subsequent  depression. 

1868,  February  10th:  The  Civil  war  record  of  Stephenson  County  formed 
a  bright  patriotic  page  in  the  Northwestern  annals  of  that  conflict,  but  it 
was  not  until  this  day  that  a  meeting  was  called  to  form  an  association  to 
prepare  for  the  erection  of  a  memorial  monument  in  honor  of  those  who  had 
•riven  their  lives  to  the  cause  of  the  Union.  Then  was  formed  the  Stephenson 
County  Soldiers'  Monument  Association  for  that  purpose. 

1869,  October  10th:  Corner  stone  of  memorial  monument  laid  in  Court- 
house Square.  On  each  side  of  its  massive  base  were  cut  the  names  of  the 
soldier  dead  of  Stephenson  County.  Those  organizations  which  had  given 
most  freely  were  the  46th,  90th,  93rd,  26th,  11th,  15th  and  74th.  On  the 
south  side  of  the  second,  or  upper  base,  fronting  Stephenson  Street,  was  the 
main  Inscription:  "To  the  heroic  dead  of  Stephenson  County,  1861-65."  On 
each  of  the  three  remaining  slabs  of  the  upper  base  are  engraved  the  names 
of  the  principal  battles  at  which  the  sacrifice  of  life  was  greatest — Fort  Donel- 
son,  Pittsburg  Landing,  Siege  of  Corinth,  Jackson,  Siege  of  Vicksburg,  Chick- 
amauga,  Missionary  Ridge,  Altoona  Pass,  Resaca,  Pea  Ridge,  Nashville,  Kene- 
saw  Mountain,  Stone  River,  Waynesboro,  Cattlet's  Gap,  Iuka,  Aiken,  Franklin, 
Nicka.jack  Gap,  Siege  of  Knoxville,  Champion  Hills,  Farmington,  Bentonville, 
1 1  at  eh  ie.  Mobile.  The  monument  was  not  completed  in  all  its  details  until  June, 
1871.     It  was  dedicated  July  4th  of  that  year. 

1869,  December  16th:  Meeting  held  at  the  courthouse,  which  resulted  in 
the  organization  of  the  Stephenson  County  Old  Settlers'  Association.  D.  A. 
Knowlton,  Sr.,  was  elected  chairman,  and  L.  W.  Guiteau,  secretary.  The  first 
meeting  was  held  at  Cedarville,  September  6,  1870,  with  President  Levi  Robey 
in   the  chair. 

1873,  February  22nd  :  The  present  courthouse  was  dedicated  upon  the  day 
named,  and  was  completed  at  a  cost  of  $130,000,  including  equipment.  It  is 
four  stories  high,  including  basement  and  mansard  roof.  The  old  two-story 
fiame  structure,  which  it  replaced,  was  used  for  church  meetings,  conventions, 
and  railroad  and  political  gatherings.  A  writer  of  an  earlier  history  says  it 
was  considered  to  surpass  in  size  and  elegance  all  other  buildings  west  of 
Detroit  and  north  of  St.  Louis.  The  old  palace  was  hauled  away  to  the  lower 
end  of  Douglas  Avenue  and  used  as  a  machine  shop. 

1874-75,  winter  of — Religious  revival,  at  which  the  members  of  a  Sunday 
School  class  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  formed  the  Young  Men's  Li- 
brary  Association,  the  nucleus   of  the  Freeport  Public  Library. 

1882,  May  29th:  Foundation  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
of  the  present,  raised  on  the  ruins  of  the  second,  at  a  meeting  held  on  that 
date  in  the  parlors  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church.  The  corner  stone  of 
the  present  structure  was  laid  in  1888,  and  the  institution  was  opened  on 
October  6th  of  the  following  year. 

December   26th :     Freeport   was    first   lighted   by  electricity,   under   a   con- 


562  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

tract  with  the  Van  De  Poele  Company  of  Chicago  which  had  established  its 
plant  near  the  Illinois  Central  tracks  on  Galena  Street. 

THE  FREEPORT  OF  TODAY 

A  city  of  between  20,000  and  25,000  people,  Freeport  is  one  of  the  leading 
railway  centers  of  Northwestern  Illinois  and  a  modern  community  in  appear- 
ance and  spirit.  The  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  of  which  the  city  is  a  division 
point,  operates  from  Freeport  in  five  directions  and  has  established  there  one 
of  the  largest  machine  and  car  shops  in  the  system.  What  is  now  the  Galena 
division  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railway,  was  the  old  Galena  &  Chicago 
Union  Railroad,  which  terminates  at  Freeport,  and  reaches  Chicago,  Milwau- 
kee, Minneapolis  and  all  points  on  the  line  direct.  The  Chicago,  Milwaukee 
&  St.  Paul  Railway  operates  the  Racine  &  Southwestern  division  through 
Freeport,  connecting  the  main  line  out  of  Milwaukee  with  that  to  Kansas  City 
and  Chicago.  Thus  Freeport  has  direct  connections  by  these  great  carriers 
with  all  the  important  centers  of  the  West  and  Northwest.  These  railroads 
tap  the  coal  fields  of  Northern,  Central  and  Southern  Illinois,  as  well  as  of 
Western  Kentucky ;  thus  fuel  for  industrial  and  domestic  purposes  is  always 
obtainable  at  a  minimum  of  cost. 

From  the  time  that  the  railroads  commenced  to  so  center  in  Freeport  that 
it  was  certain  to  be  a  good  distributing  point  for  a  wide  area  of  productive 
country,  a  number  of  manufacturers  of  agricultural  implements  located  in 
the  city.  The  Williams  Threshing  Machine  Company,  the  De  Armit  Plow 
Company  and  the  Manny  works,  all  planted  their  manufactories  in  the  valley 
of  the  Pecatonica,  when  it  was  no  longer  necessary  to  rely  upon  water  power 
for  their  operation.  Steam  flour  mills  and  sawmills  gave  place  to  the  old 
style,  and  Freeport  business  men  became  noted  all  through  Northern  Illinois 
for  their  insistent  demand  for  "more  factories  and  hotels."  And  they  secured 
them  both. 

With  the  development  of  the  city  in  educational,  religious  and  high  com- 
munity interests,  the  industries  of  Freeport  expanded  in  variety  as  well  as 
volume.  So  that,  although  the  shops  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company 
still  represented  its  greatest  industry,  employing  about  1,200  men,  the  second 
of  the  local  industries  is  that  of  the  Stover  Manufacturing  &  Engine  Company, 
the  output  of  which  covers  engines,  windmills,  grinders  and  hardware  specialties ; 
the  third,  manufacture  medicinal,  toilet  and  food  products;  the  fourth,  hard- 
ware, toys  and  foundry  equipment ;  the  fifth,  ladies  dresses ;  the  sixth,  extracts, 
toiletries  and  brushes,  and  the  seventh,  extension  curtain  rods.  The  delicate 
domestic  products  appear,  in  these  days,  to  be  competitors  of  the  massive 
manufactures. 

The  large  and  growing  industries  and  business  of  Freeport  are  financed 
by  eight  substantial  banks,  with  a  combined  capital  of  over  $1,000,000,  a  sur- 
plus of  nearly  $1,300,000  and  deposits  of  more  than  $8,000,000.  The  order 
of  their  establishment  is  as  follows:  First  National  Bank,  1864;  Second 
National  Bank,  later  in  same  year ;  Knowlton  State  Bank,  1869 ;  Stephenson 
County  Bank,  1876 ;  State  Bank,  1891 ;  Trust  and  Savings  Bank,  1911 ;  Security 
Trust  Company,  1915;  Guaranty  Trust  and  Savings  Bank.  1923. 


KRAPE  PARK,  F WEE PORT 


ITBLIC   LIBRARY,   FEEEPOET 


Vol.  1—36 


564  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

The  municipality  of  Freeport  centers  in  the  development  of  its  public 
schools,  its  library  and  its  utilities.  Although  high  school  courses  were  first 
offered  in  Freeport  in  1860,  as  the  principal  and  older  boys  joined  the  Union 
army  in  the  following  year  the  school  was  nearly  disbanded.  During  the  Civil 
war  period  there  was  no  building  of  public  schools.  In  1866,  however,  the 
Wright  school  was  completed,  corner  of  Liberty  and  Williams,  and  the  Lincoln 
Avenue  school  was  finished  in  the  fall  of  1868.  After  the  war,  the  Freeport 
high  school  enjoyed  a  steady  growth,  passing  the  100  mark  in  1890.  The 
largest  class,  that  of  1924,  listed  150  graduates,  and  about  one-third  of  the 
graduating  class  entered  institutions  of  higher  learning.  The  enrollment  is 
now  approaching  1,000,  about  equally  divided  between  boys  and  girls.  Some 
of  the  notable  additions  to  its  curriculum  have  been :  Manual  training  in 
1905;  cooking  in  1906;  sewing  in  1907;  commercial  courses,  1910;  auto-mechan- 
ics, 1921.  A  magnificent  high  school  is  nearing  completion.  When  occupied, 
the  old  building  will  be  occupied  as  a  Junior  High. 

The  Public  Library,  which  is  supported  by  City  Council  appropriations 
based  on  public  taxes,  has  a  collection  of  over  50,000  volumes.  It  has  deposit 
stations  in  the  eight  grade  school  buildings  and  in  the  Lutheran  and  St.  Mary's 
schools.  Upon  application,  books  are  also  distributed  to  the  fire  stations  and 
factories.  The  Public  Library  is  an  invaluable  adjunct  to  the  public  school 
system  of  today. 

The  newspapers  neither  of  Freeport,  nor  of  any  other  American  city,  have 
been  amenable  to  public  or  governmental  control.  Although  strictly  private 
in  their  management,  with  all  their  faults  and  foibles,  the  local  newspapers 
are  recognized  as  primarily  educational  in  their  character.  From  early  times 
the  press  of  Freeport  has  been  above  the  average  in  enterprise  and  ability. 
As  one  of  the  most  promising  towns  in  the  Rock  River  Valley,  it  enjoyed 
an  early  influx  of  newspaper  men.  Its  first  newspaper  was  the  Prairie  Dem- 
ocrat, started  in  November,  1847,  by  Thomas  J.  Turner  to  further  his  political 
ambitions  as  representative  of  his  congressional  district.  The  Bulletin  was 
born  the  same  year  to  further  the  prospects  of  the  village  itself.  In  November, 
1848,  H.  G.  Grattan  came  from  Janesville,  where  he  had  been  connected  with 
the  Gazette  and  established  a  whig  newspaper  at  Freeport  called  the  Journal. 
Both  the  Bulletin  and  the  Journal  continued  their  lives,  the  former  commenc- 
ing to  issue  a  daily  edition  in  September,  1877.  The  Freeport  Standard  ap- 
peared in  1887,  and  they  all  were  published  regularly  up  to  the  time  of  their 
consolidation  some  years  ago.  The  result  was  the  Journal-Standard,  a  firmly 
established  representative  of  all  the  city's  activities. 

Freeport  is  remarkably  fortunate  in  the  enjoyment  of  an  adequate  sup- 
ply of  water  and  electric  illumination  and  power.  The  water  supply  is  drawn 
from  deep  wells,  and  their  capacity  is  said  to  be  three  times  the  amount  pumped 
at  the  present  time.  The  system  embraces  sixty  miles  of  distributing  pipes. 
The  water  for  drinking  purposes  is  filtered  and  may  be  sterilized,  and  that 
furnished  for  fire  protection  is  ample.  The  electrical  supply  comes  over  three 
transmission  lines,  the  principal  sources  being  energized  from  Dixon  and  Wau- 
kegan.     Freeport  lias  also  a  well  arranged  supply  of  gas. 

The  public  parks  of  Freeport  are  a  strong  evidence  of  the  forethought  mani- 
fested by  her  citizens,  both  men  and  women,  and  will  stand  comparison  with 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLTSY  565 

similar  recreation  and  breathing  systems  of  cities  much  larger  in  population 
and  area.  Frceport  has  several  small  city  parks  and  one  large  public  park 
of  ninety  acres,  called  Taylor's.  The  latter  contains  a  seven-acre  artificial  lake, 
used  for  bathing  purposes  in  summer  and  skating  in  winter.  Several  miles 
of  beautiful  driveways,  a  band  stand  and  music,  accommodations  for  visitors 
and  picnickers,  automobile  grounds,  tennis  courts  and  a  baseball  diamond,  are 
only  a  few  of  the  attractions  of  Taylor's  park. 

There  is  another  natural  park  of  140  acres,  lying  along  Yellow  Creek  out- 
side the  city  limits,  which  vies  with  Taylor's  for  popularity.  Globe,  or  Krape 
pa  tic,  is  especially  appreciated  for  its  boating,  and  the  specimens  of  birds, 
monkeys  and  other  animals  collected  there.  The  two  large  parks  were  ac- 
quired under  the  Illinois  Park  District  laws  and  all  parks  and  boulevard  drives 
are  maintained  by  the  Park  Board  from  taxes  collected  for  that  purpose. 

Both  the  fire  and  the  police  departments  of  Freeport  are  organized  along 
modern  lines.  The  fire  department  has  three  stations,  with  combination  trucks 
and  the  Gamewell  fire  alarm  system  in  operation.  The  police  are  well  organized, 
and  have  an  efficient  ambulance  service. 

With  the  conservation  of  the  educational  forces  of  the  city,  the  supply 
of  pure  water,  the  furnishing  of  free  outdoor  recreation  to  the  people,  and 
the  protection  of  their  property  and  lives,  through  organized  public  service, 
Freeport  has  also  to  offer  in  large  measure  numerous  uplifting  institutions  and 
agencies.  In  this  classification,  the  churches  come  uppermost.  The  Methodists 
commenced  their  labors  in  1834;  the  Presbyterians  in  1842;  the  Baptists  in  1845; 
the  German  Evangelical  organization  (St.  John's)  in  1847;  the  Episcopalians 
(Grace  Episcopal  Church)  in  1849;  the  English  Lutherans,  in  1852;  and  the 
German  .Methodists,  in  1854.  The  twenty-five  or  more  churches  of  the  present 
have  a  large  and  active  membership.  The  two  Methodist  churches  have  a 
membership  of  over  1,500;  the  two  Presbyterian  of  nearly  1,100;  the  six  Lu- 
theran churches  of  nearly  2,000,  and  the  four  Catholic  churches  of  nearly  2,800. 

Connected  with  the  churches  are  all  kinds  of  social,  musical  and  religious 
organizations,  and  among  Protestants,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
and  the  Young  "Women's  Christian  Association  have  always  had  a  foremost 
place.  The  building  now  occupied  by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  was  erected  in  1916 
and  cost  $115,000.  It  is  one  of  the  most  complete  in  the  Rock  River  Valley. 
The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  is  housed  in  a  well  kept  club  house,  valued  at  $12,000,  and 
opened  in  May,  1917,  through  the  initiative  of  the  Camp  Fire  Girls. 

The  hospitals  of  Freeport  play  a  splendid  pari  in  the  work  of  her  charities. 
The  oldest  is  the  St.  Francis  Hospital,  established  in  1889,  with  the  addition 
of  a  large  building  in  1924-25.  The  General  Hospital  was  opened  in  1910  and 
the  Evangelical  Deaconess  Hospital  in  1924. 

Freeport  has  the  usual  number  of  fraternities  and  secret  societies,  several 
of  them  owning  fine  homes.  The  Odd  Fellows  Temple  is  a  splendid  building, 
valued  at  $100,000  with  the  largest  auditorium  in  the  city.  The  Masons  are 
owners  of  a  beautiful  temple,  which  with  adjoining  property,  represents  an 
investment  of  $150,000.  They  have  extensive  building  plans  under  way.  The 
Knights  of  Columbus  are  located  in  a  spacious  home  in  the  heart  of  the  busi- 
ness district,  and  the  Elks  and  Moose  are  also  well  housed. 

Of  the  later  societies  characteristically  American,  the  Rotary  and  Kiwanis 


566  THE  KOCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

clubs  have  made  marked  progress  in  Freeport.  The  local  Rotary  was  organ- 
ized in  1918,  and  the  Kiwanis  Club  was  not  set  in  motion  until  December, 
1924.  The  Woman's  Club,  with  a  membership  of  over  500,  has  its  rooms  in 
the  Masonic  Temple. 

Perhaps  the  most  prominent  general  organization  connected  with  the  social, 
charitable  and  reformatory  problems  of  Freeport  is  known  as  the  Community 
Service  Bureau,  which  succeeded  the  Associated  Charities  about  1913.  It  was 
organized  by  a  group  of  citizens  to  care  for  the  social  problems  of  the  com- 
munity through  the  efforts  of  trained  workers.  In  addition,  the  secretary 
acts  as  probation  officer  for  the  juvenile  courts  of  Stephenson  County  and  as 
attendance  officer  for  the  public  schools  of  Freeport.  The  home  service  work 
of  the  County  Red  Cross  is  also  handled  by  the  Community  Service  Bureau. 
This  outside  work  is  paid  for  by  the  organizations  interested. 

The  Stephenson  County  Tuberculosis  Board  operates  under  the  so-called 
G-lackin  law — a  law  which  regulates  tuberculosis  activities  in  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois, and  which  was  passed  several  years  ago.  The  objects  of  the  law  are  the 
prevention  and  treatment  of  tuberculosis,  erection  of  district  sanatoria  and 
hospitalization  of  diagnosed  cases ;  in  fact,  any  activities  concerning  tuberculosis. 

STEPHENSON    COUNTY    AGRICULTURALLY    CONSIDERED 

A  general  view  of  the  agricultural  situation  in  Stephenson  County  was  well 
presented  in  January,  1925,  by  L.  M.  Swanzey,  president  of  the  Farm  Bureau, 
and  it  is  herewith  quoted :  ' '  Stephenson  County  is  naturally  one  of  the  most 
beautifully  located,  as  well  as  being  most  varied  in  its  production,  in  the  State 
of  Illinois.  Lying  at  the  extreme  northern  boundary,  it  shares  with  Wisconsin, 
the  many  small  streams  that  are  tributary  to  the  Peeatonica  River,  whose 
valley  is  one  of  beauty  from  early  spring  until  the  autumn  leaves  have  fallen. 
Everywhere  are  scattered  burr  oak  and  sugar  maple,  with  frequent  groves  of 
oak,  elm  and  ash,  telling  of  the  forests  that  were  once  protected  from  prairie 
fires  by  the  bed  of  the  river.  Along  these  streams  and  among  these  forests, 
the  first  settlers  built  their  homes  and  developed  their  farms. 

"To  the  south  and  west,  Stephenson  County  has  a  prairie  soil  that  vies 
with  Central  Illinois  in  fertility.  As  a  whole  the  county  is  of  a  rolling 
topography. 

"The  principal  types  of  soil  are  brown  silt  loam,  and  yellow  gray  silt  loam, 
with  many  variations  in  smaller  areas,  containing  more  or  less  clay  or  sand, 
with  out-cropping  gravel  and  limestone.  General  farming  has  always  char- 
acterized the  county.  While  in  an  early  day  vast  quantities  of  grain  were 
shipped  out  of  the  county,  at  the  present  time  the  major  part  of  the  farms 
feed  their  entire  crop  to  livestock  upon  the  farm,  as  is  evidenced  by  a  live- 
stock production  of  $4,595,100  annually.  The  large  and  numerous  barns  and 
silos  to  be  seen  everywhere,  tell  the  tourist  that  they  are  in  a  dairy  country. 
The  extensive  limestone  and  alfalfa  program  put  on  by  the  Farm  Bureau, 
makes  it  evident  that  Stephenson  County  will  continue  to  not  only  be  a  dairy 
county,  but  is  to  be  a  leading  county  in  breeding  the  best  type  of  high  pro- 
ducing dairy  cattle. 

"The  Holstein  Friesian  has  been  and  will  continue  to  be  the  predominating 


TUN  ROCK   RIVER  VALLEY  567 

breed  because  Stephenson  County  is  the  Leading  cheese  producing  county  in  the 
state,  and  contributes  very  largely  to  condensary  and  whole  milk  trade  as  well 
as  to  butler  making.    Brown  Swiss  and  Milking  Shorthorns  compose  many  herds. 

"While  milk  prices  vary  with  the  season,  the  many  market  outlets  give  the 
dairymen  the  competitive  markets  of  two  shipping  points  to  the  Chicago  whole 
milk  trade,  about  '2')  cheese  factories,  mostly  cooperative;  four  large  creameries, 
one  condensary  and  the  local  supply  to  Freeport. 

"The  Stephenson  County  Holstein-Friesian  Breeders  disburse  a  large  num- 
ber of  breeding  stock-  and  milk  cows  at  their  fall  and  winter  sales  and  the  Tri- 
County  Shorthorn  Breeders,  representing  Stephenson,  Winnebago  and  Ogle 
counties,  also  sell  twice  a  year  at  Freeport. 

'The  importance  of  pork  production  is  evidenced  by  farmers'  shipping  asso- 
ciations covering  all  points  in  the  county,  and  also  by  the  prominence  of  the 
County  Swine  Breeders  Association  with  their  regular  sales  in  Freeport  as  well 
as  many  other  large  breeders'  sales.  Duroc,  Polands,  Chester  Whites  and 
Spotted  Polands  are  the  popular  breeds  in  the  order  named. 

"Freeporl  has  been  widely  known  as  a  poultry  breeding  center  for  the  last 
twenty  years.  The  hatchery  interests  are  developing  at  a  rate  that  keeps  pace 
with  breeding  production;  and  general  egg  and  poultry  production  is  increasing 
from  general  farm  flocks,  with  the  growth  of  the  accredited  hatchery.  The  an- 
nual sales  of  market  eggs  and  poultry  are  conservatively  estimated  at  $1,250,000. 

"There  are  about  2,790  farms  in  Stephenson  County,  averaging  about  125 
acres  each.  The  number  of  tenants  at  the  present  time  is  less  than  half  of  the 
farmers.  A  large  number  of  landlords  and  tenants  are  getting  together  on  a 
form  of  livestock  lease  that  tends  toward  longer  leases  and  less  shiftlessness. 
Stephenson  ( 'ounty  farmers  do  not  berate  the  tenant  farmer,  but  offer  safe  oppor- 
tunity to  the  man  who  can  keep  pace  with  them. 

"It  has  been  because  of  the  intensive  farming  and  aggressive  livestock  enter- 
prises that  they  did  not  suffer  financially  as  severely  as  the  grain  farmer  of  the 
West,  during  the  years  of  depression.  Better  buildings,  better  equipment  and 
better  methods  of  farming  which  mean  more  fertility  returned  to  the  fields; 
and  a  larger  use  of  limestone  and  phosphate  are  bringing  their  reward,  as  is 
evidenced  by  a  farm  selling  recently  a  few  miles  from  Freeport  at  $300  per  acre. 

"There  are  1,400  members  in  the  Stephenson  ('ounty  Farm  Bureau  and  for 
more  than  a  year  the  Home  Bureau  has  been  growing  in  touch  and  service  with 
the  homes  of  the  county.  There  are  three  cooperative  elevators,  two  cooperative 
stores,  and  one  creamery,  with  the  17  shipping  associations  and  about  25  cheese 
factories.  These  bespeak  the  growth  of  the  group  and  community  idea  in  busi- 
nes8  among  our  farmers." 


CHAPTER  XXIV 
OGLE  COUNTY 

IN    THE    HIGHWAY    OF    TRAVEL    TO    THE    LEAD    MINES WOODS    AND    GROVES    OF    THE 

COUNTY   ATTRACT  SETTLEMENT — STEPHEN   MACK   AND  LEONARD  ANDRUS OTHER 

PIONEERS   OF   THE  GRAND    DETOUR   REGION JOHN    DEERE    AND   LEONARD    ANDRUS 

ESTABLISH  PLOW   WORKS THE  VILLAGE  ONCE  A   TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIAL  CENTER 

— 'NOW  A  QUIET  RUSTIC  VILLAGE  IN  A  WONDERFULLY  PICTURESQUE  REGION BUF- 
FALO GROVE  SELECTED  AS  THE  SPECIAL  HALF-WAY  STATION  TO  THE  MINES — ISAAC 
CHAMBERS  AND  JOHN  ANKNEY  OPEN  ROAD  HOUSES — OTHER  SETTLERS  AT  THE 
GROVE — THE  KELLOGG  AND  BOLLES  TRAILS — BUFFALO  GROVE  POST  OFFICE  AND 
VILLAGE — JOHN  PHELPS  AND  OREGON  AS  AGAINST  JOHN  DIXON  AND  DIXON  's  FERRY 

OGLE     COUNTY     FORMED     AND    NAMED    BY    THOMAS    FORD OREGON     SELECTED 

AS  THE  COUNTY  SEAT COURTHOUSE  AND  JAIL  ERECTED THE  VILLAGE  AS  DE- 
SCRIBED   BY    COLONEL    B.    F.    SHEETS MARGARET    FULLER 'S    VISIT    TO    OREGON    IN 

1843 HER  POETICAL  DESCRIPTIONS  OF  THE  FASCINATING  REGION EAGLE 's  NEST, 

GANYMEDE  'S  SPRING  AND  MARGARET  FULLERS  ISLAND DEDICATION  IN  1880 — THE 

ARTISTS'  COLONY  AND  LORADO  TAFT 's  STATUE  OF  BLACK  HAWK THE  OREGON  OF 

TODAY — -MEMORIAL  BOULDERS  IN  THE  OREGON  REGION THE  CANADA  SETTLEMENT 

THE  FOUNDING  OF  MOUNT  MORRIS THE  MARYLAND  COLONY — ROCK  RIVER  SEM- 
INARY  PROMINENCE  OF  THE  HITTS  IN  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  BOTH  SEMINARY 

AND  VILLAGE — DEVELOPMENT  OF  MOUNT  MORRIS  COLLEGE — FIRST  SETTLEMENTS  IN 

EASTERN  OGLE  COUNTY THE  PIONEERS  OF  JEFFERSON  AND  HICKORY  GROVES,  FLAGG 

TOWNSHIP — FIRST  SETTLERS  ON  SITE  OF  ROCHELLE — VILLAGE  OF  LANE,  THE  FORE- 
RUNNER OF  CITY  OF  ROCHELLE — PRESENT-DAY  DESCRIPTION — BYRON  AND  THE  RE- 
GION   ROUNDABOUT THE   "  PERFECTIONISTS" VILLAGES    IN    THE   NORTHERN    AND 

NORTHWESTERN  SECTIONS — OGLE,  A  FINE  LIVE  STOCK  COUNTY — NOTED  FOR  ITS 
SUPERIOR  BREEDS — LEADING  RAISERS  OF  PEDIGREED  STOCK — MODEL  AGRICULTURAL 
ESTATES  OF  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY — SINNISSIPPI  AND  ROCK  RIVER  FARMS. 

Ogle  County  lay  in  the  pathways  of  travel  from  the  cast  and  south  to  the 
lead  regions  of  Northwestern  Illinois  and  Southwestern  Wisconsin.  The  ad- 
venturers came  from  the  New  England  States,  sometimes  overland  by  way  of 
Chicago  or  by  way  of  the  Great  Lakes  from  Buffalo;  they  poured  up  from  South- 
ern and  Central  Illinois,  as  well  as  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  sometimes  by 
way  of  the  Ohio,  Mississippi  and  Illinois  rivers,  to  Peoria,  Peru  and  other  points 
in  the  valley  of  the  Illinois,  and  thence  overland  to  the  lead  regions,  crossing 
the  Rock  River  and  its  wonderful  valley  at  Dixon's  Ferry.  The  northwestern 
routes  carried  the  traveler  through  sections  of  southern,  and  western  Ogle 
County;  through  a  bright  and  fertile  land  of  groves,  prairie  and  forest  tracts, 
to  the  less  attractive,  and  ofttimes  desolate  region  of  the  lead  mines. 

568 


OGLE    COUNTY    COURTHOUSE,    OREGON 


OCLK   COrXTV    COrii'TIIOrsK   OF    IMs      Torn    down    ill    1891 


570  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

WOODS  AND  GROVES  OP  THE  COUNTY  ATTRACT  SETTLEMENT 

The  wooded  lands,  with  their  wealth  of  timber  and  natural  springs,  were 
those  which  attracted  the  travelers  from  the  New  England  states  and  the  dis- 
tricts of  eastern  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  It  was  some  time  afterward  before 
the  prairie  lands  of  Ogle  County,  with  their  artificial  sunken  wells,  appealed  to 
the  practical  minds  of  settlers.  Many  of  the  pioneers  of  Ogle  County  were 
travelers  who  intended  to  settle  in  the  lead  regions  and  there  make  their  fortunes 
quickly.  Most  of  them  became  discouraged  with  the  slowness  of  their  ventures 
and  their  unattractive  surroundings,  and  then  remembered  the  charms  of  the 
Rock  River  country  which  they  had  traversed. 

The  most  notable  wooded  tract  in  Ogle  County  has  always  been  that  covered 
by  the  white  pines  and  other  trees  spreading  out  from  Pine  Creek,  a  beautiful 
western  tributary  of  Rock  River.  A  distinct  division  of  these  wooded  lands  is 
known  near  and  far  as  the  White  Pine  Woods.  It  is  bounded  on  the  south  by 
a  highway  running  from  Oregon  to  Polo,  and  on  the  north  by  the  Chicago,  Bur- 
lington &  Quincy  Railroad.  To  the  west  and  the  southwest  the  Piney  Woods 
of  Ogle  County  reach  out  irregularly  toward  Stratford. 

This  tract  is  the  only  white  pine  grove  in  Illinois,  and  is  one  of  the  beauty 
spots  of  the  Rock  River  Valley.  More  than  twenty  years  ago  the  women  of 
Oregon,  headed  by  Mrs.  Rebecca  H.  Kauffman,  commenced  their  campaign  to 
save  it  from  the  grasp  of  utilitarians.  Later,  Friends  of  Our  Native  Landscape 
continued  the  good  work,  which  has  been  endorsed  by  the  United  Forest  Service 
and  other  national  and  state  authorities.  Mrs.  Kauffman  thus  describes  the 
region  which  she  has  done  so  much  to  preserve:  "Pine  Creek  is  a  most  pic- 
turesque stream  along  its  course  at  other  points  besides  where  it  cuts  through 
this  forest;  but  in  what  is  known  as  the  White  Pine  Woods  it  reaches  the  height 
of  its  picturesque  beauty  and  variety,  as  it  runs  by  the  high,  rocky,  vine-and- 
flower-covered  banks,  mirroring  them  in  its  clear  ripples  as  it  eddies  by.  The 
creek  just  before  it  enters  the  tree  tract  was  deflected  from  its  course,  in  1885, 
by  the  railway  company  in  extending  the  road  to  St.  Paul.  The  red  cedar  is 
also  found  along  this  stream,  chiefly  on  the  west  side,  and  the  American  yew,  or 
ground  hemlock,  a  third  evergreen,  creeps  clown  along  stretches  of  its  rocky 
walls  on  the  east. ' ' 

The  Grand  Detour  region,  with  its  bold  and  stately  returns  of  the  Rock 
River,  is  also  well  wooded,  a  natural  haven  for  all  fur  animals  and  a  magnet  for 
the  early  traders  of  the  Valley,  as  well  as  one  of  Nature's  show  places  for  those 
traveling  Galena-ward.  To  the  west  of  Grand  Detour  and  south  of  Pine  Creek 
is  the  beautiful  and  fertile  region  watered  by  Buffalo  Creek.  A  charming  grove 
west  of  the  creek  and  beyond  Polo  attracted  the  eye  of  the  Galena-bound  crowd ; 
and  to  Buffalo  Grove  came  the  first  permanent  settlers  of  the  county.  Grand 
Detour  and  Buffalo  Grove,  parents  of  Ogle  County,  combined  their  charms  with 
those  of  the  Pine  Creek  region  to  bring  homes  and  happiness  to  the  disappointed 
lead  seekers. 

STEPHEN   MACK   AND  LEONARD  ANDRUS 

Soon  after  the  disappearance  of  Pierre  La  Porte,  believed  to  be  the  last  of 
the  French   fur   traders  to  haunt  the   region   of   Grand   Detour,   the  Yankee, 


THE  ROCK  BIVEB  VALLEY  571 

Steplu'ii  .Mark.  s. ■tiled  in  thai  locality,  remaining  several  years;  1827  is  generally 
given  as  the  time  of  his  coming.  He  is  considered  the  first  permanent  settler  of 
the  Rock  River  Valley,  although  he  is  specially  identified  with  Bockton,  or  Mack- 
town,  Winnebago  County,  of  which  he  was  the  founder  after  leaving  the  Grand 
Detour  station. 

In  1834,  with  the  Rock  River  country  cleared  of  Indians,  Leonard  Andrus,  of 
New  York  and  Vermont,  reached  Dixon's  Ferry,  seeking  the  more  northern 
land  for  a  home.  He  employed  two  Indians  to  paddle  him  up  the  river  in  a 
canoe.  After  struggling  for  ten  miles  against  the  current,  the  men  came  to  a 
great  bend,  where  the  river  doubled  upon  itself  for  more  than  a  mile  and  flowed 
in  the  opposite  direction,  as  if  loath  to  leave  the  enchanted  country.  "Added 
to  the  charm  of  the  landscape,"  says  a  writer  of  that  event,  "was  the  fertility  of 
the  valley,  and  evident  to  the  eye  accustomed  to  see  the  streams  of  the  Green 
Mountain  state,  was  the  great  possibilities  of  developed  water-power.  The  canoe 
was  stopped  and  Mr.  Andrus  proceeded  to  make  claim  to  what  afterwards  be- 
came the  site  of  the  present  village  of  Grand  Detour.  Part,  at  least,  of  the 
following  autumn  and  winter  was  spent  by  Mr.  Andrus  at  Constantine,  Mich., 
as  is  shown  by  old  letters  written  to  him  by  David  Andrews,  who  was  survey- 
ing the  water-power  and  seeing  to  the  splitting  of  rails  on  the  claim  and  pro- 
tecting it  from  other  would-be  settlers." 

OTHER    PIONEERS   OP    THE    GRAND   DETOUR   REGION 

When  Leonard  Andrus  returned  to  his  claim,  he  came  again  from  New 
York,  whither  he  had  gone  from  Constantine,  bringing  with  him  from  the  latter 
place,  W.  A.  House,  the  latter 's  wife,  Sarah  I.,  and  her  sister,  Sophronia  Weth- 
erby.  A  log  cabin  was  built  and  their  residence  at  Grand  Detour  began  in  the 
summer  of  183").  The  names  of  other  pioneers  who  settled  there  in  1835-40  are  : 
Amos  Bosworth,  William  G.  Dana,  Marcus  and  Dennis  Warren,  Mrs.  E.  G. 
Sawyer,  Cyrus  Aiken,  Russell  Green,  Solon  Cummins,  Charles  Throop,  C.  C. 
Colburn,  John  Deere,  E.  II.  Shaw.  .Joseph  Cunningham  and  Edward  Wright. 

Miss  Sarah  Bosworth  of  Vermont,  who  had  spent  the  summer  of  1837  at 
Green  Bay,  Wis.,  started  for  her  home  in  the  autumn  of  thai  year,  but  stopped 
off  for  a  visit  at  the  beautiful  and  busy  little  settlement  at  the  big  bend  of 
the  Rock  River.  She  found  life  there  so  refreshing  that  she  remained  for  the 
winter.  She  then  went  on  to  Vermont,  but  returned  to  Grand  Detour  in  the 
summer  of  1838,  having  been  married  to  Leonard  Andrus  in  dune  of  that  year. 

JOHN  DEERE  AND  LEONARD    Whins  ESTABLISH    I'l.nW  WORKS 

Iu  the  meantime,  one  .John  Deere,  a  sturdy  Vermont  blacksmith,  had  settled 

at  Grand  Detour,  and  at  about  the  time  that  Mr.  Andrus  brought  his  young 
bride  from  the  Green  Mountain  state.  Mrs.  Deere  joined  her  husband  with  their 
son  Charles,  then  an  infant  in  arms.  A  dam  was  already  in  course  of  construc- 
tion, as  well  as  a  race  and  sawmill,  and  John  Deere  had  commenced  to  make  a 
plow  with  a  steel  mold-board — an  innovation  in  agriculture.  It  was  a  great 
improvement  over  the  old  style  of  cast-iron  mold-board,  which  in  the  case  of 
the  loam  soil  of  Illinois  would  not  scour,  as  the  clay  soil  of  the  East.     The  mold- 


572  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

board  could  not  be  kept  clean  in  turning  the  typical  western  soil  unless  it  was 
set  so  squarely  against  the  furrow  as  to  be  a  heavy  draft  to  the  team  of  horses. 
The  pioneer  farmers  of  the  Grand  Detour  region  took  readily  to  the  new  steel 
mold-board  and  its  advantages  soon  spread  abroad.  Mr.  Deere  would  forge 
the  steel  into  shape  and  the  rough  mold-board  would  then  be  taken  by  Mr. 
Andrus  across  the  river  to  where  there  was  the  one  grindstone  of  the  locality, 
where  it  would  be  ground  smooth.  Two  years  later,  Andrus  and  Deere  started 
the  Grand  Detour  Plow  Factory,  which  was  the  forerunner  of  the  works  estab- 
lished in  later  years  at  Moline,  Dixon  and  Horicon. 

VILLAGE   ONCE  A   TRADE  AND   INDUSTRIAL   CENTER 

A  grist  mill  was  completed  at  Grand  Detour  in  1839,  and  from  1840  to  1855 
it  was  the  largest  trade  and  industrial  center  in  the  county  and  one  of  the  most 
important  in  the  Valley.  Its  ferry  vied  with  Dixon's;  and  that  was  saying 
much.  The  great  mistake  made  by  the  citizens  of  Grand  Detour  was  to  oppose 
the  coming  of  the  railroad  under  the  mistaken  idea  that  its  business  and  manu- 
factures would  thereby  be  dissipated  among  various  upstart  towns.  So  the 
railroads  all  passed  her  by,  and  left  her  almost  a  deserted  village ;  the  center  of  a 
triangle  of  lines  contributing  to  the  growth  of  Rochelle,  Oregon,  Polo  and  Dixon, 
Even  the  local  post  office  was  eventually  discontinued  and  Grand  Detour  received 
its  mail  by  rural  delivery  from  Oregon.  But  the  beauties  of  wooded  stretch,  and 
river  sweep  and  turn,  remain  for  the  uplifting  of  humankind,  and  the  once 
busy  village  is  the  object  point  of  many  miles  of  wonderful  drives  and  the 
delight  of  the  landscape  artist.  The  Rock  River  section  between  Oregon  and 
Dixon  is  generally  known  as  the  Grand  Detour  region.  The  Great  Bend  has 
a  course  of  about  three  or  four  miles  and  the  river  returns  upon  itself  so  that 
its  channels  are  only  half  a  mile  apart,  its  waters  flowing  in  opposite  directions. 
The  Friends  of  Our  Native  Landscape  (asi  an  organization,  dating  from  1919) 
have  taken  in  charge  this  picturesque  little  peninsula,  or  river  neck,  to  preserve 
it  as  Nature  fashioned  it.  The  pretty,  sleepy  little  hamlet  of  Grand  Detour,  is 
an  artificial  gem  of  the  neck  and  seems  in  harmony  with  its  surroundings. 

BUFFALO  GROVE  HALF-WAY  STATION  TO  THE  MINES 

Buffalo  Grove  on  the  creek  by  that  name  was  in  the  direct  route  of  travel 
either  from  Lake  Michigan  or  the  Valley  of  the  Illinois  to  the  Galena  lead  fie'ds. 
It  was  inevitable  that  some  adventurer,  or  adventurers,  would  select  this  locality 
to  relieve  travelers  of  some  of  their  means,  both  going  and  coming.  When  Isaac 
Chambers,  with  his  wife,  passed  through  the  western  sections  of  what  is  now 
Ogle  County,  bound  for  Galena,  there  was  no  settlement  in  the  restful  grove 
on  the  south  bank  of  the  creek  and  in  the  main  traveled  road,  probably  the  John 
Bolles  trail.  Mr.  Chambers  did  not  remain  in  Galena  long,  but  in  1830  returned 
to  Buffalo  Grove  and  on  the  spot  which  he  had  visited  on  his  northern  adventure 
built  a  log  cabin  which  was  to  serve  as  a  home  and  a  house  of  entertainment  for 
man  and  beast.  A  few  days  afterward  came  John  Ankney,  who  had  intended 
to  locate  on  the  Chambers  claim,  but  after  some  wrangling  put  up  a  rival  road 
house  on  the  north  bank  of  Buffalo  Creek. 


X 


a 


tup:  rock  river  valley  573 

It  seems  that  Ankney  had  visited  the  locality,  as  a  member  of  a  surveying 
party  sent  out.  under  authority  of  the  Jo  Daviess  County  commissioners  to  lay 
out  a  section  of  the  Galena  and  Peoria  State  Road.  His  son,  T.  C.  Ankney, 
who  wrote  a  sketch  of  the  father  for  the  Ogle  County  Press,  says:  "On  Decem- 
ber 25th  of  that  year  (1829),  he,  with  the  other  commissioners  and  surveying 
party,  in  pursuance  of  their  mission,  camped  in  a  grove  by  a  creek,  which,  for 
the  vast  quantity  of  buffalo  bones  covering  acres  of  ground  about  the  head  of 
the  creek  east  of  the  grove,  they  gave  the  name  of  Buffalo  to  the  grove  and  the 
stream."  Charles  D.  St.  Vrain,  John  McDonald  and  Mr.  Ankney  were  the  view- 
ers appointed  by  the  commissioners  of  Jo  Daviess  County  to  lay  out  the  road 
from  Woodbine  Spring,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  present  county  to  Ogee's 
ferry.  The  route  crossed  Fever,  Apple  and  Plum  rivers  to  the  Rock  River  Val- 
ley, at  Ogee's,  and  was  thirty-five  miles  in  length.  In  March,  1830,  the  viewers 
announced  to  the  county  commissioners  that,  with  the  assistance  of  a  surveyor 
and  an  a.xnian,  the  work  had  been  completed.  Soon  afterward,  Mr.  Ankney 
settled  in  Buffalo  drove  and  for  several  years  he  and  Mr.  Chambers  were  rival 
landlords,  as  well  as  politicians. 

THE  KELLOGG   AND  BOLLES  TRAILS 

In  1830-31,  John  Allinger,  Samuel  Reed,  Oliver  W.  Kellogg,  E.  P.  Bush 
and  John  Brooky  located  in  Buffalo  Grove.  Messrs.  Bush  and  Brooky  were 
Keiituekians  and  brought  the  first  thoroughbred  horses  into  Ogle  County.  Mr. 
Kellogg  was  perhaps  the  most  noted  trail  breaker  of  the  Rock  River  Valley.  In 
the  spring  of  1825,  he  started  for  the  lead  mines  from  Peoria  traveling  in  a 
wagon  drawn  by  a  team  of  horses,  and  bound  specifically  for  Galena.  He  broke 
the  first  overland  trail  for  that  migration.  He  crossed  Rock  River  east  of  Dixon 
about  three  miles,  and  passed  over  the  prairie  lying  between  the  Polo  and  Mount 
Morris  of  today,  touching  the  western  part  of  West  Grove  in  the  present  Town- 
ship of  Lincoln  and  continuing  northerly  and  northwesterly  to  Galena. 

The  trail  opened  by  John  Bolles  in  1826  was  more  direct  than  the  Kellogg 
route  and  became  more  popular  with  Galena  travelers.  It  passed  through  Ogle 
County  a  short  distance  east  of  Polo  and  just  west  of  Porreston.  But  none  of 
the  trails  went  far  from  Buffalo  Grove.  All  the  groves  in  that  region  had  at 
least  one  distinguishing  feature;  they  abounded  in  honey  bees,  and  the  wild 
honey  was  much  prized  by  the  early  settlers. 

BUFFALO    GROVE   POST   OFFICE    AND   VILLAGE 

A  post  office  at  Buffalo  Grove  was  established  in  February,  1833,  and  E.  P. 
Bush  was  placed  in  charge  of  its  light  affairs,  but  was  soon  succeeded  by  Oliver 
\Y.  Kellogg.  Levi  Warner  completed  the  entire  survey  of  the  Peoria  and 
Galena  State  Road  in  May,  1833.  About  this  time  Mr.  Warner  located  a  claim 
at  Blkhorn  Grove,  which  extended  from  Carroll  County  into  what  is  now  Brook- 
ville  township.  In  the  same  year,  Elisha  Doty  filed  on  a  tract  in  Buffalo  Grove, 
but  neither  occupied  their  original  claims.  In  1835,  0.  W.  Kellogg  and  Henry 
Stevenson,  another  enterprising  settler,  engaged  -Mr.  Warner  to  survey  a  village 
site  in  the  Grove.     It  was  called  St.  Marian  after  Mr.  Stevenson's  wife.     Some 


574  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

years  later,  the  name  was  abandoned  on  account  of  the  refusal  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  change  the  name  of  the  post  office,  known  appropriately  as  Buffalo 
Grove.  At  the  time  of  the  survey,  there  was  not  a  house  on  the  town  site,  but 
later  in  the  year  quite  a  number  bought  lots  and  built  thereon.  Among  others 
was  John  D.  Stevenson,  who  occupied  his  cabin  home  and  store  combined  on 
New  Year's  day  of  1836.  Elisha  Doty  had  brought  his  family  to  Buffalo  Grove 
and  after  the  village  was  platted  became  a  resident,  but  afterward  moved  to 
Polo,  the  new  town,  where  he  was  quite  a  figure  for  a  number  of  years.  He 
finally  failed  in  business  and  moved  to  Iowa.  Mr.  Warner  was  long  a  prom- 
inent man  in  Elkhorn  Grove,  his  daughter  being  the  first  white  child  born  in 
that  locality. 

During  the  decade  following  the  platting  of  Buffalo  Grove  settlers  continued 
to  arrive  year  by  year  and  a  number  of  sawmills  and  flouring  mills  were  built 
along  Buffalo  and  Pine  creeks.  The  first  sawmill  in  the  township  owned  by 
Samuel  Reed,  was  built  in  the  vicinity  of  the  second  house  of  Isaac  Chambers, 
and  its  owner  was  kept  Dusy  for  an  entire  year  sawing  railroad  ties,  all  of 
which  were  taken  from  the  groves  along  these  streams.  The  early  frame  houses 
and  stores  of  Buffalo  Grove  were  largely  built  from  lumber  sawed  from  the 
Grove. 

JOHN   PHELPS    AND    OREGON    VS.    JOHN    DIXON    AND   DIXON  's    PERRY 

The  Buffalo  Grove  region  became  so  widely  known  to  travelers  to  and  from 
the  lead  districts  that  when  the  commissioners  of  Jo  Daviess  County,  on  June 
8,  1831,  erected  most  of  its  southern  territory  into  an  election  precinct,  the 
name  Buffalo  Grove  Precinct  was  given  to  it.  The  new  precinct  comprised  what 
are  now  Ogle  and  Lee  counties,  and  the  eastern  townships  of  Carroll  and  White- 
side counties,  numbered  perhaps  twenty-five  voters  and  half  a  dozen  families  at 
Buffalo  Grove.  That  favored  locality  also  wielded  the  balance  of  power,  as 
Isaac  Chambers,  John  Ankney  and  John  Dixon  were  named  by  the  commis- 
sioners as  judges  of  election.  But  Buffalo  Grove  Precinct  was  not  to  remain  as 
an  unwieldy,  unorganized  political  body ;  for  John  Phelps  was  already  scheming 
to  divide  it,  and  set  up  a  town  of  his  own  as  a  rival  of  Dixon  and  the  seat  of 
justice  of  a  new  county.  Galena  was  too  far  away  to  be  used  by  the  people  of 
this  great  southern  country  as  their  county  seat. 

John  Phelps  was  a  Virginian ;  John  Dixon,  a  New  Yorker.  They  were  both 
men  of  warm  and  resolute  temperaments,  and  both  leading  pioneers  of  the  Rock 
River  Valley.  From  Virginia,  Phelps  had  moved  to  Tennessee  and  afterward 
settled  in  Schuyler  County,  Southern  Illinois.  He  was  in  the  early  rush  to  the 
Galena  mines,  but  in  1833,  several  years  afterward,  determined  to  thoroughly 
investigate  the  Rock  River  country  as  a  home  seeker.  In  company  with  a  Ereneh- 
nian,  familiar  with  the  Valley  and  its  few  people,  Mr.  Phelps  discovered  a  tent 
on  the  banks  of  the  Rock  River  about  a  mile  above  the  present  City  of  Rockford. 
Supposing  it  to  be  an  Indian  wigwam,  the  Frenchman  was  sent  to  get  something 
to  eat.  But  he  found  the  tent  occupied  by  Col.  W.  S.  Hamilton,  son  of  Alex- 
ander Hamilton,  who  had  been  sent  by  the  United  States  Government  to  survey 
the  Rock  River  country  into  townships.  On  the  recommendation  of  Colonel 
Hamilton,  Mr.  Phelps  located  a  farm  claim  about  midway  between  Oregon  and 


THE  ROCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  575 

Mount  Morris,  three  miles  wesl  of  the  Rock  River.  It  was  long  known  as  the 
Phelps  Farm,  and  afterward  became  a  portion  of  the  estate  of  Major  Charles 
Newcomer,  of  .Mount  Morris.  Mr.  Phelps  also  made  a  claim  of  a  pari  of  the 
site  of  Oregon,  at  firsl  called  Florence,  and  established  a  ferry  there,  which  was 
to  rival  <  Ogee's  and  Dixon  's. 

OGLE    COUNT?    FORMED 

On  January  16,  1836,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  Illinois  Legislature  defining 
the  boundaries  of  Ogle  County,  which  then  embraced  all  of  Lee.  Their  separa- 
tion occurred  in  February,  1839.  At  the  time  of  the  creation  of  Ogle  County. 
Thomas  Ford  was  presiding  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  for  the  northern  por- 
tion of  the  State  and  resided  at  Oregon.  He  suggested  the  name  in  honor  of 
Captain  Joseph  Ogle,  a  Revolutionary  soldier  whose  bravery  was  particularly 
shown  at  Fori  Henry,  now  Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  and  who  afterward  lived  in  Monroe 
County,  III.,  where  Thomas  Ford's  mother,  with  her  family,  also  settled.  Nearly 
a  year  elapsed  after  the  county  was  erected  by  the  Legislature  before  it  was 
organized  by  the  election  of  county  officers;  in  the  meantime,  the  county  re- 
mained a  political  part  of  Jo  Daviess. 

During  the  three  years  preceding  the  separation  of  Lee  County  from  the 
original  <>ide.  there  was  constant  strife  between  Dixon  and  Oregon  for  the 
county  seat.  During  this  rivalry,  the  courts  were  migratory  and  were  held  at 
Dixon.  Buffalo  Grove  and  Oregon.  James  V.  Gale,  a  pioneer  of  the  last  named 
and  first  re  order  of  the  county,  wrote  as  follows  in  regard  to  the  first  election 
before  the  division  of  the  county:  "There  was  great  excitement  at  this  elec- 
tion. All  the  towns  were  against  Oregon.  A  large  quantity  of  whiskey  was 
drunk  and  several  tights  occurred.  Dixon,  Grand  Detour,  Buffalo  Grove  and 
Bloomingville  i  now  Myron)  all  combined  against  Oregon.  It  was  the  noisiest, 
roughest,  most  exciting  election  ever  held  in  the  county."  The  Dixon  candidates 
for  the  county  offices  carried  off  the  honors;  the  following  being  the  recorded 
choice:  S.  ( '.  McClure,  probate  justice;  James  V.  Gale,  recorder;  S.  Galbraitb, 
county  clerk;   W.  W.  Mudd,  sheriff;  Joseph  Crawford,  surveyor. 

OREGON  SELECTED  AS  THE  COUNTY  SEAT 

Tbe  official  existence  of  Ogle  County  began  January  3,  1837,  when  was  held 
the  firsl  meeting  of  its  commissioners.  In  June,  1836,  the  Legislature  had  ap- 
pointed Charles  Reed  and  James  B.  Campbell,  of  Cook  County,  and  dames  L. 
Kirkpatrick,  of  Jo  Daviess  County,  as  commissioners  to  select  the  county  seat. 
They  reported  in  favor  of  Oregon,  and  as  the  site  of  the  courthouse  named  the 
Southeasl  '  j  of  Section 4,  Town  23,  North  Range  10  Fast  of  the  Fourth  Meridian. 
A  stake  was  set  by  them  on  Sand  Hill,  just  north  and  west  of  the  old  schoolhouse, 
and  in  January,  1839,  about  a  month  before  bee  County  was  divorced  from 
all  connection  with  Ogle,  a  contract  was  let  for  grading  down  Sand  Hill  and 
for  building  a  courthouse  and  jail.  The  courthouse  contract  was  awarded  to  Dr. 
William  d.  Mix,  Martin  0.  Hill  and  John  C  Bulett,  and  that  lor  leveling  Sand 
Hill  and  erecting  the  jail  went  eventually  to  Joseph  Knox.  Knox  completed 
his  work  in  July,  1839,  but  the  courthouse  was  not  to  be  completed  so  ex- 
peditiously and  smoothly.     The  story,  as  told  by  a  local  historian,  is  this:     "The 


576  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

foundations  for  the  first  courthouse  were  built  on  the  Sand  Hill,  but  before 
work  was  begun  on  the  main  building  it  was  discovered  that  the  commissioners 
had  made  a  mistake  in  the  location.  Joseph  Crawford,  county  surveyor,  was 
called  to  survey  the  ground  and  certified  to  the  error  in  October,  1839,  and  the 
commissioners,  on  the  strength  of  this  certificate,  reset  the  stake  at  the  place 
where  the  courthouse  now  stands.  A  bitter  controversy  grew  out  of  the  change 
in  location.  Lots  had  been  sold  with  the  expectation  that  the  courthouse  would 
be  on  the  Sand  Hill.  The  strife  continued  and  was  carried  to  the  authorities 
at  Washington,  D.  C,  and  finally  the  land  commissioner  of  the  United  States 
settled  it  in  favor  of  the  present  location.  The  contract  for  the  removal  of 
the  foundations  from  the  Sand  Hill  was  awarded  to  John  D.  Grist  in  1840. 
During  that  year  the  first  courthouse  in  Oregon  and  for  Ogle  County  was 
well  under  way,  and  was  completed  in  March,  1841.  On  Sunday  night,  March 
26th,  the  building  was  fired  by  a  gang  of  thieves  and  burned  to  the  ground." 
This  act  of  arson  was  committed — so  believed  at  the  time — when  the  Banditti  of 
the  Prairies  were  in  power,  either  to  destroy  the  indictments  on  file  against 
certain  of  their  members,  or  to  afford  an  opportunity  for  the  escape  of  some  of 
the  clan  who  were  then  confined  in  jail.  Whatever  the  purpose,  it  failed,  as  the 
indictments  were  not  burned  nor  the  prisoners  released. 

The  first  jail  had  been  completed  in  1840.  It  was  a  small  affair  standing  a 
little  west  of  the  present  courthouse.  There  were  no  doors  or  windows  in  the 
jail  proper.  The  criminal  upon  being  arrested  and  brought  to  prison  was  taken 
upstairs,  a  trap-door  in  the  ceiling  or  roof  of  the  jail  was  raised,  a  ladder  ten 
or  twelve  feet  in  length  was  lowered  through  the  opening,  and  down  it  the 
prisoner  backed  into  his  cell.  The  ladder  was  then  removed  the  trap-door  low- 
ered and  the  jailer  departed,  feeling  that  his  bird  was  secure.  The  walls  were 
supposed  to  be  of  stone  three  feet  thick,  yet  so  faulty  in  construction  that  his- 
tory says  that  one  prisoner,  with  the  aid  of  an  old  jackknife,  dug  his  way  to 
liberty  in  the  space  of  four  hours.  The  jail  was  used  until  the  brick  one,  which 
stood  south  of  the  present  courthouse,  was  erected  in  1846.  The  second  jail 
was  occupied  for  twenty-eight  years. 

After  the  burning  of  the  first  courthouse  a  strong  effort  was  made  to  remove 
the  county  seat  from  Oregon.  Mt.  Morris,  Daysville,  Grand  Detour  and  Byron 
were  aspiring  towns.  At  that  time  and  for  a  number  of  years,  Daysville  seemed 
more  active  and  progressive  than  Oregon,  and,  without  doubt,  Mt.  Morris  and 
Grand  Detour  were  far  in  advance.  In  April,  1843,  a  meeting  was  called  to 
settle  the  county  seat  question.  It  was  held  at  the  schoolhouse,  but  before  a 
vote  was  taken  Daysville  withdrew  its  claim  and  threw  enough  strength  to 
Oregon  to  keep  the  county  seat  there.  Immediately  following  the  decision,  the 
commissioners  commenced  to  plan  for  a  new  courthouse.  It  was  completed  in 
1848,  and  used  for  forty-four  years,  or  until  replaced  by  the  courthouse  of  1892. 

The  origin  of  Oregon,  the  county  seat  of  Ogle,  has  been  traced  to  the  recom- 
mendation of  Colonel  Hamilton  to  John  Phelps  that  the  locality  promised  well 
for  a  future  settlement.  Mr.  Phelps  had  the  site  surveyed  in  1835  and  the  fol- 
lowing year  it  was  platted  into  town  lots,  and  the  name  changed  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  Miss  Sarah  Phelps,  daughter  of  the  proprietor,  from  Florence  to  Oregon 
City.  Soon  afterward  Ogle  County  was  carved  from  Jo  Daviess,  and  the  fight 
for  the  permanent  location  of  the  seat  of  justice  commenced.     The  quarrel  was 


THE  ROCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  577 

BOmewhal    simplified   when   Lee  County  was  formed  in   1839,   and  Dixon   was 
eliminated  from  the  contest. 

OREGON    AS   DESCRIBED  BY    COLONEL  B.    F.    SHEETS 

The  first  house  built  on  the  town  plat  was  erected  by  Jonathan  W.  Jenkins, 
whose  son,  Lamon  T.,  was  the  first  male  child  born  at  Oregon  City,  and  the  first 
female  was  Martha  E.  Mix,  daughter  of  the  pioneer  physician,  Dr.  William  J. 
Mix,  who  settled  for  practice  in  1836.  The  post  office  was  established  at  Oregon 
in  1837  and  mail  received  once  a  week.  The  Lutherans  first  organized  a  reli- 
gious society  in  1848  and  two  years  later  built  the  first  house  of  worship  in  the 
place.  In  1848  Oregon  comprised  forty-four  families,  with  225  men,  women 
and  children.  A  few  years  later — to  be  exact  in  1852 — Colonel  B.  F.  Sheets, 
then  a  prospective  student  for  Rock  River  Seminary,  came  from  the  prairies 
of  Blackberry  township,  Kane  County,  and  on  his  way  to  school  stopped  at 
Oregon  City.  Many  years  afterward  he  was  writing:  "The  day  on  which  I 
had  that  firs!  view  of  Oregon  will  always  be  remembered.  A  wonderful  pano- 
rama stretched  out  to  my  view,  and  the  sight  was  one  of  wonder  and  magnifi- 
cence to  the  prairie  lad.  This  view  of  fair  Oregon  from  Woolley's  Hill,  to  a 
boy  reared  on  the  prairie,  was  grand  and  inspiring,  even  if  the  thermometer 
was  at  zero.  I  had  read  and  heard  of  Oregon  City,  and  expected  to  see  some- 
thing large  and  fine.  As  we  crossed  the  bridge  (built  in  that  year)  and  looked 
at  the  few  ugly,  scattered  houses,  I  could  hardly  believe  that  we  were  beholding 
Oregon  City.  The  town  had  gained  some  notoriety,  being  the  county  seat  of  a 
large  agricultural  section;  as  the  home  of  Governor  Ford,  and  more,  as  the 
place  where  Jonathan  W.  Jenkins,  with  111  others,  had  been  tried  and  ac- 
quitted of  the  killing  of  the  outlaws.  However,  at  that  time,  Oregon  was  a 
small  place,  no  better  appearing  than  the  present  city  of  Daysville.  The  people 
had  not  yet  learned  the  value  and  beauty  of  paint,  the  greater  part  of  the  resi- 
dences being  without  this  covering.  It  has  been  reported  that  one  of  the  early 
founders  of  Oregon  said:  'If  I  can  keep  God  and  the  Yankees  out,  I  will  build 
a  city  here.'  At  that  time  it  looked  to  me  that  he  had  been  in  part  successful, 
for  it  was  one  of  the  most  discouraging  places  I  had  ever  seen. 

"Nine  years  after  the  trip  I  have  described,  I  came  to  Oregon  to  live,  on 
the  first  of  January,  1861.  At  that  time,  twenty-six  years  after  the  town  was 
laid  out,  the  population  was  only  about  150.  There  was  not  a  sidewalk  in  the 
town.  I  bought  a  small  house  on  the  lots  where  I  afterward  built  the  house 
now  (1909)  owned  by  Mrs.  Rhenius  Stroh.  That  year  we  laid  a  single  plank 
walk  from  Washington  Street  north  to  my  house.  If  I  have  counted  correctly, 
there  were  only  seventy-one  houses  in  Oregon  at  the  beginning  of  1861.  For 
ten  years  afterward  we  had  no  railroad.  We  made  frequent  efforts,  and  suc- 
ceeded every  winter  in  building  on  paper,  one  east  and  one  up  and  down  the 
river.  All  freight  had  to  go  and  come  from  Franklin  Grove  and  we  had  a 
daily  stage  line." 

MARGARET  FULLER 'S   VISIT  TO  OREGON 

In  the  summer  of  1843  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  scholarly  women  of 
her  time  broke  away  from  the  culture  and  seclusion  of  her  New  England  environ- 


578  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

ment  and  recorded  her  deep  and  poetic  impressions  of  the  Rock  River  Valley. 
Margaret  Fuller  was  a  niece  of  William  W.  Fuller,  a  Harvard  graduate,  a  friend 
of  Governor  Ford  and  for  five  years  an  attorney-at-law  in  Oregon.  At  the 
time  of  her  visit  to  her  uncle,  in  the  course  of  her  far  Western  trip,  she  was  a 
master  of  Latin  and  German,  a  philosopher  and  esthete,  a  poet,  writer  and 
lecturer,  and  founder  of  a  salon  which  was  patronized  by  the  cultured  ladies 
of  the  East.  Then  only  thirty-three  years  of  age,  she  stood  high  among  the 
scholars  and  litterateurs  of  the  country.  This  summer  on  the  lakes,  with  over- 
land trips  into  Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  was  passed  by  Margaret  Fuller  in  com- 
pany with  James  Freeman  Clarke,  the  famous  Unitarian  clergyman,  and  his 
sister  and  brother.  The  book  which  was  issued  as  a  result  of  these  travels  is  a 
charming  description  of  the  country  and  people  then  little  known  to  the  men 
and  women  of  the  East.  William  Cullen  Bryant,  the  poet  and  journalist,  pre- 
ceded Margaret  Fuller  into  the  Rock  River  Valley  by  two  years. 

The  Fuller  party  crossed  the  Rock  River,  as  was  customary,  tarried  at  Haze1- 
wood,  or  Governor  Chartiers  Place,  a  few  miles  north  of  Dixon,  whence  the 
lumber  wagon,  with  its  driver  and  four  distinguished  tourists,  continued  up 
the  Rock  River  Valley  "to  a  little  town  named  Oregon."  The  narrative  by 
Margaret  Fuller  continues:  "At  Oregon,  the  beauty  of  the  scene  was  of  even 
more  sumptuous  character  than  at  our  former  stopping  place.  Here  swelled 
the  river  in  its  boldest  course,  interspersed  by  halcyon  isles  on  which  Nature  had 
lavished  all  her  prodigality  in  tree,  vine  and  flower,  banked  by  noble  bluffs, 
three  hundred  feet  high,  their  sharp  ridges  as  exquisitely  defined  as  the  edge 
of  a  shell;  their  summits  adorned  with  those  same  beautiful  trees  and  with 
buttresses  of  rich  rock,  crested  with  old  hemlocks,  which  wore  a  touching  and 
unique  grace  amid  the  softer  and  more  luxuriant  vegetation. 

"The  aspect  of  this  country  was  to  me  enchanting  beyond  any  I  have  ever 
seen,  from  its  fulness  of  expi-ession,  its  bold  and  impassioned  sweetness.  Here 
the  flood  of  emotion  has  passed  over  and  marked  everywhere  its  course  by  a 
smile.  The  fragments  of  rock  touch  it  with  a  Avildness  and  liberality  which 
give  just  the  needed  relief.  I  should  never  be  tired  here,  though  I  have  else- 
where seen  country  of  more  secret  and  alluring  charms,  better  calculated  to 
stimulate  and  suggest.     Here  the  eye  and  the  heart  are  filled. 

"This  beautiful  stream  flows  full  and  wide  over  a  bed  of  rocks,  traveling 
a  distance  of  near  two  hundred  miles  to  reach  the  Mississippi.  Great  part  of 
the  country  along  its  banks  is  the  finest  region  of  Illinois,  and  the  scene  of 
some  of  the  latest  romance  of  Indian  warfare.  To  these  beautiful  regions  Black 
Hawk  returned  with  his  band  'to  pass  the  summer,'  when  he  drew  upon  himself 
the  warfare  in  which  he  was  finally  vanquished.  No  wonder  he  could  not 
resist  the  longing,  unwise  though  its  indulgence  might  be,  to  return  in  summer 
to  this  home  of  beauty. 

"Of  Illinois  in  general,  it  has  often  been  remarked  that  it  bears  the  charac- 
ter of  country  which  has  been  inhabited  by  a  nation  skilled  like  the  English  in 
all  the  ornamental  arts  of  life,  especially  in  landscape-gardening.  The  villas 
and  castles  seem  to  have  been  burned,  the  enclosures  taken  down,  but  the  velvet 
lawns,  the  flower  gardens,  stately  parks  scattered  at  graceful  intervals  by  the 
decorous  hand  of  art,  the  frequent  deer,  and  the  peaceful  herd  of  cattle  that 


MARGARET  FULLER  ISLAND,  NEAR  OREGON 


■MajQT 

Kaf            HP^F*v^                          VJM 

Br    *  itUtSn'     nPT"a     d*r                1 

JJ5 

HkkOL 

*    ■  •*- 

i 

HISTORIC  CEDAR  ON    KAGLK'S  NEST  BLUFF 


Vol.  1—37 


580  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

make  the  picture  of  the  plain,  all  suggest  more  of  the  masterly  mind  of  man 
than  the  prodigal,  but  careless,  motherly  love  of  Nature. 

' '  Especially  is  this  true  of  the  Rock  River  country.  The  river  flows  through 
these  parks  and  lawns,  then  betwixt  high  bluffs  whose  grassy  ridges  are  cov- 
ered with  fine  trees,  or  broken  with  crumbling  stone  that  easily  assumes  the 
form  of  buttress,  arch  and  clustered  columns.  Along  the  face  of  such  crumbling 
rocks  swallows'  nests  are  clustered  thick  as  cities,  and  eagles  and  deer  do  not 
disdain  their  summits.  One  morning  out  in  the  boat  along  the  base  of  these 
rocks,  it  was  amusing  and  affecting,  too,  to  see  these  swallows  put  out  their 
heads  to  look  at  us.  There  was  something  very  hospitable  about  it,  as  if  man 
had  never  shown  himself  a  tyrant  near  there.  What  a  morning  that  was! 
Every  sight  is  worth  twice  as  much  by  the  early  morning  light.  We  borrow 
something  of  the  spirit  of  the  hour  to  look  upon  them. 

eagle's  nest,  ganymede's  spring  and  Margaret  fuller  island 

| 

"Two  of  the  boldest  bluffs  are  called  the  Deer's  Walk  (not  because  deer 
do  not  walk  there)  and  the  Eagles'  Nest.  The  latter  I  visited  one  glorious 
morning;  it  was  that  of  the  fourth  of  July,  and  certainly  I  think  I  had  never 
felt  so  happy  that  I  was  born  in  America.  Woe  to  all  country  folk  that  never 
saw  this  spot,  never  swept  an  enraptured  gaze  over  the  prospect  that  stretches 
beneath.  I  do  believe  that  Rome  and  Florence  are  suburbs  compared  to  this 
capital  of  Nature's  art." 

Margaret  Fuller's  poem  "Ganymede  to  His  Eagle"  was  composed  on  the 
height  called  the  Eagle's  Nest  and,  it  is  said,  under  the  old  gnarled  (and 
now  dead)  cedar  still  to  be  seen  there.  In  mythology,  Ganymede  was  cup- 
bearer to  Zeus  and  was  directed  by  his  Lord  to  minister  to  the  great  eagle 
which  had  winged  the  beautiful  boy  from  earth  to  heaven. 

Margaret  Fuller  and  her  friends  remained  at  Oregon  for  a  week  at  the  home 
of  Joseph  Henshaw,  a  cultured  Irishman  who  had  come  from  his  native  land 
in  1837.  This  was  made  necessary  as  her  uncle  was  then  unmarried  and  was 
keeping  "bachelor's  quarters,"  with  all  that  the  expression  implies  in  a  new 
and  raw  country.  But  the  time  of  departure  arrived  and  Margaret  Fuller 
"hated  to  leave."  She  puts  the  matter  in  a  far  more  poetic  vein,  as:  "The 
6th  of  July  we  left  this  beautiful  place.  It  was  one  of  those  rich  days  of 
bright  sunlight,  varied  by  the  purple  shadows  of  large,  sweeping  clouds.  Many 
a  backward  look  we  cast,  and  left  the  heart  behind. 

"Farewell,  ye  soft  and  sumptuous  solitudes! 

Ye  fairy  distances,  ye  lordly  woods, 

I  go — and  if  I  never  more  may  steep 

An  eager  heart  in  your  enchantments  deep, 

Yet  ever  to  itself  that  heart  may  say,  Be  not  exacting ; 

Be  not  exacting;  thou  hast  lived  one  day." 

Margaret  Fuller  was  never  again  to  revisit  Oregon  and  its  surrounding 
beauties.  She  was  to  return  to  her  eastern  home,  earn  greater  literary  fame 
in  the  United  States  and  Europe,  meet  and  be  honored  by  many  of  the  celeb- 


THE  ROCK   RIVER  VALLEY  581 

rities  of  the  world,  marry  into  an  old  Italian  family  of  rank,  become  with 
her  husband  an  outstanding  figure  of  the  Italian  revolution  of  the  late  '40s, 
and  finally,  when  within  sighl  of  her  beloved  land,  to  be  swallowed,  with  her 
babe  and  titled  spouse,  in  the  stormy  Atlantic  But  the  visit  of  the  gifted 
and  beloved  woman  was  long  remembered,  and  nearly  forty  yeai's  afterward 
steps  weir  taken  by  old  citizens,  and  leaders  of  culture  at  home  and  abroad, 
to  stamp  upon  the  country  which  had  so  appealed  to  her  symbols  of  an  en- 
during nature.  Ganymede's  Spring,  at  the  foot  of  Eagle's  Nest  Bluff,  was 
enclosed  in  attractive  masonry  and  in  the  summer  of  1880  a  tablet  placed  on 
the  spot,  which  read:  "Ganymede's  Spring,  named  by  Margaret  Fuller  (Coun- 
tess  D'Ossoli),  who  named  this  bluff  Eagle's  Nest,  and  beneath  the  cedars  on 
its  crest  wrote  'Ganymede  to  His  Eagle,'  July  4,  1843." 

DEDICATION   IN    1880 

At  the  same  time,  the  large  island  in  Rock  River  just  below  the  spring 
was  named  Margaret  Fuller  Island  and  its  improvement  was  commenced  as  a 
pleasure  resort.  In  September,  1880,  both  spring  and  island  wTere  dedicated 
as  memorials.  Among  other  letters  received  from  those  of  national  fame  who 
coidd  not  attend  the  ceremonies  was  a  communication  from  A.  Bronson  Al- 
cott,  the  veteran  transcendentalist,  who,  in  his  younger  manhood,  had  been 
a  warm  friend  and  admirer  of  Margaret  Fuller.     The  letter  read: 

"Concord,  Mass.,  September  7,  1880. 
"Dear  Sir: — You  honor  me  by  your  note  of  invitation  to  attend  the  dedica- 
tion of  Margaret  Fuller  Island,  at  your  Oregon,  in  the  distant  Illinois.  In 
this  celebration  of  a  noble  representative  American  woman  and  author  of 
wide  repute,  your  townsfolk  confer  a  lasting  honor  on  themselves  and  on  the 
spot  they  dedicate  to  her  genius.  Should  it  happen  that  I  find  myself  in 
your  near  neighborhood  during  the  coming  autumn  or  winter,  I  should  not 
willingly  pass  by  without  paying  my  respects  to  yourself  and  neighbors. 
"With  my  acknowledgments  for  your  kind  invitation,  I  am 

"Very  truly  yours 

"A.  Bronson  Alcott." 

Among  the  men  most  active  in  these  memorial  matters  were  the  late  Dr. 
H.  A.  Mix  and  Col.  B.  F.  Sheets. 

THE   ARTISTS'    COLONY    NEAR    OREGON 

Within  a  later  period  the  memory  of  Margaret  Fuller,  and  the  uplifting 
spirit  which  she  personified,  have  been  given  a  new  and  a  broader  significance 
which  is  especially  western  in  its  scope  and  vitality.  In  1892,  "Wallace  Heck- 
man,  of  Chicago,  then  counsellor  and  business  manager  of  the  University  of 
Chicago,  bought  a  wonderful  stretch  of  wooded  land  along  a  bold  bluff  com- 
manding a  sweeping  view  of  Rock  River  adjoining  Oregon,  which  had  then 
developed  into  a  pretty  village.  There  he  built  himself  a  country  home,  and 
his  estate  included  Eagle's  Nest  Bluff  and  Ganymede's  Spring.  In  1898,  the 
Artists'  Colony,  an  association  of  men  and  women  whose  lives  had  been  con- 


582  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

secrated  to  high  thoughts,  works  and  living,  leased  Mr.  Heckman's  property. 
The  artistic  participants  in  this  transaction  were  Lorado  Taft,  Ralph  Clark- 
son,  Oliver  Dennett  Grover,  Charles  Francis  Browne,  Henry  D.  Fuller,  Hamlin 
Garland,  Horace  Spencer  Fiske,  James  Spencer  Dickerson,  Allen  B.  Pond, 
Irving  K.  Pond  and  Clarence  Dickinson.  The  writers,  sculptors,  painters, 
musical  men  and  women,  architects,  naturalists,  scientists  and  others  of  like 
inclinations  and  creations,  have  made  the  Artists'  Colony  a  leading  feature 
of  the  entire  Rock  River  Valley.  Under  the  terms  of  the  lease  obtained  from 
Mr.  Heckman,  those  who  enjoy  the  beauties  and  comforts  of  the  place  furnish 
lectures  to  the  residents  of  Oregon  and  Ogle  County  under  the  management 
of  the  Public  Library  Board,  and  the  extent  and  variety  of  the  subjects  pre- 
sented may  readily  be  imagined.  But  the  broad  significance  of  this  home  for 
the  children  of  talent  and  genius  is  found  in  the  seclusion  and  association 
of  kindred  spirits  in  an  inspiring  atmosphere  of  Nature's  peaceful  and  bold 
creation.  One  of  them  writes  in  the  spirit  of  Margaret  Fuller :  ' '  Our  ter- 
ritory— just  above  Ganymede's  Spring  and  northwestward,  completing  the  point 
of  the  plateau  with  a  bit  of  the  ravine  beyond — is  said  to  contain  thirteen 
acres ;  but  the  whole  landscape  is  ours  to  enjoy,  particularly  the  great  panorama 
of  the  Rock  River  Valley  extending  for  miles  up  and  down  stream.  The  view 
from  our  heights,  so  exceptional  in  Illinois,  is  a  constant  source  of  inspiration 
to  our  painters.  There  is  no  important  exhibition  in  Chicago  which  does  not 
contain  from  one  to  a  score  of  paintings  of  this  picturesque  region."  Painters, 
writers  and  sculptors  thought,  dreamed  and  worked  on  the  heights  selected  as 
a  home  by  the  Artists'  Colony.  Mr.  Garland  wrote  some  of  his  Alaska  stories 
in  a  tepee  on  the  brow  of  the  bluff.  Lorado  Taft  prepared  the  manuscript 
of  his  History  of  American  Sculpture  in  the  seclusion  of  his  "outlook  library," 
at  his  home  overlooking  the  Valley,  while  the  originals  of  his  Washington, 
The  Blind  and  Black  Hawk  were  fashioned  in  his  studio  on  the  bluff.  Pro- 
fessor George  S.  Goodspeed,  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  wrote  a  considerable 
part  of  his  "History  of  Ancient  Civilization"  in  the  bosom  of  the  Artists' 
Colony.  Mrs.  Ella  W.  Peattie,  Miss  Harriet  Monroe,  Henry  D.  Fuller  and 
Prof.  Horace  S.  Fiske  did  considerable  writing  on  the  bluff.  Ralph  Clarkson, 
the  portrait  painter,  erected  a  studio  there,  while  Charles  Francis  Browne  and 
Oliver  Dennett  Grover  placed  many  a  stretch  of  wondrous  landscape  on  canvas 
to  herald  abroad  the  charms  of  the  Rock  River  Valley.  Others  than  those 
mentioned  who  have  been  entertained  at  Ganymede  and  Eagle's  Nest  Camp, 
not  a  few  of  them  at  the  hospitable  home  of  Lorado  Taft,  may  be  named 
Daniel  H.  Burnham,  Charles  L.  Hutchinson,  Robert  Herrick,  Ernest  Thompson- 
Seton,  Lucy  Fitch  Perkins,  Judge  C.  C.  Kohlsaat,  Fannie  Bloomfield-Zeisler, 
George  Barr  McCutcheon,  Dr.  William  H.  Harper,  Dr.  Harry  Pratt  Judson 
and  Professor  Michelson,  who,  in  1907,  was  awarded  the  Nobel  prize  for  physical 
research. 

LORADO    TAFT'S    STATUE    OF    BLACK     HAWK 

Eagle's  Nest,  the  historic  and  picturesque  center  of  the  home  grounds  of 
the  Artists'  Colony,  has  been  marked  since  1911  by  Lorado  Taft's  heroic  Indian 
statue  which  looms  across  the  Rock  River  from  Oregon  and  is  the  outstanding 
figure   for   many   miles   up   and   down   the  valley,      it   stands   forty-eight  feet 


EAGLE '8    NEST   CAMP   HOUSE,   ARTISTS'    COLONY 


BITE  OF  ARTISTS'  COLONY  ON  ROCK  RIVER 


584  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

high  on  a  massive  artificial  base  of  concrete  and  a  greater  foundation  of  natural 
rock  which  rises  nearly  three  hundred  feet  from  the  bed  of  the  valley.  This 
superb  marker  was  presented  by  Professor  Taft  to  the  State  of  Illinois  and 
the  nation  through  the  momentous  dedication  which  occurred  July  1,  1911, 
sixty-eight  years  to  a  day  after  Margaret  Fuller  steeped  her  rich  and  tender 
soul  in  the  glories  of  the  region.  Several  hundred  of  the  distinguished  men 
and  women  of  northern  Illinois  were  at  the  dedication,  and  its  exercises  in- 
cluded the  reading  of  an  original  poem  by  Mrs.  Peattie  on  the  "Pine  Forest"; 
an  address  by  Edgar  A.  Bancroft ;  responses  by  Dr.  Charles  Eastman  and 
Miss  Laura  M.  Cornelius,  modern  representatives  of  Sioux  and  Iroquois  blood; 
and  another  poem  by  Hamlin  Garland  on  the  "Trail  Makers."  Frank  0. 
Lowden  presided  over  the  gathering. 

It  was  said  by  the  Ogle  County  Republican  in  describing  the  event  which 
af tertimes  will  recognize  as  historical : '  "  The  building  of  the  statue  was  a 
labor  of  love  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Taft.  He  bore  all  the  expense  of  the  under- 
taking. The  land  on  which  it  stands  is  owned  by  Wallace  Heckman,  attorney, 
who  owns  several  hundred  acres,  and  where  himself  and  family  are  pleased 
to  make  their  summer  home.  The  idea  of  building  an  enduring  statue  oc- 
curred to  Mr.  Taft  when  he  was  on  a  European  tour  years  ago.  Finally  the 
idea  took  the  form  of  a  gigantic  Indian  figure  of  concrete  on  the  beautiful 
Eagle's  Nest  site,  where  Black  Hawk  once  roamed  at  will  and  whence  he  was 
exiled  by  the  whites  to  a  reservation  in  Iowa.  'Black  Hawk  is  my  greatest 
foolishness,'  Mr.  Taft  once  remarked,  but  he  has  a  real  affection  for  this  latest 
work,  as  his  intimate  friends  know.  The  usual  Indian  trappings  are  missing 
from  the  statue.  The  figure  stands  with  folded  arms  in  majestic  contempla- 
tion of  the  beauties  of  the  valley— Black  Hawk  come  back  to  view  what  was 
once  his  own. 

"Just  prior  to  the  conclusion  of  the  splendid  program  a  vigorous  demand 
was  made  by  the  audience  for  a  few  words  from  Professor  Taft,  who  modestly 
responded  with  an  explanation  of  the  birth  of  the  great  monument  that  is  to 
endure  for  ages.  He  said  that  it  just  seemed  to  grow  up  out  of  the  ground. 
In  passing  from  the  Artists'  Colony  to  the  Heckman  home,  it  seemed  impos- 
sible to  pass  the  point  of  the  bluff  without  stopping  for  a  few  minutes  and, 
with  folded  arms,  view  with  admiration  the  beautiful  valley;  and  what  seemed 
irresistible  to  Mr.  Taft,  he  said,  must  have  been  more  so  to  the  American 
Indians,  those  great  lovers  of  nature :  and  out  of  this  sprang  the  idea.  Then 
he  saw  some  men  building  a  chimney  out  of  reinforced  concrete ;  and  he  thought 
if  reinforced  concrete  would  make  a  good  chimney  it  ought  to  make  a  good 
Indian,  and  set  about  preparing  a  small  model ;  from  which  grew  the  great 
monument.  Mr.  Taft  refuses  to  claim  all  the  glory  of  the  achievement,  saying 
that  the  credit  is  due  to  John  G.  Prasuhn,  who  fairly  lived  with  the  great 
Indian  for  a  period  of  two  years,  until  completed  in  its  present  shape,  making 
the  measurements  and  overcoming  all  obstacles  in  increasing  the  size  from 
the  miniature  model  given  him  as  a  guide." 

OREGON   OF   THE   PRESENT 

The  Oregon  of  today  is  a  clean,  pretty  village  of  about  2,500  people,  with 
churches,  schools,  banks,  newspapers,  factories,  well  stocked  stores,  paved  streets, 


THE  ROCK  KlVKi;  VALLEY 

good  water  and  lighl  service,  and  everything  else  to  make  life  comfortable, 
prosperous  and  happy.  It  is  do  longer  the  shabby,  disconsolate  looking  town, 
of  muddy  streets  and  onpainted  houses,  as  seen  by  Colonel  sheets  in  1852. 
Perhaps  the  first  of  its  agencies  to  make  life  worthwhile  was  the  church.  As 
early  as  Is:!:'.  the  .Methodists  organized  a  little  class  at  John  Phelps'  Oregon 
City,  when  the  young  settlement  was  on  the  Buffalo  Grove  circuit.  Oregon 
became  the  head  of  a  circuit  in  1850.  In  the  meantime,  in  1848  the  Lutherans 
had  organized,  and  in  1850  built  a  church,  which  was  used  as  a  meeting  house 
not  only  by  the  Lutherans,  but  by  the  Methodists  and  Presbyterians.  The 
.Methodists  completed  their  own  house  of  worship  in  1857. 

Quaintly  illustrating,  the  friendly  spirit  of  those  early  times  and  the  ex- 
cusable union  of  "Church  and  State,"  is  the  deed  of  gift  pertaining  to  the 
bell  winch,  for  years,  rang  out  from  the  cupola  of  the  old  Lutheran  Church 
on  municipal  and  public  occasions,  as  well  as  for  religious  services.  It  reads: 
"The  Ladies  Philanthropic  Society  of  Oregon,  wishing  to  secure  as  far  as  in 
their  power  the  greatest  good  to  the  public,  hereby  agree  to  make  the  follow- 
ing disposition  of  the  bell  which  they  purchased  and  fulfill  the  expectation 
of  the  community  as  promised:  The  Society  donates  the  bell  in  trust  to  the 
Lutheran  Church  of  Oregon  to  be  put  up  in  the  belfry  of  their  house  of  wor- 
ship, to  remain  there  for  use  so  long  as  the  building  shall  be  used  as  a  house 
of  worship,  reserving  the  right  to  the  citizens  of  Oregon  to  use  the  bell  in 
said  church  on  all  public  and  suitable  occasions  as  a  Town  Bell.  This  agree- 
ment may  be  terminated  by  consent  of  the  trustees  of  said  church  and  the 
citizens  of  the  town  at  any  time,  but  not  by  one  party  so  long  as  these  terms 
are  complied  with ;  and  if  at  any  time  there  shall  be  a  failure  on  the  part  of 
said  Lutheran  Church,  or  its  trustees,  the  bell  with  its  fixtures  shall  be  at  the 
disposal  of  the  citizens  of  Oregon.  This  instrument  to  take  effect  as  soon  as 
approved  by  the  Society  and  accepted  by  the  trustees  of  said  church."  The 
measure  went  into  effect  on  August  26,  1851. 

St.  Mary's  Catholic  Church  was  organized  in  1862. 

The  schools  of  Oregon  originated  in  the  small  class  taught  in  the  house 
of  Jonathan  W.  Jenkins  in  the  winter  of  1837.  This  was  the  first  building 
erected  on  the  town  plat.  Oregon's  first  graded  school  was  organized  in  1873, 
and  E.  L.  AVells,  who  had  been  superintendent  of  the  count}'  schools  for  twelve 
years,  established  a  normal  training  school  in  1879.  It  was  a  useful  and 
popular  institution  for  many  years.  The  Ogle  County  Reporter  dates  from 
1851,  and  the  Ogle  County  Republican,  which  is  but  a  child  in  comparison, 
has  been  published  since  1888.  The  Reporter  was  published  by  Mortimer  W. 
Smith  when  Abraham  Lincoln  visited  Oregon  and  on  August  16,  1856,  de- 
livered an  address  in  grounds  which  were  on  the  east  side  of  North  Fourth 
Street.     The  bell  in  the  Lutheran  Church  belfry  doubtless  heralded  the  event. 

MEMORIAL   BOULDERS 

In  September,  1904,  at  the  twentieth  annual  reunion  of  the  soldiers  and 
sailors  of  northwestern  Illinois,  exercises  were  held  to  dedicate  a  huge  gray 
granite  boulder  found  in  Pine  Rock  Township  and  transported  to  the  spot 
designated  as  the  approximate  site  of  the  Lincoln  address.     Judge  J.  H.  Cart- 


586  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

wright  delivered  the  principal  address  in  the  exercises,  which  were  conducted 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Oregon  Woman's  Council.  At  the  conclusion  of 
the  program,  that  organization  placed  the  boulder  in  charge  of  the  Women's 
Relief  Corps,  to  be  fittingly  remembered  by  them  on  Decoration  Day  in  con- 
nection with  their  other  observances. 

There  are  other  memorial  boulders  in  the  Oregon  region  marking  events 
of  a  most  somber  hue.  The  place  where  the  Driscolls  were  shot,  in  Washington 
Grove,  Pine  Rock  township,  a  few  miles  east  of  Oregon,  is  marked  by  a  red, 
or  dark  pink  boulder,  and  in  White  Rock  township  is  another  massive  boulder 
placed  where  John  Campbell,  captain  of  the  regulators,  was  assassinated  by 
the  Driscolls. 

What  is  known  as  the  Black  Hawk  Boulder  originally  lay  on  the  crest  of 
a  cliff  along  the  west  side  of  Pine  Creek  township.  Standing  upon  this  granite 
boulder  one  could  get  a  view  of  the  country  across  Pine  Creek  down  to  Rock 
River.  One  of  the  old  settlers  once  related  that  while  a  party  of  Indians  was 
returning  through  this  region  on  a  hunting  and  fishing  trip  an  old  woman, 
who  was  a  member  of  it,  told  him  that  as  a  little  girl  she  had  seen  Black  Hawk 
stand  upon  this  boulder  and  urge  his  braves  to  be  valiant ;  and  that  it  was 
his  custom  to  use  this  cliff  and  boulder  as  an  outlook.  Being  himself  con- 
cealed from  a  possible  enemy,  he  could  see  the  Mount  Morris  region  to  the 
north ;  the  country  across  Rock  River  Valley  and  beyond  Nachusa  in  Lee 
County  to  the  east ;  along  the  old  deserted  path  of  Pine  Creek  and  across  the 
landscape  beyond,  to  the  southwestward,  and  far  into  Whiteside  County  to  the 
west.  About  twenty  years  ago,  the  boulder  was  moved  a  short  distance  to 
a  spot  on  Pine  Creek  which  became  quite  a  pleasure  resort  under  the  name 
of  Bovey's  Springs. 

THE   CANADIAN    SETTLEMENT 

Although  it  never  became  a  large  center  of  population,  what  is  known  as 
the  Canadian  Settlement  was  a  pioneer  collection  of  intelligent  and  enterprising 
people  who  long  exerted  a  good  and  a,  wide  influence  in  Western  Ogle  County. 
It  was  located  several  miles  to  the  northwest  of  Polo  and  covered  a  site  of 
well  watered  groves  and  good  mill  facilities.  It  was  called  the  Canadian  Set- 
tlement because  the  bulk  of  those  who  came  to  this  locality,  at  the  corners  of 
Buffalo,  Eagle  Point,  Brookville  and  Lincoln  townships,  were  refugees  from 
the  Dominion  of  Canada  who  were  escaping  from  the  Rebellion  of  1837-38.  A 
few  settlers  from  the  eastern  states  had  located  there  prior  to  the  coming  of 
the  Canadians  and  not  a  few  Yankees  reenforced  them  at  a  later  date.  The 
first  regular  schoolhouse  was  built  of  brick,  in  the  fall  of  1843,  in  the  south- 
east corner  of  Brookville  township,  and  numerous  private  schools  were  opened 
at  the  time  that  this  more  permanent  institution  was  conducted.  As  an  in- 
dication of  the  spirit  of  the  Settlement  an  effort  was  made  to  establish  a 
library.  It  was  truly  said:  "The  literary,  educational  and  religious  activity 
of  its  members  exerted  a  wide  influence  upon  the  surrounding  community, 
and  the  Settlement  stood  second  to  no  other  in  point  of  enterprise  and  in- 
telligence in  the  County." 


OLD  STONE   QUARRY,  ROCHELLE 


SOUTH  park  sti;i:i:t,  moixt  morris 


588  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

THE  FOUNDING  OF  MOUNT  MORRIS 

But  the  undisputed  center  of  education  was  being  founded  in  1837  farther 
to  the  northeast  and  nearer  Rock  River,  by  a  band  of  enterprising  and  intel- 
ligent men  and  women  from  Maryland.  They  were  gathering  around  the  crest 
of  a  high  hill,  spongy  Avith  springs  and  cut  by  ravines  and  hollows.  Mount 
Morris,  with  its  seminary,  was  on  the  way.  John  Phelps  had  explored  the 
Rock  River  Valley  and,  through  his  friend,  Colonel  William  Hamilton,  whom 
he  had  first  met  in  the  lead  mines,  located  the  three-hundred  acre  farm  in 
Mount  Morris  and  Rockvale  townships  and  selected  Oregon  as  the  crossing  of 
the  Rock  River  on  his  bee-line  road  from  Chicago  to  Galena.  In  the  summer 
of  1836  Squire  Samuel  M.  Hitt  and  Captain  Nathaniel  Swingley  had  come 
from  Maryland  and  made  a  number  of  prairie  claims,  including  the  present 
site  of  Mount  Morris.  John  Phelps  was  then  living  on  his  farm  about  two 
and  a  half  miles  east,  and  three  or  four  others  had  settled  along  the  edge  of 
the  timber.  In  the  following  autumn,  Messrs.  Hitt  and  Swingley  had  returned 
to  Maryland  and  hired  a  number  of  men  to  settle  with  them  in  the  new  coun- 
try, promising  to  pay  them  one  dollar  per  day  for  building  houses,  splitting 
rails  and  putting  up  fences,  breaking  the  prairie  and  harvesting  the  crops. 
About  a  dozen  men  were  thus  engaged.  Three  of  the  men  were  accompanied 
by  their  wives,  and  there  were  a  widow  and  her  married  daughter,  with  two 
children.  The  members  of  the  colony  traveled  by  wagon  and  early  in  the 
spring  of  1837  they  arrived  at  a  vacant  cabin  in  Fridley's  Grove,  east  of  the 
present  site  of  Mount  Morris.  The  cabin  had  been  built  and  occupied  by 
Judge  Ford  when  he  first  came  to  the  country  and  stood  in  Rockvale  town- 
ship, three  miles  east  of  the  destination  of  the  Maryland  Colony.  The  women 
and  children  were  sheltered  in  this  log  hut  for  two  weeks,  while  the  men  pro- 
ceeded to  erect  their  cabins.  The  first  one  completed,  which  was  also  the  first 
in  the  township  (for  the  house  built  by  John  Phelps  was  just  over  the  line 
in  Rockvale  township),  was  on  the  claim  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Ankney,  who  had 
brought  to  this  western  country  her  little  son,  Albertus.  The  boy  continued 
to  live  in  Mount  Morris  township  for  sixty-eight  years.  Several  other  cabins 
were  soon  completed  and  most  of  their  occupants  remained  in  Ogle  County. 
During  the  year  1837  came  Rev.  Thomas  S.  Hitt  and  settled  upon  a  claim 
which  had  been  reserved  by  his  brother,  Samuel  M.  There  this  faithful  Meth- 
odist minister,  and  perhaps  the  most  prominent  individual  in  the  founding 
of  Rock  River  Seminary,  lived  until  his  death  on  September  23,  1852.  He 
was  the  father  of  eight  children,  of  whom  the  most  prominent  was  Robert  R. 
Hitt,  who  was  brought  to  Mount  Morris  by  his  father  and  mother.  That 
remained  his  home  until  his  death  in  1906,  although  his  official  residence  was 
in  Paris,  France,  where  for  seven  years  he  was  identified  with  the  American 
Legation,  and  during  the  last  twenty-four  years  of  his  life  as  a  congressman 
in  Washington. 

THE  MARYLAND  COLONY 

The  settlers  who  arrived  in  1837  were  well  pleased  with  the  new  country 
and  consequently  in  the  spring  of  1838,  Messrs.  Hitt  and  Swingley,  who  had 


THE  ROCK   RIVER  VALLEY  589 

organized  the  first  migration,  induced  even  a  larger  number  of  families  to 
start  from  Maryland  and  head  toward  what  is  now  Mount  Morris  township. 
They  became  known  as  the  Maryland  Colony  proper.  Many  took  up  their 
claims  in  Mount  Morris  township  and  others  went  into  Carroll  County  farther 
to  the  west. 

BOCK     RIVER    SEMINARY 

The  founding  of  Mount  Morris  as  a  village  and  the  establishment  of  the 
Rock  River  Seminary  are  part  and  parcel  of  the  same  occurrence.  As  has 
been  stated  in  the  chapter  on  Education  in  the  Rock  River  Valley,  the  Illinois 
Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  which  met  at  Jacksonville  in 
1838  had  approved  the  plan  of  founding  an  institution  of  higher  learning 
in  northern  Illinois;  not  only  that,  but  that  authoritative  body  had  placed 
its  approval  on  the  actual  selection  of  its  site.  The  Maryland  Colony  had 
been  solidly  behind  the  scheme,  and  had  been  the  means  of  raising  a  fund  of 
$8,000  and  donating  a  tract  of  480  acres  on  the  heights  destined  for  the  nucleus 
of  the  village  and  seminary.  All  the  preliminaries  being  arranged,  the  con- 
ference appointed  a  building  committee  consisting  of  Samuel  M.  Hitt,  Nathaniel 
Swingley  and  C.  Burr  Artz  to  arrange  for  the  erection  of  the  first  structure 
of  the  famous  Rock  River  Seminary.  The  $18,000  contract  was  let  to  the 
master  builder  of  the  Maryland  Colony,  James  B.  McCoy.  Mr.  McCoy  im- 
mediately erected  a  small  frame  building  on  what  afterward  became  the  south 
side  of  the  college  campus,  and  used  it  as  a  boarding  house  for  his  carpenters. 
That  was  the  first  house  built  within  the  corporate  limits  of  the  present  vil- 
lage of  Mount  Morris. 

PROMINENCE  OF  THE  HITTS 

The  second  building  erected  was  the  seminary  structure,  the  corner  stone 
of  which  was  laid  July  4,  1839.  The  widespread  interest  taken  in  the  founding 
of  this  Methodist  seminary  by  the  people  of  northern  Illinois  has  already  been 
described  in  the  general  chapter  on  education,  but  perhaps  the  fact  of  the 
fundamental  influence  of  Rev.  Thomas  S.  Hitt  in  the  realization  of  this  worthy 
ambition  has  not  been  sufficiently  emphasized.  The  founders  of  the  Maryland 
Colony  had  previously  instituted  and  enthusiastically  supported  the  Pine  Creek 
Grammar  School,  and  they  appointed  Mr.  Hitt  as  their  representative  to  the 
1838  Illinois  Conference  of  the  M.  E.  Church  for  the  special  purpose  of  in- 
ducing that  body  to  take  over  that  institution  and  develop  it  into  a  school  of 
higher  learning.  Instead,  the  conference  adopted  the  plan  of  founding  a 
seminary  representative  of  the  people  of  northern  Illinois  and  gave  the  Mary- 
land Colony  a  chance  to  compete  in  the  contest  for  a  site.  Mr.  Hitt  was 
selected  as  one  of  the  committee  chosen  to  receive  proposals  for  such  a  loca- 
tion. As  much  to  him  as  to  any  member  of  the  Maryland  Colony  was  due 
the  choice  of  the  Mount  Morris  site,  and  when  the  corner  stone  was  laid  in 
the  midst  of  much  general  rejoicing  by  the  people  of  the  Rock  River  Valley, 
the  honor  of  laying  it  and  delivering  the  dedicatory  address  was  accorded  to 
Rev.  Thomas  S.  Hitt.     During  the  summer  in  which  the  corner  stone  was  laid, 


590  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

a  part  of  the  prairie  about  the  building  was  surveyed  and  platted  by  D. 
Fletcher  Hitt,  another  of  the  brothers,  and  the  future  village  was  named  Mount 
Morris.  The  name  given  to  the  town  plat  is  said  to  have  a  double  significance. 
Primarily,  it  is  believed  to  honor  Bishop  Morris,  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  and, 
secondarily,  to  be  given  in  deference  to  the  wishes  of  Horace  Miller,  of  Kish- 
waukee,  who  had  been  active  in  his  efforts  to  secure  the  site  for  his  home  town. 
As  he  had  come  to  that  pretty  settlement  in  the  upper  Rock  River  Valley 
from  Mount  Morris,  N.  Y.,  he  is  said  to  have  also  suggested  the  name.  This 
pioneer  of  the  seminary  buildings  was  occupied  until  1893,  when  it  was  torn 
down  and  replaced  by  a  ladies'  dormitory,  erected  a  few  rods  west  of  the 
old  foundation.  During  several  years,  the  Rock  River  Seminary  was  the  only 
enterprise  in  the  village,  the  inhabitants  being  those  connected  with  the  in- 
stitution. But  on  January  1,  1842,  another  institution  appeared  in  the  form 
of  a  newspaper,  the  Rock  River  Register.  In  its  first  number,  it  announced 
that  it  hailed  from  the  top  of  Mount  Morris  and  from  the  new  and  hale  little 
village  by  that  name — which  held  282  souls,  inclusive  of  the  teachers  and 
students  at  Rock  River  Seminary,  which  dignified  the  center  of  the  village. 
Outside  of  the  seminary  were  137  citizens  and  21  houses. 

The  first  store  in  Mount  Morris  was  opened  in  October,  1841,  by  Daniel 
Brayton  and  his  son,  Frederick  B.,  and  some  member  of  the  family  continued 
in  business  at  Mount  Morris  for  many  years  afterward. 

From  the  time  of  its  founding  in  1839,  the  village  grew  slowly  but  steadily 
until  1855,  when  it  had  become  a  prominent  trading  point,  with  several  mills 
on  Pine  Creek  tributary  to  it.  During  that  year,  the  Illinois  Central  was  built 
through  the  county  to  the  south  and  the  new  town  of  Polo  attracted  much 
of  the  business  which  had  formerly  gone  to  Mount  Morris. 

According  to  law,  in  December,  1847,  the  town  was  qualified  to  become 
incorporated  as  a  village.  Accordingly,  Daniel  Brayton  canvassed  the  place, 
issued  a  notice  (sworn  to  before  a  justice  of  the  peace)  that  there  were  over 
200  inhabitants  in  town,  and  called  a  meeting  of  citizens  to  be  held  in  the 
seminary  chapel  on  December  28,  1847,  to  decide  whether  a  village  incorpora- 
tion should  be  adopted.  Nineteen  votes  were  cast  in  favor  of  it,  and  none 
against  the  measure.  On  the  15th  of  January,  1848,  the  village  electors  held 
a  meeting  in  the  chapel  and  selected  Aaron  C.  Marston,  Andrew  Newcomer, 
James  J.  Beatty,  Jonathan  Knodle  (the  editor)  and  William  McCune,  trus- 
tees of  the  new  corporation.  A  week  after,  the  Board  of  Trustees  met  and 
passed  acts  prohibiting  the  sale  of  liquors  except  for  medicinal  and  mechanical 
purposes,  declaring  drunkenness  and  gambling  public  nuisances,  licensing  shows. 
circuses  and  theaters,  but  prohibiting  horse-racing,  shooting  at  marks  or  firing 
of  guns  within  the  corporate  limits. 

After  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  considerable 
enlivening  of  trade  in  Mount  Morris  and  a  number  of  stores  were  started, 
but  the  village  was  not  assured  of  its  standing  as  long  as  it  was  without  rail- 
road connection.  In  1869,  the  Legislature  incorporated  the  Chicago  &  Iowa 
Railroad  Company.  In  the  summer  and  autumn  of  that  year,  its  engineers 
located  the  road  from  Rochelle  to  Oregon  and  the  wrork  of  grading  was  nearly 
completed.  After  some  vexatious  delays  occasioned  by  the  inability  of  the 
road  to   obtain  rails  and  ties,   a   construction   train   reached   Rochelle   on   the 


SCIENCE  BUILDING,  MOUNT  MORRIS  COLLEGE,  MOUNT  MORRIS 


COLLEGE  CAMPUS,  MOUNT  .MORRIS  COLLEGE,  MOUNT  MORRIS 


592  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

thirty-first  of  December,  1870.  In  April,  1871,  the  line  was  completed  to  the 
east  bank  of  the  Rock  River  opposite  Oregon,  and  in  the  following  October 
cars  were  crossing  the  bridge.  The  first  passenger  train  was  run  to  Mount 
Morris  November  12,  1871,  and  from  that  date,  with  the  founding  of  Mount 
Morris  College  as  successor  to  the  Rock  River  Seminary,  the  village  has  con- 
tinued its  substantial,  if  placid,  existence,  as  an  influential  center  of  learning 
and  moral  radiation. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF   MOUNT   MORRIS   COLLEGE 

The  first  principal  of  the  old  Rock  River  Seminary  was  Professor  Joseph 
N.  Waggoner,  of  the  Genesee  (N.  Y.)  Wesley  an  Seminary.  He  arrived  at 
Mount  Morris  in  June,  1840,  and  as  the  seminary  building  had  not  been  com- 
pleted he  taught  during  the  summer  in  the  old  log  schoolhouse  on  Pine  Creek 
in  which  Quimby  Allen  had  formerly  held  forth.  He  was  reengaged  at  the 
expiration  of  the  first  three  months  at  $20  per  month  until  the  beginning  of 
the  first  term,  when  his  salary  was  to  be  fixed  at  $300  per  annum. 

The  annual  session  of  the  Rockford  Conference  was  appointed  at  Mount 
Morris  in  the  fall  of  1840,  when  it  was  expected  the  seminary  building  would 
be  so  far  completed  that  the  meeting  could  be  held  beneath  its  roof,  but  in 
this  expectation  the  people  were  disappointed,  as  its  interior  walls  were  still 
unplastered.  Consequently,  the  delegates  held  a  camp  meeting  in  the  grove 
about  two  miles  northwest  of  the  unfinished  edifice.  In  September,  1840, 
the  Rock  River  Conference  appointed  the  following  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
seminary :  John  Clark,  Samuel  M.  Hitt,  John  H.  Rountree,  J.  B.  Crist,  An- 
thony Pitzer,  Nathaniel  Swingley,  Leander  S.  Walker,  James  Mitchell,  John 
Sinclair,  C.  Burr  Artz,  Thomas  Ford,  Bartholomew  Weed,  Thomas  S.  Hitt 
and  James  J.  Beatty.  Rev.  John  Sharp  was  appointed  steward  and  all  ar- 
rangements made  for  the  opening  of  the  school.  On  the  first  Friday  in  Novem- 
ber, 1840,  the  first  term  of  the  Rock  River  Seminary  was  opened  and  continued 
twenty-two  weeks.  The  board  of  instruction  consisted  of  Prof.  Joseph  N.  Wag- 
goner, principal  and  professor  of  languages;  Rev.  Lyman  Catlin,  professor 
of  mathematics,  and  Miss  Cornelia  N.  Russell,  preceptress. 

The  seminary  was  formally  dedicated  January  3,  1841,  Samuel  N.  Samples, 
a  lawyer  of  Oregon,  delivering  the  address.  About  this  time,  Rev.  Luke  Hitch- 
cock, later  an  eminent  Methodist  divine,  was  appointed  an  additional  special 
agent,  to  assist  Samuel  M.  Hitt,  the  regular  agent,  whose  health  was  failing. 
The  seminary  was  also  incorporated  and  a  charter  accepted. 

In  August,  1842,  Professor  Daniel  J.  Pinckney,  -  also  of  the  Genesee  Wes- 
leyan  Seminary,  succeeded  Professor  Waggoner  as  principal.  For  more  than 
thirteen  years  he  devoted  his  time,  energies  and  money  to  the  upbuilding  of 
the  Rock  River  Seminary,  during  most  of  that  period  as  its  principal.  His 
absence  from  that  post  in  1847  was  in  connection  with  his  duties  as  a  member 
of  the  constitutional  convention  of  1847.  It  was  during  the  last  years  of 
his  service  that  a  massive  stone  structure  replaced  the  original  spminary 
building,  which  was  called  Old  Sandstone.  It  was  forty  by  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  in  dimensions,  four  stories  high,  and  the  material  for  it  was 
quarried  from  a  ledge  along  Pine  Creek.     When  the  original  Old  Sandstone 


THE  ROCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  593 

was  torn  down  in  1893,  the  name  was  transferred  to  the  new  building,  com- 
pleted about  1855.  Old  Sandstone  No.  2  became  the  home  for  the  young  men 
of  Mount  Morris  College. 

The  seminary  changed  hands  often  during  the  following  twenty  years  or 
more,  the  property  was  mortgaged  and  after  the  early  '50s  the  Northwestern 
University  at  Chicago  had  been  seriously  cutting  into  the  patronage  formerly 
extended  to  the  Rock  River  Seminary  by  the  Methodists  of  northern  Illinois. 
In  1878,  the  Rock  River  Seminary  closed  its  career  as  a  Methodist  institu- 
tion, and  to  pay  its  creditors  Robert  R.  Hitt  bought  the  property  and  held 
it  for  about  a  year. 

In  1879,  Mr.  Hitt  disposed  of  the  property  formerly  held  by  the  Rock 
River  Seminary  to  Elders  Melchor  Newcomer  and  D.  L.  Miller,  and  Professor 
John  W.  Stein,  of  the  German  Baptist  Brethren  Church.  These  gentlemen 
purchased  the  buildings  and  grounds  with  the  intention  of  founding  a  school 
to  be  conducted  under  the  auspices  of  that  denomination,  and  after  spending 
several  thousand  dollars  in  improvements  reopened  the  school  as  the  Rock 
River  Seminary  and  Collegiate  Institute.  Professor  Stein  was  elected  presi- 
dent and  Mr.  Miller,  business  manager,  of  the  new  institution;  and  the  first 
term  of  the  school  under  the  management  of  the  Brethren  was  opened  August 
20,  1879.  There  were  about  sixty  students  in  attendance,  and  Professor  Stein's 
administration  of  two  years  was  remarkably  successful  until  terminated  by  a 
social  lapse,  which,  in  view  of  his  previous  record  and  general  strength  of 
character,  was  deemed  inexplicable  by  his  closest  friends  and  ardent  admirers. 
After  Professor  Stein's  departure,  Elder  D.  L.  Miller  (afterward  Bishop)  was 
elected  president  and  was  followed  in  1884  by  Prof.  J.  G.  Royer.  During 
that  year  the  trustees  obtained  a  new7  charter  for  the  school  and  changed  the 
name  to  Mount  Morris  College.  Professor  Royer  was  succeeded  by  J.  E.  Miller 
in  1904,  by  Prof.  John  S.  Noffsinger  in  1915,  by  Dr.  Levi  S.  Shively  in  1918, 
and  by  Professor  A.  J.  Brumbaugh  in  1922.  The  editors  and  publishers  of 
this  work  wrere  fortunate  in  securing  the  cooperation  of  Professor  Brumbaugh 
in  the  collaboration  and  verification  of  this  history. 

The  Mount  Morris  College  of  today  is  a  well  conducted  institution  at- 
tended by  two  hundred  students.  It  is  in  affiliation  with  the  State  University 
and  its  curriculum  embraces  all  the  regular  and  special  courses  required  in 
a  "standard  college  in  Class  B."  The  Academy  as  a  distinct  organization 
of  the  college  was  discontinued  in  June,  1923.  Around  its  pretty  campus  of 
seven  acres  in  the  central  part  of  town  are  half  a  dozen  substantial  buildings, 
erected  at  different  periods  in  the  lives  of  Rock  River  Seminary  and  Mount 
Morris  College. 

Built  in  1852-55,  Old  Sandstone  was  partially  destroyed  by  fire  in  Janu- 
ary, 1912.  In  that  and  the  following  year,  it  was  rebuilt  as  a  Library  and 
Science  Hall.  Ladies  Hall  replaced  the  original  Old  Sandstone  in  1893.  Col- 
lege Hall  was  built  in  1890  and  in  1908  the  Auditorium-Gymnasium  was  erected. 
The  men's  dormitory  was  completed  in  1913.  During  the  school  year  1919-20 
the  college  built  a  well-appointed  greenhouse,  which  is  used  for  laboratory 
work  in  the  department  of  agriculture,  and  during  the  same  period  an  athletic 
field  of  four  acres  was  purchased  and  improved.  The  central  heating  plant 
is  across  the  street  from  the  campus.     It  was  installed  in  1912  and  furnishes 


594  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

heat  to  the  six  college  building's  by  the  vacuum  system.  The  latest  acquisition 
to  the  educational  facilities  of  the  college  is  a  demonstration  farm  of  more 
than  140  acres,  located  at  the  edge  of  town.  So  that  Mount  Morris,  as  in  the 
days  of  old,  is  enveloped  by  an  atmosphere  of  learning  and  scholarly  retirement. 

PIONEERS   OF    JEFFERSON    AND    HICKORY    GROVES 

It  was  not  until  three  years  after  the  Black  Hawk  war  that  white  settlers 
commenced  to  come  into  eastern  Ogle  County  and  locate  in  Jefferson  and 
Hickory  groves  along  Kyte  River.  As  the  Pottawatomies  passed  over  the 
prairies,  they  were  wont  to  camp  year  after  year  in  these  cool,  inviting  and 
fertile  groves,  and  they  left  their  lodge  poles  standing,  as  a  sign  that  they 
considered  these  localities  their  temporary  homes.  The  first  settlers  of  the 
white  race  in  the  region  between  the  Illinois  and  the  Kishwaukee  and  in  the 
valley  of  the  Kyte  followed  the  suggestion  of  the  red  men.  Jefferson  Grove 
claimed  the  pioneer  whites  of  Plagg  township  and  soon  afterward  Hickory 
Grove.  John  Randall,  with  his  sons  and  daughters,  in  1837,  built  a  log  cabin 
on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  or  creek,  in  Hickory  Grove.  Then,  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  Sheldon  Bartholomew  and  Willard  P.  Flagg  bought  Randall's 
claim,  which  extended  on  either  side  of  the  stream.  They  lived  together  in 
the  Randall  cabin  until  1839,  when  they  divided  the  claim,  Bartholomew  tak- 
ing all  on  the  north  side  and  Flagg  on  the  south  side.  Randall,  in  the  mean- 
time with  his  large  family,  had  moved  to  Jefferson  Grove,  and  quite  a  number 
of  families  located  there  also.  At  this  time,  the  settlement  near  or  in  Jeffer- 
son Grove  contained  several  more  people  than  that  at  Hickory  Grove.  The 
former  was  called  Skunk  Town,  not  as  a  slur  upon  the  people  located  there, 
but  (literally)  because  of  the  large  number  of  those  offensive  animals  which 
frequented  Jefferson  Grove. 

FIRST  SETTLERS   ON   SITE  OF  ROCHELLE 

The  first  settlement  of  what  is  now  the  City  of  Rochelle  was  called  Hickory 
Grove ;  earlier,  it  was  known  as  Loblolly  Grove.  Hickory  Grove  finally  got 
the  start  of  Jefferson  Grove,  although  until  1853  it  consisted  of  a  collection 
of  only  half  a  dozen  cabins,  a  store  and  a  blacksmith  shop.  In  1853,  when 
it  was  known  that  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railroad — otherwise  known 
as  the  Dixon  Air  Line,  or  by  some  scoffers  as  the  Gas  Line  Railroad — was 
building  toward  Kyte  Creek,  some  capitalists  from  Rockford,  including  R.  P. 
Lane,  T.  D.  Robertson  and  Gilbert  Palmer,  bought  a  large  tract  of  land  from 
Aunt  Charlotte  Bartholomew,  and  platted  that  portion  of  Rochelle  now  known 
as  the  Original  Town  of  Lane.  During  the  building  of  the  railroad,  several 
located  in  the  hamlet  of  Lane. 

The  last  rail  on  the  Dixon  Air  Line  was  laid  January  14,  1854,  and  the 
event  was  celebrated  most  enthusiastically  by  the  people  of  Lane,  as  their 
town  was  the  terminus  of  the  railroad  for  the  coming  year.  The  completion 
of  the  road  to  that  point  was  celebrated  by  a  banquet  held  at  the  Lane  Hotel, 
which  had  been  built  during  the  previous  year  by  Horace  Coon.  There  was 
singing,  speech-making  and  everything,  but  the  banquet  part  of  the  celebra- 


"*•: 


CITY  HALL,  ROCHELLE 


POST  OFFICE,  ROCHELLE 


Vol.  1—38 


596  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

tion  was  somewhat  curtailed,  as  word  came  during  the  evening'  that  a  train 
bearing  the  Chicago  excursionists  had  broken  down ;  consequently,  the  hosts 
aud  hostesses  of  Lane  sent  the  stranded  Chicagoans  a  wagon-load  of  provisions. 
Prior  to  1854,  the  post  office  was  called  Story  and  was  located  south  of  the 
river  in  Hickory  Grove.  It  was  next  moved  a  mile  north  at  the  Birdsell 
Corners  and  kept  by  Alba  0.  Hall.  During  its  first  year  as  a  railroad  station, 
the  town  of  Lane  was  favored  with  the  post  office. 

>'V  -'      V  VILLAGE  OF  LANE,  FORERUNNER  OF  ROCHELLE 

The  Village  of  Lane  was  incorporated  by  act  of  the  General  Assembly  on 
February  22,  1861.  In  1865-66  a  bill  was  passed  changing  the  name  of  the 
village  to  Rochelle,  and  on  April  10,  1872,  occurred  its  first  election  under 
the  city  charter  authorizing  municipal  organization.    J&~i, 

Rochelle  has  developed  into  one  of  the  most  prosj^'ouis  cities  in  the  Rock 
River  Valley.  It  has  a  population  of  about  four  thousand  people  and  is  the 
center  of  a  fertile  region  of  farm  lands  and  orchards;  has  adequate  passenger 
and  freight  service  over  three  lines  of  railroad,  as  well  as  over  the  great 
Lincoln  Highway.  The  leading  industries  of  Rochelle  are  based  on  the  pro- 
ductions of  its  tributary  territory.  Probably  the  largest  sheep  feeding  yards 
in  the  State  are  located  at  this  point.  They  comprise  sheds  and  other  in- 
cisures and  several  hundred  acres  of  fine  grazing  land  through  which  flow 
never-failing  streams  of  pure  water.  During  the  sheep-feeding  season,  when 
shipments  are  moving  from  the  "West  to  the  Chicago  market,  it  is  said  that 
the  establishment  handles  several  hundred  thousand  sheep  per  week.  The 
Caron  Spinning  Works  manufacture  all  kinds  of  knitting  yams,  made  entirely 
of  what  are  known  as  bright  wools  which  are  grown  only  in  the  Middle  Western 
States.  This  large  plant,  which  employs  from  175  to  200  men,  boys  and  girls, 
was  established  at  Rochelle  in  1915  during  the  World  war. 

The  Rochelle  canneries,  drawing  their  vegetable  products  from  more  than 
6,000  acres  of  neighboring  truck  farms,  are  known  everyHvhere,  and  have  given 
the  city  the  name  of  being  the  largest  individual  pea  packing  town  in  the 
United  States.  The  Kennedy  Cereal  Mills  are  known  especially  as  manufac- 
turers of  superior  rolled  oats.  The  Rochelle  Seed  Company  puts  forth  pure- 
bred seed  oats,  corn  and  wheat  by  the  ton,  and  just  outside  of  the  city  to 
the  south  is  another  firm  which  owns  one  of  the  most  noted  Hereford  herds 
of  pure  and  aristocratic  blood  in  the  country.  The  city  and  surrounding 
country  are  fortunate  in  having  large  and  valuable  deposits  of  gravel  to  draw 
upon  for  the  construction  of  highways.  A  most  noticeable  deposit  is  located 
about  four  miles  south  of  Rochelle  and  half  a  mile  east  of  the  Meridian  High- 
way. The  bed  is  utilized  by  a  company  fully  equipped  with  pumps  and  other 
apparatus  by  which  the  material  is  sucked  through  six-inch  pipes,  thoroughly 
washed  and  prepared  for  use  at  the  rate  of  a  carload  of  gravel  per  hour.  One 
of  the  oldest  of  the  local  industries  and  one  of  the  most  noticeable  is  the  manu- 
facture of  gasoline  motors  or  locomotives  for  coal  and  metal  mines.  The  busi- 
ness was  founded  by  George  D.  Whitcomb  in  1878,  and  is  the  oldest  industry 
of  continuous  operation  in  the  city. 

The  enterprise  and  forward  look  of  the  people  of  Rochelle  is  seen  in  the 


SEVENTH   STREET  LOOKING   NORTH,   ROCIIELLE 


TOWNSHIP  II 10 II    SCHOOL,  ROCIIELLE 


598  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

many  improvements  that  are  constantly  going  on  in  the  city.  Already  there 
are  many  well  paved  streets.  A  complete  sewer  system  was  put  in  a  few  years 
ago,  and  the  city  owns  its  electric  lighting  and  waterworks  plant.  The  water 
for  the  city's  consumption  is  pumped  from  several  deep  wells  and  is  of  the 
purest.  Rochelle  has  also  one  of  the  best  equipped  gas  plants  in  the  State, 
but  it  is  under  private  ownership  and  management.  Two  banks  and  one  loan 
and  trust  company  attend  to  the  financial  needs  of  the  city.  It  has  four 
weekly  newspapers  to  state  the  facts  and  herald  the  future  of  Rochelle  and 
its  institutions,  and  six  churches,  with  their  auxiliary  societies,  to  maintain 
the  moral  and  spiritual  character  of  the  community.  The  public  schools  are 
of  high  grade.  Besides  the  Community  High  School,  with  its  $200,000  edifice, 
are  one  high  school  and  a  graded  school.  Two  parochial  schools  and  an  in- 
stitution for  the  deaf  and  dumb  are  also  included  in  the  list  of  educational 
institutions  which  make  Rochelle  a  desirable  home  city  for  men,  women  and 
children  of  all  classes.  Finally,  mention  should  be  made  of  the  Rochelle  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  as  a  real  force  in  the  stability  and  progress  of  the  place. 

BYRON   AND   ADJACENT    REGION 

The  region  about  Byron,  in  the  northeastern  part  of  Ogle  County,  is  fertile, 
picturesque  and  interesting.  The  facts  connected  with  its  first  settlement  are 
thus  given  in  Kauffman's  history  of  Ogle  County:  "In  1835,  Jared  W.  San- 
ford,  of  Connecticut,  was  on  his  way  up  Rock  River  from  Dixon's  Ferry  to 
Midway  (then  Rockford),  a  place  of  'two  families  and  eight  or  ten  young 
men,'  where  he  had  a  brother  in  the  employ  of  Germanicus  Kent.  As  he 
passed  a  point  a  mile  west  of  where  Byron  now  is,  attracted  by  its  beauty 
and  by  the  opportunity  the  river  showed  for  water  power,  he  stopped  and 
staked  a  claim.  Then  going  on  to  Midway,  he  returned  next  day,  bringing 
with  him  his  brother,  Joseph  Sanford,  and  Perry  Norton,  the  latter  lately  ar- 
rived from  New  York.  The  three  staked  claims  until  they  had  included  about 
two  sections,  this  proving  the  beginning  of  what  is  now  Byron  township. 

"Soon  afterward,  Jared  W.  Sanford  and  Perry  Norton,  in  order  to  estab- 
lish their  claims,  returning  with  a  horse  and  a  yoke  of  oxen,  plowed  a  strip 
of  ground  and  laid  the  foundations  of  two  cabins.  In  order  to  procure  oxen, 
Mr.  Norton  traveled  as  far  as  Indian  Creek,  near  Ottawa,  before  he  found 
any  for  sale,  there  purchasing  three  yoke,  for  which  he  paid  $150.50.  Then 
returning,  he  brought  with  his  cattle  a  cart  and  plow  and,  with  M.  M.  York, 
who  bought  an  interest  in  the  claim,  P.  T.  Kimball,  from  Vermont,  and  a 
Mr.  Rogers,  began  splitting  rails  for  fencing  the  claim.  For  twenty-three  days 
they  lived  in  the  wagon-box  and  a  rail  shanty.  This  was  in  October.  They 
obtained  a  canoe  made  by  Pottawatomie  Indians,  who  passed  up  and  down  the 
river  at  intervals.  Their  name  for  the  stream  for  generations  had  been  Sini- 
sepo,  which  became  for  us  Sinnissippi. 

"After  spending  the  winter  at  Midway,  Mr.  Norton  returned  in  the  spring 
and  found  a  log  cabin  already  built  and  occupied  by  M.  M.  York,  P.  T.  Kim- 
ball, Sebra  Phillips  and  Joseph  Sanford.  The  cabin.  10  by  14  feet,  was  the 
first  house  in  the  township,  being  located  across  the  river  and  opposite  the 
the  village  which  grew  up   later."     A   village   was   promptly  started   on  the 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  599 

claim  of  Messrs.  Sanford  and  Norton;  it  was  called  Fairview,  after  Mr.  San- 
ford's  Connecticut  home.  In  the  fall  of  1836,  S.  St.  John  Mix  erected  the 
first  house  on  the  town  site,  which  was  occupied  both  as  a  dwelling  and  a 
general  store.  P.  T.  Kimball  built  the  second  house  which  was  opened  as  a 
tavern  by  Lucius  Reed,  and  other  buildings  soon  followed.  The  lumber  was 
obtained  from  John  Phelps'  sawmill  on  Pine  Creek,  but  in  the  year  1837  the 
Sanford  brothers  built  a  sawmill  on  the  small  stream  north  of  the  village, 
while  in  1838  William  Wilkinson,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  came  into  the  community 
and  put  up  a  gristmill. 

The  nearest  post  office  was  Dixon,  twenty-six  miles  down  the  river,  and 
mail  was  obtained,  when  someone  drove  for  it,  about  once  a  week.  This  con- 
tinued only  a  short  time,  and  when  the  stage  line  of  Frink  and  Walker  was 
established  between  Dixon  and  Rockford,  the  village  was  given  a  post  office. 
In  the  meantime,  the  name  had  been  changed  from  Fairview  to  Bloomingville, 
and  as  there  was  then  a  Bloomington  and  a  Bloomingdale  in  the  State,  an- 
other change  was  thought  advisable.  Some  unrecorded  lover  of  the  poems  of 
Lord  Byron  suggested  the  name  which  remains.  The  town  of  Byron  grew 
and  its  shops  from  which  were  turned  out  wagons,  plows  and  corn  cultivators, 
earned  quite  a  widespread  reputation. 

Private  schools  were  started  at  Fairview  almost  as  soon  as  the  town  was 
born,  and  from  1851,  for  several  years,  Byron  Academy  earned  a  good  rep- 
utation as  an  academy.  Its  building  was  afterward  sold  to  the  village  and 
was  long  occupied  as  a  public  school.  Byron  township  was  very  patriotic 
during  the  Civil  war,  and  in  October,  1866,  its  men  and  women  dedicated 
one  of  the  first  memorial  monuments  to  its  soldiers  ever  raised  in  Illinois. 
In  1900,  it  was  felled  by  a  wind  storm,  but  was  immediately  restored  in  more 
enduring  form. 

The  Methodist  missionary  was  in  the  Byron  region  soon  after  the  arrival 
of  Messrs.  Norton  and  Sanford,  and  in  1835,  before  the  first  house  was  fairly 
completed  opposite  the  site  of  the  future  village,  Rev.  Mr.  Abbott,  who  was 
passing  that  way,  preached  to  a  few  of  the  settlers  who  could  be  gathered 
there.  In  1837  a  Methodist  society  was  formed.  But  the  first  religious  or- 
ganization was  effected  by  a  handful  of  Congregationalists  in  that  year  by 
Rev.  Morrell,  of  Rockford.  The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  E.  Brown,  who  came 
from  North  Hadley,  Mass.,  in  1838.  Both  Congregationalists  and  Methodists, 
as  well  as  Catholics,  have  churches  at  Byron. 

the 

Byron  was  widely  advertised  in  the  late  '70s  and  the  early  '80s  as  the 
home  of  the  strange  cult  known  as  the  Church  of  the  First  Born,  or  the  Per- 
fectionists. In  1877,  the  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  of  Byron  was 
Rev.  L.  C.  Beekman.  His  wife,  Dora,  was  prominent  in  church  work  and 
she  showed  considerable  ability  as  an  exhorter.  The  story  which  she  told  her 
husband  and  others  was  that  one  night  she  awoke  with  an  irresistible  desire 
to  pray  and,  going  into  an  adjoining  room,  she  knelt  in  supplication  and 
adoration  and  a  bright  light  shone  about  her,  accompanied  by  a  voice  which 
called  'Dora,  Dora!'     She  answered  with  awe  'Abba,  Father!'  when  the  voice 


600  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

answered  'Thou  art  the  beloved  of  the  Lord.'  Meantime  Mr.  Beekman  had 
been  awakened  and  he,  too,  saw  the  light  and  heard  the  voice.  Mrs.  Beek- 
man now  claimed  to  be  the  manifestation  of  the  Second  Coming  of  Christ, 
and  her  followers  took  the  name  of  the  Church  of  the  First  Born.  They  be- 
lieved that  her  radiant  baptism  had  made  her  perfect  and  called  themselves 
Perfectionists.  Mrs.  Beekman  first  made  a  number  of  converts  at  Alpena, 
Michigan,  among  them  being  George  Jacob  Schweinfurth,  a  Methodist  minister. 
The  churches  which  she  founded  at  Alpena,  Chicago  and  Paw  Paw,  111.,  St. 
Charles,  Minn.,  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  and  Buena  Vista,  Colorado,  with  the  parent 
organization  at  Byron,  were  designated  as  the  Seven  Churches  of  Asia  alluded 
to  in  Revelations.  In  1882,  their  founder  died  at  Buena  Vista,  but  when  she 
did  not  rise  on  the  third  day,  or,  after  her  remains  were  brought  to  Byron, 
at  the  end  of  forty  days,  "many  were  sorely  perplexed."  Mr.  Schweinfurth 
continued  the  propagation  of  this  strange  faith,  built  a  mansion  on  the  Weldon 
farm,  four  miles  from  Byron,  and  for  ten  years  supported  himself  and  his 
community  in  comfort  from  the  proceeds  of  those  who  still  supported  the 
Church  Triumphant,  as  the  organization  had  been  rechristened.  But  the  bubble 
burst  and  the  Home  was  abandoned. 

VILLAGES  IN   THE   NORTHERN   AND   NORTHWESTERN    SECTIONS 

West  of  Byron,  along  the  lines  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 
Railroad  and  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy,  in  northern  Ogle  County,  are 
the  stations  and  villages  of  Leaf  River,  Adeline,  Forreston,  Harper  and  Bailey- 
ville.  Although  the  first  settlers  of  Leaf  River  township  located  as  early  as 
1837,  the  village  was  not  laid  out  until  the  winter  of  1880-81.  Its  population 
is  now  about  400.  Adeline,  in  Maryland  township,  was  laid  out  in  1845  by 
John  Rummel,  the  owner  of  the  surrounding  land.  T.  J.  Turner,  of  Free- 
port,  purchased  a  lot,  and  the  town  was  named  after  his  wife,  Adeline.  It 
was  incorporated  as  a  village  in  1882,  but  is  still  a  modest  hamlet.  Forreston, 
in  the  township  by  that  name  in  the  northwestern  corner  of  Ogle  County,  was 
platted  in  1854  by  George  W.  Hewitt,  the  site  of  the  village  having  been  pur- 
chased by  him  from  the  original  owner,  Col.  John  Dement,  of  Dixon.  To 
this,  he  later  added  three  adjoining  districts,  and  the  area  of  the  village  has 
since  been  increased  by  Neal's  Addition  and  two  tracts  platted  by  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad.  The  main  tracks  and  sidings  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy  and  the  Illinois  Central  Railroads  occupy  the  additions  named.  The 
round  house  of  the  Burlington  branch  is  at  Forreston,  and  connections  of  that 
line  are  made  at  that  place  with  the  Illinois  Central,  and  at  North  Forreston, 
a  short  distance  to  the  northwest,  with  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul. 
The  first  buildings  erected  at  Forreston  in  1854  were  a  depot  and  a  boarding 
house  to  accommodate  those  working  on  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad.  These 
were  followed  by  a  small  grain  warehouse,  and  two  other  warehouses  or  elevators 
were  erected  within  the  following  three  years.  Forreston 's  first  real  start 
was  as  a  favorably  located  shipping  point  for  grain.  It  has  continued  to 
maintain  that  position.  It  has  a  population  of  about  1,000  people,  with  banks 
and  newspapers  and  other  evidences  of  life  and  growth.     The  village  was  first 


THE  ROCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  601 

incorporated  by  special  charter  in  1868  and  under  the  general  law  in  1888. 
Harper,  a  short  distance  to  the  northwest,  was  started  along  the  line  of  the 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad  in  1881.  Baileyville,  laid  out  in 
1855,  on  land  chiefly  owned  by  Orville  Bailey,  is  a  village  of  some  500  people, 
the  area  of  which  is  cut  by  the  line  between  Ogle  and  Stephenson  counties. 
It  is  on  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad. 

OGLE,   A    FIXE    LIVE    STOCK    COUNTY 

Ogle  County  is  not  only  a  region  of  flourishing  and  growing  communities, 
but  is  the  third  of  the  counties  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  of  Illinois  when  meas- 
ured by  the  total  value  of  its  agricultural  property,  including  live  stock.  When 
first  planted  to  wheat,  the  lands  of  the  county  produced  good  yields  of  from 
thirty  to  forty  bushels  per  acre.  Both  winter  and  spring  wheat  was  then 
raised.  After  a  few  crops  were  taken,  the  yield  diminished  perceptibly,  and 
for  a  number  of  years  no  wheat  has  been  raised  for  the  market,  except  on 
newly  cleared  timber  land,  where  a  good  crop  may  be  expected.  The  remain- 
ing grains — rye,  barley,  oats  and  corn — maintain  their  yields  on  well  cultivated 
lands. 

Through  the  years,  the  Ogle  County  Agricultural  Society  and  the  Farmers' 
Institute  have  been  abiding  agents  in  the  advancement  of  agricultural  interests. 
The  Society  was  organized  in  1853  and  the  first  county  fair  was  held  in  October 
of  that  year  in  the  courthouse  square  at  Oregon.  In  1856,  it  was  held  at 
Byron.  Since  1857,  the  permanent  fair  grounds  have  been  near  Oregon,  and 
additions  have  been  made  to  their  area  and  to  the  building  accommodations 
until  the  locality  is  the  center  not  only  of  the  usual  displays,  but  of  gather- 
ings held  under  the  auspices  of  the  Old  Settlers  Association  and  the  Chautauqua 
Assembly. 

Ogle  County,  for  many  years,  has  come  into  special  notice  because  of  the 
pure-blooded  live  stock  bred  by  its  prominent  farmers  and  citizens.  One  of 
the  first  to  thus  engage  on  a  large  scale  was  Amos  F.  Moore  of  Buffalo  town- 
ship. In  1865,  he  purchased  three  Morgan  horses  of  pure  blood  and  for  thirty- 
five  years  confined  himself  to  the  breeding  of  that  strain.  Henry  J.  Farwell, 
of  Mount  Morris,  went  to  Scotland  in  1883  and  purchased  for  his  brothers' 
Texas  ranch  a  large  herd  of  Aberdeen-Angus  cattle.  He  brought  a  num- 
ber of  them  to  his  own  farm  south  of  Mount  Morris  and  thus  introduced  that 
variety  into  Ogle  County.  James  Carmichael  of  Maple-Hurst  Stock  Farm, 
near  Rochelle,  commenced  to  breed  Shorthorn  cattle  in  1890.  Lyman  J.  Bird- 
sail,  of  that  locality,  and  the  Coffmans  of  Maryland  township  also  have  suc- 
cessfully raised  that  breed.  Among  the  best  known  breeders  of  the  Herefords 
are  Southworth  &  Tigan,  whose  herd  is  just  outside  Rochelle.  The  Spring- 
vale  Farm  of  the  venerable  Judge  James  II.  Cartwright,  adjoining  Oregon 
on  the  north,  with  its  frontage  of  more  than  half  a  mile  on  Rock  River,  is 
among  the  first  tracts  of  land  preempted  in  that  section  of  the  county.  From 
it  have  come  hundreds  of  fine  light-harness  horses  and  not  a  few  racers  with 
good  records.  Judge  Cartwright 's  summer  residence  was  built  in  this  pic- 
tnresqne  locality  on  the  spot  known  in  pioneer  days  as  Knox  Spring. 


602  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

SINNISSIPPI    FARM 

Three  miles  south  of  Oregon  is  the  magnificent  landed  estate  of  Colonel 
and  ex-Governor  Frank  0.  Lowden  known  as  Sinnissippi  Farm,  so  called  after 
the  old  Indian  name  of  Rock  River.  It  comprises  5,000  acres  of  field,  meadow 
and  woodland,  graced  by  the  beautiful  residence  of  its  owner  which  has  a 
charming  outlook  of  sweeping  river,  bluffs  and  trees.  On  the  lower  ground 
are  the  buildings  for  the  Percheron  horses,  Shorthorn  cattle  and  Shropshire 
sheep.  The  herd  of  Shorthorns  is  exceptionally  fine,  several  of  the  number 
having  been  originally  imported  from  cattle  once  owned  by  Queen  Victoria. 
About  1,000  acres  of  the  estate  comprise  the  home  farm  and  the  quarters 
devoted  to  the  breeding  of  stock,  while  the  remainder  is  given  over  to  general 
and  experimental  farming. 

Sinnissippi  Farm  has  a  long  and  interesting  history.  The  steps  by  which 
Colonel  Lowden  came  into  possession  of  Hemenway  Place,  the  nucleus  of  the 
Farm,  are  thus  traced  by  the  late  Horace  G.  Kauffman,  the  widely  known 
citizen  of  Oregon  and  historian  of  Ogle  County:  "James  Moore  entered  land 
from  the  Government  which  is  now  the  site  of  the  Lowden  home.  Luke  Hemen- 
way, who  made  his  start  in  life  in  a  drug  store  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and  who 
eventually  became  wealthy  as  a  ship  owner  in  Jersey  City,  N.  J.,  came  West 
in  the  early  '40s  and  in  1843  entered  a  large  body  of  land.  John  Carr  was 
the  first  white  man  to  settle  on  the  section  Mr.  Hemenway  selected  as  his 
home  place  and  the  creek  was  named  after  him.  He  held  the  land  only  under 
squatter  right  and,  having  no  money,  could  not  enter  it.  Mr.  Hemenway 
therefore  secured  his  claim,  entered  the  land,  at  the  same  time  entering  forty 
acres  at  one  side,  which  he  gave  to  the  dispossessed  settler.  Mr.  Hemenway 
owned  a  fine  home  on  the  Hudson  in  New  York,  where  his  family  resided 
during  his  lifetime,  he  only  using  his  Rock  River  place  as  a  summer  retreat, 
where  he  could  enjoy  hunting  and  fishing. 

"On  August  23,  1880,  the  farm  was  sold  to  General  Franklin  D.  Callendar, 
a  retired  army  officer,  who  lived  on  an  adjoining  estate,  but  never  occupied 
the  home.  On  May  10,  1885,  the  land,  consisting  of  576.41  acres,  was  sold 
by  the  Callendar  estate  to  Emma  O.  Asay,  the  wife  of  Edward  G.  Asay,  of 
Chicago.  Mr.  Asay  was  a  prominent  lawyer  and  was  possessed  of  esthetic 
tastes.  He  occupied  the  premises  and  filled  the  house  with  a  fine  library  and 
beautiful  bric-a-brac,  much  of  which  was  collected  on  his  trips  abroad.  On 
April  18,  1895,  the  farm  was  sold  to  Lorenzo  D.  Kneeland,  of  Chicago,  for  a 
consideration  of  $35,000.  He  lived  upon  the  property  for  a  few  years,  and 
on  May  20,  1899,  sold  the  place  to  Colonel  Lowden." 

The  Hemenway  house  was  first  remodeled  and  then  razed  by  Colonel  Lowden. 
A  handsome  residence  was  erected  on  its  site,  although  the  walnut  woodwork 
and  other  interior  finish  of  the  quaint  old  house  were  retained.  Surrounding 
the  house  and  forming  a  rich  background  was  the  dense  and  beautiful  foliage 
which  gave  the  new  home  the  name  of  The  Oaks.  The  building,  which  was 
irregular  in  plan,  enclosed  a  walled  garden  of  vines,  plants  and  shrubs,  cluster- 
ing around  walks,  seats  and  a  fountain  of  falling  water.  One  of  the  strongest 
attractions  of  the  interior  was  Colonel  Lowden 's  large  library;  a  collection  of 
works  relating  to  general  literature  and  history,  as  well  as  to  scientific  farming 
and  the  raising  and  care  of  thoroughbred  stock.     It  was  an  individual   and 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  603 

general  misfortune,  when,  in  the  fall  of  1924,  this  library  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  which  also  seriously  damaged  thai  portion  of  the  residence  in  which  it 
was  located. 

THE  ROCK  RIVER   FARMS 

At  Byron,  a  few  miles  northwardly  from  the  Sinnissippi  Farm  and  also 
on  the  Rock  River,  is  the  great  sanitary  dairy  establishment  widely  known  as 
the  Bock  River  Farms.  The  property,  which  covers  2,000  acres,  was  bought 
by  the  late  Senator  Medill  McCormick  in  1916,  and  originally  consisted  of  six 
or  seven  farms.  Its  nucleus  is  the  handsome  collection  of  dairy  buildings 
and  living  quarters  comprising  the  structural  plant  of  the  estate.  About  900 
acres  of  the  property  are  devoted  to  the  raising  of  alfalfa,  and  the  cultivation 
of  the  standard  crops  in  scientific  rotation,  while  along  the  Rock  River  is  a 
stretch  of  land  left  in  a  state  of  nature;  pasture,  thicket,  woods  are  com- 
bined in  charming  disorder,  and  wild  deer  roam  unmolested  through  this  beau- 
tiful tract  untouched  by  human  hand  or  plan. 

The  Rock  River  Farms  have  offered  a  striking  object  lesson  of  the  value 
of  absolute  cleanliness  and  the  scientific  sterilization  of  milk  before  it  is  placed 
upon  the  market  to  enter  the  tender  systems  of  infants  and  others  requiring 
nature's  best  food  in  the  nourishment  of  the  human  body — the  milk  of  the 
healthy  and  careful  mother  only  excepted.  The  output  of  the  Rock  River  Farms 
is  so  thoroughly  safeguarded  at  every  step  of  its  production  that  it  is  certi- 
fied clean  by  the  Chicago  Medical  Society  and  goes  into  thousands  of  private 
homes  upon  the  prescription  or  order  of  a  physician.  No  attempt  has  ever 
been  made  to  make  unclean  milk  safe  by  pasteurization. 

The  precautionary  steps  taken  by  Mrs.  Medill  McCormick  and  the  active 
management  under  her  embrace  the  tuberculin  test  of  all  the  cows  at  intervals 
of  from  six  to  twelve  months.  They  are  also  constantly  under  the  supervision 
of  a  competent  veterinarian,  who  removes  from  the  milking  herd  all  cases  of 
udder  trouble  and  other  diseases.  The  farms  are  inspected  monthly,  or  oftener, 
by  an  expert  of  the  Medical  Milk  Commission  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society, 
and  the  milkers  are  subjected  to  a  regular  and  a  thorough  medical  examina- 
tion. Samples  of  the  milk  delivered  are  collected  at  least  weekly  and  examined 
chemically  and  bacteriologically.  All  of  the  utensils,  such  as  milk  pails,  cans, 
coolers,  bottles  and  bottling  machines,  that  in  any  way  come  in  contact  with 
the  milk  are  sterilized  with  high-pressure  live  steam  before  being  filled.  All 
milkers  and  employees  in  the  bottling  room  wear  clean  white  suits,  and  the 
milkers'  hands  are  thoroughly  washed  before  beginning  work  and  after  milk- 
ing each  cow.  The  udders,  flanks,  hindquarters  and  tails  of  the  animals  are 
washed  and  dried  before  milking.  After  being  drawn,  the  milk  is  immediately 
cooled  to  a  temperature  below  40°  Fahrenheit,  or  to  a  temperature  which  pro- 
hibits the  growth  of  bacteria,  double  capped  in  sterile  bottles,  packed  in  ice 
and  sent  to  the  consumer.  It  should  be  needless  to  say  that  the  stables  at  the 
Rock  River  Farms  are  kept  scrupulously  clean  and  sanitary.  It  is  inconceiv- 
able that  more  precautions  to  conserve  the  purity  of  the  milk  output  could 
be  taken  than  are  enforced  at  the  Rock  River  Farms. 

The  writer  may  well  conclude  this  chapter  on  Ogle  County  with  this  Rock 
River  institution  which  is  both  a  private  business  and  a  public  good. 


CHAPTER  XXV 
LEE  COUNTY 

THE    KEY-NOTE    INTERIOR    COUNTY PHYSICAL    LEE    COUNTY SETTLEMENT    BEFORE 

THE  BLACK  HAWK  WAR ALSO   "  DAD   JOE"   SMITH FATHER  DIXON,  THE  INDIAN 

TRADER FROM    THE   BLACK    HAWK    WAR    TO    COUNTY    ORGANIZATION PAW    PAW 

GROVE     AND     VILLAGES DIXON 's     FERRY     IN     1836-38 DIXON,     POLITICAL     SEAT 

OF    LEE    COUNTY COUNTY     RULE    OF    COMMISSIONERS'    COURT PERIOD    LEADING 

TO  DIXON  'S  CITYHOOD DR.  OLIVER  EVERETT INCORPORATED  AS  A  VILLAGE BUILD- 
ING OF  THE   DAM  AND  EARLY   MILLS — INCORPORATED   AS    A  TOWN NORTH  DIXON 

AND  THE  DIXON  AIR  LINE — NOW  COMES  THE  CITY  OF  DIXON THROUGH  TWO  DEC- 
ADES  DEATH  OF  FATHER  DIXON THE  DIXON  OF  THE  PRESENT — LEADING  OUT- 
SIDE VILLAGES PROGRESSIVE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  TOWNSHIPS. 

Lee  County,  with  its  area  of  742  square  miles  aud  its  population  of  more  than 
28,000  people,  is  in  the  central  region  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  of  Illinois,  and 
has  already  figured  with  prominence  in  all  the  topical  chapters  which  have  been 
presented  in  this  history.  The  object  of  this  chapter  is  to  view  and  describe 
the  county  as  a  political  entity,  and  to  show  its  people  and  institutions  without 
relation  to  the  Rock  River  Valley  as  a  whole.  Nature  has  made  it  impossible 
to  sever  Lee  County  from  the  underlying  rocks  which  have  determined  the  pitch 
and  power  of  the  waters  which  course  through  the  channels  gouged  out  by  the 
glaciers  of  the  north,  and  the  reader  has  been  able  to  learn  the  ways  of  geology 
in  the  moulding  of  the  Valley  from  the  headwaters  of  the  Rock  River  to  its  exit 
into  the  Mississippi.  Relics  of  the  primitive  races  and  the  movements  of  the  his- 
toric Indians  have  been  noted,  and  Lee  County  has  often  been  brought  into  the 
general  picture. 

THE  KEY-NOTE  INTERIOR  COUNTY 


Prior  to,  and  during  the  Black  Hawk  war,  the  region  embraced  in  Lee 
County  held  the  keynote  to  the  free  movements  of  both  white  men  and  red  be- 
tween the  more  settled  districts  of  the  south  and  east  and  the  frontiers  of  north- 
western Illinois  and  southwestern  "Wisconsin.  The  pioneers  who  stand  out  in 
rugged  relief  while  the  Rock  River  Valley  was  being  made  safe  for  its  develop- 
ment by  the  whites  have  already  been  etched,  and  among  the  most  massive  of 
their  figures  was  Father  John  Dixon. 

Another  chapter  has  traced  in  bold  outline  the  evolution  of  the  counties, 
including  Lee,  into  which  the  Valley  has  been  carved,  both  in  Wisconsin  and 
Illinois.  As  man,  the  gregarious  animal,  perfected  the  means  by  which  he  could 
communicate  and  live  with  his  kind,  Lee  County  took  her  place  with  the  most 
enterprising ;  and  the  record  readily  shows  the  fact.    In  the  development  of  agri- 

604 


LEE  COUNTY  COURT  HOUSE.   DIXON 


GOVERNOR  CHARTER'S  U><;  CABIN  AT  II AZKLWOOI).  LEE  COUNTY 


606  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

cultural  and  livestock  interests,  the  county  has  made  a  creditable  record,  in  com- 
parison with  the  sister  counties  of  the  Valley,  and,  as  already  stated,  in  the 
drainage  of  Inlet  Swamp,  Lee  County  has  undertaken  the  most  important  enter- 
prise of  the  kind  in  northern  Illinois. 

The  bench  and  bar  of  the  county  has  been  noteworthy  for  the  high  grade  of 
their  members,  and  the  profession  has  furnished  an  unusual  number  of  judges 
to  northern  and  northwestern  Illinois.  Those  chapters  which  have  mentioned 
the  pioneer  schools,  churches  and  newspapers  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  often 
had  occasion  to  turn  to  Lee  County  in  completing  the  record  of  such  higher  insti- 
tutions as  were  related  to  this  region  of  Wisconsin  and  Illinois.  In  the  light  of 
this  generally  fair  outlook,  the  writer  is  called  upon  to  fill  in  some  of  the  details 
of  this  enterprising,  progressive  and  interesting  political  section  of  the  Valley. 

PHYSICAL  LEE  COUNTY 

The  first  impressions  of  an  individual  are  his  physical  characteristics — his 
stature,  his  special  features,  his  mannerisms.  Applying  this  first  analysis  to 
Lee  County — its  physical  characteristics  are  varied,  pleasing,  as  well  as  impres- 
sive. Its  surface  presents  the  quiet  beauty  of  rounded  prairies  and  the  rugged 
grandeur  of  river  bluffs  and  rocky  fastnesses.  There  are  beautiful  landscapes 
clothed  with  grassy  plains,  interspersed  with  pleasant  groves  and  other  small 
areas  of  timber.  Although  the  surface  of  the  land  varies  from  the  swamps  of 
the  south  to  the  Rock  River  bluffs  of  the  north,  the  county  is  mainly  prairie.  In 
the  southwest  corner  of  the  county  is  the  Winnebago  swamp,  which  extends  in 
a  belt  two  or  three  miles  in  width  from  the  southwest  to  the  northeast,  sending 
out  a  small  branch  to  the  west.  These  lowlands  are  fed  from  the  drainage  of 
Inlet  swamp,  east  of  the  center  of  the  county,  which  passes  to  the  southwest 
through  Inlet  Creek  and  finally  into  the  Winnebago  swamp.  These  are  the 
headwaters  of  Green  River,  which  flows  southwesterly  for  a  hundred  miles, 
independent  of  the  Rock,  which  it  joins  only  a  few  miles  from  Rock  Island.  The 
Rock  River  itself  forms  only  a  small  section  of  the  northern  boundary  of  Lee 
County  in  the  Grand  Detour  region.  On  the  banks  of  the  parent  stream,  espe- 
cially in  the  vicinity  of  Dixon,  are  natural  observatories,  which  made  this  part 
of  the  country  not  only  dear  to  travelers  and  lovers  of  the  picturesque  but  a 
convenient  outlook  for  white  and  red  men  alike. 

Beginning  on  the  east  line  of  the  county,  near  the  southeast  corner  in  the 
vicinity  of  Paw  Paw,  is  the  commencement  of  a  ridge,  which  extends  westward 
two  townships,  then  a  few  miles  through  Sublette  township,  where  it  slopes  off 
to  the  Winnebago  flats.  There  are  other  ridges  farther  to  the  north  which  usually 
disappear  in  the  Winnebago  swamp. 

The  greatest  depression  in  Lee  County  is  in  the  southwest  corner,  known  as 
the  Winnebago  lands  and  now  in  course  of  artificial  drainage.  The  natural  drain- 
age is  good  through  the  many  tributaries  to  the  Rock  River  on  the  north  and 
the  Inlet  Creek  on  the  south.  The  largest  of  the  latter  tributaries  is  Willow- 
Creek,  which  rises  in  De  Kalb  County  on  the  east  and  crossing  near  the  middle 
of  the  east  line  of  Lee,  continues  westward  until  lost  in  Inlet  Swamp.  A  few- 
miles  south  of  this  creek,  above  the  village  of  Paw  Paw,  is  an  elevated  tract  of 
land  which  divides  the  headwaters  of  Green  River  from  those  of  Kite  Creek. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  607 

The  latter  rises  in  the  southeast  corner  of  Lee  County,  and  running  south  through 
Bureau  it  empties  into  the  Illinois  within  the  holders  of  Putnam  County.  The 
central-west  of  the  county  is  drained  by  the  Three  Mile  branch  and  the  Five 
.Mile  (reek,  tributaries  of  the  Rock  River.  The  former  heads  in  the  vicinity 
of  Nachusa,  and  meandering  westward  and  passing  Dixon  three  miles  to  the 
south,  as  its  name  implies,  it  empties  into  Rock  River  near  the  county  line.  The 
Five  Mile  Creek  rises  near  Eldena,  west  of  the  central  part  of  the  county,  and 
flowing  westward  joins  the  Rock  just  over  the  county  line  in  Whiteside  County. 

The  Rock  River  region  near  Oregon  has  been  poetically  described  by  Mar- 
garet Fuller;  so,  in  1841,  William  Cullen  Bryant  paid  this  tribute  to  the  beau- 
ties of  the  valley  in  the  Dixon  neighborhood:  "I  have  just  returned  from  an 
excursion  to  Rock  River,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  our  western  streams.  It 
Hows  through  high  prairies,  and,  not  like  most  streams  of  the  West,  through  an 
alluvial  country.  The  current  is  rapid  and  the  pellucid  waters  glide  over  a 
bottom  of  sand  and  pebbles.  Its  admirers  declare  that  its  shores  unite  the 
beauties  of  the  Hudson  and  the  Connecticut.  The  banks  on  either  side  are  high 
and  bold;  sometimes  they  are  perpendicular  precipices,  the  bases  of  which  stand 
in  running  water;  sometimes  they  are  steep,  grassy  or  rocky  bluffs,  with  a  space 
of  alluvial  land  between  them  and  the  stream ;  sometimes  they  rise  by  a  gradual 
and  easy  ascent  to  the  general  level  of  the  region,  and  sometimes  this  ascent  is 
interrupted  by  a  broad  natural  terrace.  Majestic  trees  grow  solitary  or  in  clumps 
on  the  grassy  acclivities,  or  scattered  in  natural  parks  along  the  lower  lands 
upon  the  river,  or  in  thick  groves  along  the  edge  of  the  high  country.  Back 
of  the  bluffs  extends  a  fine  agricultural  region,  rich  prairies  with  an  undulating 
surface  interspersed  with  groves.  At  the  foot  of  the  bluffs  break  forth  copious 
springs  of  clear  water,  which  hasten  in  the  little  brooks  to  the  river.  In  a  drive 
which  I  took  up  the  left  bank  of  the  river  I  saw  three  of  these  in  the  space  of  as 
many  miles.  One  of  these  is  the  spring  which  supplies  the  Town  of  Dixon  with 
water;  this  spring  is  now  overflowed  by  the  dam  across  the  river;  the  next  is  a 
beautiful  fountain  rushing  out  from  the  rocks  in  the  midst  of  a  clump  of  trees, 
as  merrily  and  in  as  great  a  hurry  as  a  boy  let  out  of  school;  the  third  is  so 
remarkable  as  to  have  received  a  name.  It  is  a  little  rivulet  issuing  from  a 
cavern  six  or  seven  feet  high,  and  about  twenty  from  the  entrance  to  the  farther 
end,  at  the  foot  of  a  perpendicular  precipice  covered  with  forest  trees  and 
fringed  with  bushes. 

"In  the  neighborhood  of  Dixon  a  class  of  emigrants  have  established  them- 
selves (in  1841)  more  opulent  and  luxurious  in  their  tastes  than  most  of  the 
settlers  of  the  western  country.  Some  of  these  have  built  elegant  homes  on 
the  left  hank  of  the  river,  amidst  the  noble  trees  which  seem  to  have  grown  up 
for  that,  very  purpose.  Indeed,  when  I  looked  at  them  I  could  hardly  persuade 
myself  that  they  had  not  been  planted  to  overshadow  older  habitations.  From 
the  door  of  one  of  these  dwellings  I  surveyed  a  prospect  of  exceeding  beauty. 
The  windings  of  the  river  allowed  us  a  sight  of  its  waters  and  its  beautifully 
diversified  hanks  to  a  great  distance  each  way.  and  in  one  direction  a  high  prai- 
rie region  was  seen  above  the  woods  that  fringed  the  course  of  the  river  of  a 
lighter  green  than  they,  and  touched  with  the  golden  light  of  the  setting  sun. 

"I  am  told  that  the  character  of  Rocfc  River  is.  throughout  its  course,  much 
as  has  been  described  in  the  neighborhood  of  Dixon;  that  its  hanks  are  high  and 


G08  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

free  from  marshes,  and  its  water  rapid  and  clear,  from  its  source  in  Wisconsin 
to  where  it  enters  the  Mississippi  amidst  rocky  islands." 

A  local  writer  cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  add  a  few  points  to  this  de- 
scription of  the  poet-journalist  of  the  East.  He  says:  "Adding  much  to  the 
charming  beauty  of  the  Rock  River  are  her  numerous  islands  which  divide  her 
waters,  and,  being  carpeted  with  green  tender  grass,  interspersed  with  beds  of 
wild  flowers,  are  as  beautiful  as  a  cultivated  lawn.  Some  are  shaded  with  for- 
ests, while  the  brows  of  the  precipitous  shores  are  fringed  with  trees  of  smaller 
growths,  from  which  the  plain  stretches  across  the  valley  to  the  bluffs,  pre- 
senting a  scene  most  picturesque.  There  are  not  less  than  twenty-five  of  these 
islands  in  the  river's  course  through  Lee  County." 

SETTLEMENT    BEFORE    THE    BLACK    HAWK    WAR 

The  older  settlers  of  Lee  County  dated  everything  from  the  Black  Hawk 
war — either  before  or  after — and  the  ante-war  period  covers,  at  best,  only  about 
four  years,  and,  in  the  main,  this  has  already  been  described.  Joseph  Ogee,  the 
halfbreed,  at  the  instance  of  John  Dixon,  the  Peoria  office  holder  and  mail 
contractor,  established  his  ferry  at  the  Rock  River  crossing  between  that  place 
and  Peoria,  in  1828.  The  same  energetic  and  moral  gentleman  from  iNew  York 
also  was  the  means  of  establishing  a  post  office  at  that  point  (Ogee's  Ferry)  in 
the  following  year.  In  the  spring  and  fall  of  1830,  as  has  been  noted  in  preced- 
ing pages,  Dixon  bought  the  profitable  ferry,  made  that  point  his  family  home, 
became  postmaster  and  commenced  his  long  season  of  trading  with  the  Indians 
and  white  men  and  founding  a  little  social  and  commercial  oasis  in  this  shifting 
northwestern  frontier.  During  the  period  covered  by  his  mail  contracts,  Mr. 
Dixon  sometimes  did  the  carrying  himself,  but  the  greater  part  of  the  driving 
was  done  by  men  hired  by  him  for  that  purpose  and  by  his  sons,  particularly 
James  P.  Dixon. 

As  a  mail  contractor,  postmaster,  ferryman  and  trader,  John  Dixon  became 
the  best  known  and  the  most  honored  character  in  the  upper  Rock  River  Valley, 
if  not  in  northern  Illinois;  and  he  brought  with  him  his  eastern  code  of  morals 
which  he  carried  into  all  his  trading  operations,  irrespective  of  whether  he  dealt 
with  white  or  red  men.  As  is  evident  by  the  old  account  books  which  are  still 
preserved  by  his  descendants,  John  Dixon  did  not  forget  that  he  had  been 
trained  as  a  New  York  business  man,  and  every  transaction  whether  contracted 
with  a  wandering  Indian  or  a  white  traveler,  is  recorded  to  the  last  item. 

As  stated  by  Frank  E.  Stevens  in  his  History  of  Lee  County:  "Ogee  had 
built  a  log  cabin  near  the  ferry  landing,  and  Mr.  Dixon  after  his  arrival  added 
to  the  building.  The  ferry  landing  as  operated  by  Ogee  and  Dixon  was  what 
is  now  the  foot  of  Peoria  Avenue  in  the  city  of  Dixon.  The  log  house  stood 
about  three  hundred  feet  south  of  the  river  bank  near  the  present  intersection 
of  Peoria  Avenue  and  First  Street  and  upon  what  is  now  lots  5  and  6,  in  block 
7,  of  the  original  Town  of  Dixon.  The  log  cabin  was  in  two  parts,  a  one-story 
structure  erected  by  Ogee  and  a  two-story  portion  built  b}7  Mr.  Dixon.  Between 
the  two  houses  and  forming  a  part  of  the  one-story  building  was  a  ten  or  twelve- 
foot  hallway  with  a  door  at  either  end,  facing  the  north  and  south.  Entering 
the  hall  from  the  south,  on  the  west  was  the  family  sitting  room  and  on  the  east, 


THE  ROCK  K1VER  VALLKY  609 

the  travelers'  and  hired  help's  rooms,  each  about  eighteen  feet  square.  The 
furniture  of  the  west  room  consisted  of  two  beds,  a  number  of  chairs  and  a  table 
extending  nearly  across  the  room.  The  east  room  contained  four  beds,  one  in 
each  corner.  Father  Dixon  lived  here  until  1836  or  LS37,  when  he  moved  to  a 
house  which  stood  a  few  rods  southeast  of  the  present  location  of  the  Chicago 
&  North -Western  railway  station.  The  original  log  cabin  stood  until  1845, 
when  it  was  destroyed.  The  store  room  in  which  he  traded  with  the  Indians  was 
in  the  east  part  of  the  cabin,  in  the  two-story  portion,  and  there  he  sold  powder, 
lead,  shot,  tobacco,  pipes,  cloth,  blankets,  guns,  beads,  traps,  etc.,  or  exchanged 
them  for  furs  and  deer  skins,  which  he  would  ship  to  St.  Louis,  Peoria  or  Galena. 

"When  John  Dixon  reached  the  Rock  River  and  established  his  house  at 
Ogee's  ferry  he  was  forty-six  years  of  age,  strong,  hearty,  vigorous  and  thor- 
oughly acquainted  with  the  frontier.  He  had  had  ten  years'  experience  in  the 
^Yest.  He  had  traveled  the  then  new  State  of  Illinois  from  one  end  to  the  other 
on  horseback  and  on  foot.  He  had  met  and  lived  with  and  among  the  Indians, 
had  become  their  friend  and  was  recognized  as  such  by  them.  Though  in  the 
prime  of  life  and  in  the  best  of  health,  his  hair  was  white  and  was  worn  long, 
giving  him  the  appearance  of  age.  The  Winnebago  Indians,  with  whom  he  was 
always  on  terms  of  friendship,  called  him  Nadachurasah,  or  Head  Hair  White, 
which  term,  in  common  speech,  was  soon  contracted  to  Nachusa.  The  early  white 
settlers  not  long  after  Mr.  Dixon's  arrival  at  the  Rock  River  began  to  call  him 
Father  Dixon,  and  from  then  on  he  was  so  termed;  and  in  speaking  of  him  since 
his  death  it  is  usual  to  so  characterize  him.  An  old  friend  and  early  settler, 
John  K.  Robison,  said:  'His  personal  appearance  wras  almost  unchanged  from 
1827  to  1876  (died  July  6th  of  that  year),  his  hair  being  white  during  all  these 
years;  age  dealt  kindly  with  him.'  " 

In  addition  to  operating  the  ferry,  acting  as  postmaster  and  carrying  on  the 
business  of  an  Indian  trader,  Mr.  Dixon  conducted  a  tavern  in  his  cabin  and 
kept  overnight  the  travelers  who  wyere  passing  between  Galena,  Peoria  and  other 
points. 

ALSO  "DAD  JOE"  SMITH 

It  is  probable  that  after  John  Dixon  and  his  family,  the  first  household  of 
white  people  to  be  established  in  what  is  now  Lee  County,  was  that  headed  by 
"Dad  Joe"  Smith.  He  is  said  to  have  located  some  time  in  1830.  The  fact, 
with  something  of  the  personality  of  this  pioneer,  is  thus  recorded  in  an  old 
history  of  Lee  County:  "About  eighteen  or  twenty  miles  south,  and  not  far  from 
the  present  Lee  County  line,  in  the  south  part  of  the  county,  another  pioneer  by 
the  well  known  name  of  'Dad  Joe'  Smith,  had  located  at  a  very  early  day,  the 
date  of  which  we  cannot  give  definitely,  but  it  w?as,  however,  prior  to  the  Black 
Hawk  war.  and  of  sufficient  length  of  time  for  him  to  become  familiar  with  the 
Indians  of  the  country,  to  secure  his  safety  during  the  Black  Hawk  campaign. 
Saving  secured  the  safety  of  his  wife  and  children,  he  remained  at  his  home  at 
'Dad  Joe's  Grove,'  and  attended  and  gathered  his  crops  during  the  entire  war 
unmolested.  He  had  fought  in  the  battle  of  the  Thames;  came  to  this  county 
with  the  first  emigrants,  settled  in  the  shadow  of  this  grove  and  commenced 
opening  a  farm.    At  the  time  of  the  advance  of  Atkinson's  army  he  served  as  a 


610  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

guide.  He  was  also  a  spy  under  command  of  Zachary  Taylor.  He  was  an  early 
settler,  and  of  such  long  standing  that  he  was  rather  looked  upon  as  a  kind  of 
patriarch  in  the  country.  To  distinguish  him  from  other  Joe  Smiths — perhaps 
a  son  bearing  his  father's  name — he  received  the  venerable  appellation  of  'Dad 
Joe.'  Mr.  J.  K.  Robison  said  of  him:  'He  was  one  of  the  good,  jolly  men, 
who  had  made  their  homes  along  the  route  of  the  early  thoroughfare  between 
Peoria  and  Galena.  'Dad  Joe'  had  an  uncommonly  loud  voice.  It  was  often 
remarked  in  that  day  'We  knew  that  they  were  all  well  at  Dad  Joe's,  this 
morning,  for  we  heard  him  calling  his  hogs  just  twenty  miles  away.' 

"In  the  spring  of  1832,  at  the  settlement  at  Buffalo  Grove,  ten  miles  up 
the  Galena  road,  were  located  Isaac  Chambers,  0.  W.  Kellogg,  Mr.  Reed  and  a 
Mr.  Bush,  with  their  families.  John  K.  Robison  had  joined  John  Dixon  at  the 
ferry,  where  he  settled,  and  'Dad  Joe,'  twenty  miles  south  on  the  road.  These 
were  the  way  stations  on  the  great  thoroughfare  of  travel  from  the  southern 
settlements  to  the  Galena  mines  on  the  north,  and  were  as  oases  in  the  desert  to 
the  pioneer  traveler." 

FATHER    DIXON,    THE    INDIAN    TRADER 

When  the  Regulars  and  the  Illinois  troops  were  following  Black  Hawk  and 
his  band  up  the  valley  of  the  Rock  River,  John  Dixon  had  a  difficult  part  to  play. 
He  was  friendly  with  the  Indians  and  yet  throughout  the  period  of  the  pursuit 
his  house  was  the  headquarters  of  the  distinguished  officers  and  citizens  who 
participated  in  the  campaign.  He  it  was,  also,  upon  whom  the  armies  largely 
depended  for  supplies  before  they  could  be  relieved  from  Rock  Island  or  St. 
Louis.  It  is  probable  that  Father  Dixon  would  not  have  allowed  his  family  to 
remain  in  the  theater  of  hostilities  had  he  not  received  assurances  from  Gen- 
eral Atkinson  that  the  troops  would  not  attack  the  Indians  until  after  the  sol- 
diers had  passed  beyond  the  Ferry. 

Several  years  afterward,  the  National  Government  evinced  its  appreciation 
of  the  honorable  ways  in  which  John  Dixon  had  dealt  with  the  Indians  as  a 
trader,  in  comparison  with  the  loose  and  immoral  methods  adopted  by  other 
traders.  William  Barge,  long  a  prominent  attorney  of  Dixon,  who  married  a 
granddaughter  of  Father  Dixon,  has  produced  various  papers  originally  filed 
in  the  Indian  Department  at  Washington  when  Mr.  Dixon  presented  his  claims 
for  damages  against  the  Winnebagoes.  As  an  introductory  to  several  enlighten- 
ing communications  which  passed  between  Mr.  Dixon  and  the  federal  authorities 
Mr.  Barge  writes :  "By  the  terms  of  a  treaty  made  with  the  Winnebago  Indians 
in  1837,  the  United  States  agreed  to  pay  the  debts  of  these  Indians  to  the  amount 
of  $200,000 ;  less,  certain  items  of  no  importance  here,  and  commissioners  were 
appointed  to  ascertain  what  the  debts  were,  to  whom  owing  and  then  to  pay 
them.  The  commissioners,  James  Murray,  of  Maryland,  and  Simon  Cameron,  of 
Pennsylvania,  met  the  Indians  and  the  claimants  at  Prairie  du  Chien  in  1838. 
They  were  instructed  by  proper  authority  to  require  the  claimants  to  produce 
their  books,  showing  the  accounts  they  sought  to  collect  and  to  file  transcripts 
of  them,  showing  names  of  the  debtors,  dates,  articles  and  prices.  While  the 
credits  were  given  to  the  individual  Indians  they,  after  the  lapse  of  a  year  or 
two,  depending  on  the  hunting,  became  and  were  recognized  as  debts  of  the  tribe. 


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Vol.     1—39 


612  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Practically  all  credits  were  supervised  by  the  chief  of  the  band  and  he  could 
limit  the  credit.  The  commissioners  soon  found  they  could  not  comply  with 
their  instructions,  as  the  traders,  with  a  very  few  exceptions,  had  no  books  and 
knew  nothing  of  bookkeeping.  The  commissioners  then  inquired  of  Indians  and 
white  men  old  in  the  trade,  and  thus  learned  the  manner  of  extending  credits 
to  the  Indians.  They  took  the  testimony  of  men  well  acquainted  with  the  trade, 
heard  the  claimants  and  Indians,  and  made  a  settlement  that  was  formally  ap- 
proved by  a  committee  of  Indian  chiefs. 

"The  claims  allowed  exceeded  the  money  available  and  the  creditors  re- 
ceived a  dividend  of  93.17  per  cent  on  the  amount  of  their  claims  as  allowed. 
Of  the  ninety  and  more  claims  presented  only  seven  were  allowed  in  full,  and 
one  of  these  was  the  claim  of  John  Dixon  for  $2,298.25.  They  were  paid  in  full, 
pro  rata,  James  P.  Dixon  receipting  for  his  father's  claim.     *     *     * 

"Many  claims  were  reduced  as  much  as  fifty  per  cent  and  some  disallowed 
entirely.  The  settlement  provoked  a  vigorous  controversy  and  a  reexamination 
was  had,  but  the  result  was  the  same.  The  chief  controversy  was  over  payments 
to  half  breeds  on  their  accounts  not  involved  in  any  claim  for  merchandise. ' ' 

Mr.  Dixon's  first  complaint  to  the  War  Department  was  made  in  1830  and 
was  as  follows: 

"Rocky  River,  Ogee's  Ferry,  Jo  Daviess  Co.,  111. 
"Hon.  William  H.  Eaton 
"Secretary  of  War 

' '  Dear  Sir : — I  should  not  have  intruded  on  your  valuable  time  so  much  as  to 
have  asked  you  to  read  a  statement  of  my  wrongs,  if  a  redress  could  be  obtained 
without  it.  More  especially,  when  I  consider  that  the  amount  involved  is  a  trifle 
Avhen  compared  with  subjects  that  engross  your  attention. 

"During  eighteen  months  previous  to  January  last,  I  was  engaged  as  sub- 
contractor for  carrying  the  mail  from  Peoria  (Fort  Clark)  to  Galena  (Lead 
Mine),  which  route  was  established  by  Congress  and  had  to  pass  through  an 
Indian  country,  eighty  miles  of  which  was  inhabited  by  a  single  white  person, 
and  crossed  Rocky  River  at  this  place,  then  the  residence  of  a  large  band  of 
Winnebago  Indians  who  had  never  been  under  any  restraint.  On  one  occasion 
they  robbed  a  driver  of  all  his  provisions  and  feed  for  his  horses  and  in  many 
instances  were  very  troublesome.  But  I  complained  to  General  Street,  their 
agent  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  who  promptly  sent  the  sub-agent  to  protect  me.  I 
made  no  claim  for  remuneration;  but  the  injury  of  which  I  complain  and  ask 
remuneration  is  this — that  in  October,  1829,  they  took  a  stage  horse  from  me 
out  of  the  stables  of  Mr.  Oliver  W.  Kellogg,  one  of  the  night  stands  about  half 
way  from  Rocky  River  to  Galena.  The  driver  came  very  near  losing  the  trip  ; 
was  prevented  by  hiring  a  horse  at  a  very  high  price.  I  then  had  fifteen  horses 
on  hand  and  had  only  about  two  months  to  prepare.  Still,  I  had  to  purchase 
another,  greatly  to  my  disadvantage. 

"Last  summer  when  General  Clark  was  at  Prairie  du  Chien  holding  a  treaty 
with  the  Indians,  Mr.  Kellogg  went  there  to  lay  the  evidence  before  him,  and  if 
I  am  rightly  informed  the  General  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  I  should  get  my 
pay  in  the  fall  when  the  Indians  received  their  annuities.  Judge,  then,  of  my 
surprise  on  receiving  a  letter  this  day  from  General  Street,  dated  Prairie  du 
Chien.  3  Dec.  1830,  in  which  he  says :    '  I  forwarded  your  claim  and  have  never 


THE  ROCK  RIVKK  VALLEY  613 

heard  from  it  since'  He  then  advises  me  1<>  write  to  General  Duncan  and  for- 
ward my  evidence  anew,  and  ask  him  to  attend  to  it.  But  although]  I  am,  poor, 
I  have  a  spirit  above  begging,  and  if  I  cannot  get  justice  at  the  front  door  I 
shall  not  creep  in  at  the  back  window. 

"I  keep  the  ferry  where  the  mail  crosses  Rocky  River  and  Post  Office.  The 
place  is  called  Ogee's  Perry.  I  have  suffered  considerably  by  the  theft  of  these 
same  Indians.  They  have  taken  a  cow  out  of  my  ferry  canoe  and  about  100  bush- 
els of  corn,  besides  many  other  articles  of  less  value.  The  chiefs  acknowledge  that 
their  yonng  men  have  done  it,  but  say  that  they  cannot  prevent  them;  because 
the  white  men  promised  to  pay  them  money  once  a  year  for  their  land  and  never 
gave  them  notice  to  come  and  get  it,  but  gave  it  all  to  those  that  lived  near  the 
two  agencies. 

"I  am  satisfied  that  they  have  just  cause  of  complaint  on  this  score.  There 
is  at  this  time  much  hard  feeling  between  the  whites  and  Indians.  The  reports 
in  circulation  are  to  this  effect — that  if  the  Indians  come  forward  before  their 
agent  and  acknowledge  a  theft,  it  has  no  effect  in  procuring  recompense,  and 
that  the  agent  is  not  to  notice  it.  This,  and  the  delay  in  getting  pay  for  my 
stage  horse,  has  caused  me  to  be  silent  with  regard  to  other  wrongs. 

"The  inhabitants  generally  have  become  very  much  exasperated.  I  have  no 
doubt  but  there  will  be  murder  committed,  as  they  continue  to  steal  horses  and 
other  property,  and  the  people  are  led  to  believe  from  the  reports  above  referred 
t<>.  that  there  is  no  other  way  to  get  satisfaction  but  to  take  the  law  in  their  own 
hands. 

"About  two  months  since,  they  took  a  valuable  horse  from  Colonel  William 
Hamilton,  son  of  the  late  Alexander  Hamilton.  He  went  out  and  took  four  of 
theirs,  and  on  his  way  home  saw  an  Indian  on  his  horse.  He  pursued  and  fired 
his  pistol  at  the  Indian,  but  missed  him.  The  Indian  then  left  the  horse  and 
was  off.  There  have  been  other  instances  of  people  collecting  to  chastise  them, 
and  unless  the  idea  of  the  necessity  for  them  can  be  done  away,  it  will  termi- 
nate in  a  serious  disturbance.  I  am  satisfied  that  if  they  have  a  suitable  agent 
within  a  reasonable  distance  of  their  residence  all  difficulties  with  them  would 
cease.  The  services  of  Or.  Williamson,  sub-agent  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  can 
be  of  no  benefit.  He  thought  he  had  jurisdiction  over  them  and  called  them  to 
counsel ;  but  they  would  not  recognize  him  in  that  capacity.  The  residence  of 
the  two  principals  is  altogether  too  remote  to  have  control  over  that  portion  of 
the  nation  that  inhabit  Rocky  River  and  Picatolica   (Pecatonica)   country. 

"After  writing  the  foregoing  my  business  called  me  to  the  Mining  Country. 
During  my  stay  there,  I  heard  two  of  the  Indian  chiefs  teasing  Col.  Wm.  S. 
Hamilton  to  write  to  the  President  for  them.  After  a  while  he  consented  and 
wrote  for  them  through  the  medium  of  an  excellent  interpreter.  I  signed  it 
as  witness.  The  picture  they  drew  of  their  distress  and  bad  treatment  I  think 
is  nearly  correct;  but  their  number  I  believe  to  be  overrated.  I  think  there  is 
not  more  than  about  1,200  of  them.  They  had  that  letter  written  about  four 
weeks  since.  Their  distress  has  now  become  double  what  it  was  then.  The  win- 
ter has  been  for  about  fifty  days  the  severest  that  has  been  known  for  fifty  years. 
About  forty  families  are  now  in  this  immediate  vicinity.  For  about  thirty  days 
they  have  had  nothing  but  what  I  let  them  have  from  day  to  day.  If  my  corn 
gives  out  before  the  snow  abates  they  must  die  with  hunger,  unless  I  kill  my 


614  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

cattle  for  them.  They  cannot  remove  to  the  settlement,  for  most  of  their  horses 
have  died  and  the  balance  they  have  brought  to  me  to  feed,  to  save  them,  if  pos- 
sible. It  is  now  the  third  of  February,  and  it  is  snowing  with  great  violence. 
If  that  snow  should  continue  for  twenty  hours  longer,  all  that  I  have  will  be 
gone  and  they  will  perish.  They  are  continually  complaining  of  the  bad  faith 
of  the  government  towards  them,  and  I  believe  it  is  only  the  influence  of  Mr. 
Henry  Gratiot,  brother  of  Mr.  Charles  Gratiot  of  the  Engineering  Department, 
that  keeps  them  quiet  for  the  present.  He  has  more  influence  with  them  than 
all  the  people  in  the  Mining  Country ;  for  although  he  is  severe  with  them  still 
they  respect  him,  and  much  stolen  property  has  been  removed  from  them  by  his 
exertions. 

"The  length  of  my  letter  admonishes  me  to  stop  and  request  you  to  answer  me 
with  regard  to  my  claim,  which  I  have  almost  forgotten. 

"With  sentiments  of  respect 

"Your  Obt.  Servant 

"JOHN  DIXON." 

The  foregoing  is  such  a  characteristic  letter  and  conveys  such  a  clear  idea  of 
the  difficulties  with  which  Father  Dixon  had  to  contend  during  the  period  imme- 
diately preceding  the  Black  Hawk  war  that  it  is  quoted  entire.  After  the  war 
had  ceased  in  which  he  bore  so  prominent  a  part,  although  not  engaged  in  the 
actual  fighting,  he  is  found  writing  to  General  Joseph  M.  Street,  Indian  Agent 
at  Prairie  du  Chien,  as  follows : 

"Dixon's  Ferry,  Illinois,  July  8,  1833. 
"Dear  Sir:— 

"Ever  since  the  late  treaty  at  Rock  Island  I  have  been  constantly  endeavor- 
ing to  get  the  Winnebagoes  to  remove  peaceably  across  the  Mississippi  above 
Prairie  du  Chien.  In  the  fore  part  of  the  winter  they  appeared  willing  to  go, 
but  this  spring  they  tell  me  the  Sioux  will  not  permit  them  to  occupy  the  coun- 
try called  the  Neutral  Ground.  Whether  this  is  true  or  not,  I  cannot  tell,  but 
think  it  may  be  a  fabrication  put  in  circulation  by  the  basest  part  of  creation 
in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Winnebago.  I  have  just  returned  from  there,  where  I 
witnessed  such  scenes  produced  by  whiskey  peddlers  as  is  calculated  to  make  an 
American  blush  for  his  country.  If  they  remain  there,  they  are  destined  to 
become  the  most  miserable  beings  in  human  shape.  Cannot  something  be  done 
to  remove  them?  Will  not  the  government,  on  a  proper  representation,  take 
such  measures  as  will  prevent  any  men  not  of  good  character  going  among  them  ? 
The  evil  of  granting  licenses  to  men  of  infamous  character,  and  whose  aim  ap- 
pears to  be  to  set  them  against  the  American  people  and  government,  should  not 
be  tolerated.  As  a  philanthropist  and  a  Christian,  the  public  have  a  right  to 
expect  much  at  your  hands;  for  I  am  persuaded  that  nothing  stands  between 
them  and  civilization  but  the  whiskey  traffic,  which  can  be  prevented  by  their 
removal,  and  that,  I  assure  you,  may  be  easily  accomplished." 

In  forwarding  this  letter  to  Elbert  Herring,  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs. 
General  Street  wrote,  among  other  things:  "I  herewith  cover  you  a  letter  from 
a  practical  man  of  sound  discrimination,  long  a  trader  with  these  Winnebago 
Indians  on  Rock  River.  He  is  an  American  opposed  to  giving  whiskey  to  Indians, 
had  the  confidence  of  General  Atkinson  during  the  late  Indian  difficulties,  and 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  615 

went  the  whole  route  with  his  army.    The  removal  breaks  up  his  trade,  and  he 
dors  not  mean  to  follow  the  Indians." 

FROM  THE  BLACK   HAWK    WAR  TO  COUNTY  ORGANIZATION 

The  crushing  of  Black  Hawk  and  his  followers,  with  Father  Dixon's  high 
reputation  in  trade  and  character,  directed  the  attention  of  prospective  settlers 
to  Ogee's  Ferry  as  a  likely  town  site.  Mr.  Dixon  prepared  for  their  coming 
by  opening  a  school  in  his  house  in  the  winter  of  1833-34.  In  the  meantime, 
the  children  of  his  own  large  family  organized  into  quite  a  respectable  class. 
In  1834,  the  name  of  the  post  office  was  changed  from  Ogee's  Ferry  to  Dixon's 
Perry  and  a  government  survey  was  made  of  the  township  of  Dixon.  The  town- 
ship then  embraced  South  Dixon,  Nelson  and  a  part  of  Nachusa.  John  Dixon, 
early  in  1835  laid  out  the  first  plat  of  the  Ferry  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 5,  township  21,  range  9  ea.st.  Described  in  more  popular  terms  it  included 
a  tract  of  land  from  the  river  to  half  a  block  south  of  Third  Street  and  from  a 
point  half  a  block  east  of  Ottawa  to  half  a  block  west  of  Peoria  Street. 

John  K.  Robison,  an  Ohio  man  who  made  his  home  with  Mr.  Dixon  in  May, 
1832,  taught  the  first  school  composed  principally  of  Dixon  and  Kellogg  chil- 
dren. He  had  served  in  the  Black  Hawk  war  and  liked  the  region  around 
Dixon's  (then  Ogee's)  Ferry  so  well  that  he  decided  to  board  with  Father  Dixon. 

Zachariah  Melugin  also  came  up  the  Rock  River  Valley  with  the  State  troops, 
and  after  the  war  was  over  his  pleasant  memories  of  Father  Dixon  and  the  coun- 
try  at  the  Ferry  induced  him  to  take  the  advice  of  his  friend  and  locate  in  a 
beautiful  grove  twenty  miles  to  the  southeast  on  the  new  stage  road  between 
Galena  and  Chicago.  He  built  a  cabin  and  his  sister  kept  house  for  him  from 
January  to  October,  1834,  when  he  married  a  lady  from  De  Kalb  County.  In 
the  meantime,  Miss  Melugin  got  lonesome,  although  she  busied  herself  tending 
her  brother's  house  and  "ehoring"  around  his  stage  station,  and  during  the 
summer  of  1834  paid  Mrs.  Dixon  a  visit  at  the  Ferry.  There  she  met  Mr.  Robi- 
son, the  ex-soldier  and  school  teacher,  and  in  September  the  twain  were  made 
one  by  a  Methodist  circuit  rider.  The  wedding  occurred  at  Mr.  Melugin 's  home, 
and  half  a  mile  away  Mr.  Robison  built  another  log  house  for  his  new  bride. 
Both  Robison  and  Melugin  became  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the  county;  and 
the  name  of  the  latter  has  become  permanently  attached  to  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful groves  in  the  county,  as  well  as  to  the  township  of  Melugin's  Grove. 

In  fact,  the  first  settlements  of  the  county  were  made  in  or  around  the  beauti- 
ful groves  which  dotted  the  country,  especially  along  the  borders  of  its  streams. 
Melugin's  Grove,  Guthrie's  Grove,  Franklin  Grove,  Inlet  Grove,  Twin  Grove, 
Paw  Paw  Grove,  Palestine  Grove  and  Gap  Grove  were  settled  long  before  the 
fertile  prairie  country  was  selected.  Timber  was  a  prime  consideration  with  the 
'pioneer  settler;  hence  the  groves  were  first  selected  in  the  founding  of  home- 
steads. 

In  1833  and  1834,  a  settlement  began  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county  in 
what  is  now  East  Grove  Township. 

In  the  spring  of  1834  settlers  commenced  to  locate  at  Sugar  Grove,  now  in 
Palmyra  township,  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  county.  In  April  of  that 
year  improvements  were  opened  in  that  locality  by  Isaac  Morgan  and  his  sons, 


616  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Harvey  and  John,  and  they  were  joined  by  a  number  of  families,  among  whom 
were  those  of  Captain  Oliver  Hubbard,  Samuel  Fellows  and  John  H.  Page.  In 
1835  came  Absalom  Fender,  with  a  large  family,  and  also  W.  W.  Bethea.  The 
sons  of  John  H.  Page  many  years  afterward  established  the  great  condensed 
milk  factory  at  Dixon,  while  Solomon  H.  Bethea,  son  of  William  W.,  became  a 
prominent  lawyer  and  judge. 

In  May,  1834,  Adolphus  Bliss  commenced  a  settlement  at  Inlet  Grove,  in 
the  northwestern  part  of  what  is  now  Lee  Township.  He  came  in  May  of  that 
year  and  was  joined  soon  after  by  Ozra  Wright.  Joseph  Sawyer,  Daniel  M. 
Dewey  and  Charles  West  joined  the  settlement  in  1836.  Lee  County  of  today 
was  then  a  part  of  Ogle,  and  as  Inlet  Grove  was  on  the  Chicago-Galena  stage 
road,  two  of  these  pioneers  sought  a  little  money  by  opening  taverns  on  its  line. 
Sawyer  took  out  the  first  license  and  Bliss,  the  second,  and  each  paid  $10  for 
the  privileges  accorded  them.  These  were  the  first  licenses  of  the  kind  ever 
issued  by  the  commissioners  of  Ogle  County,  John  Dixon,  Corydon  R.  Dewey 
and  Zachariah  Melugin,  and  were  dated  March  6,  1837.  At  the  same  meet- 
ing. Inlet  was  set  off  as  an  election  precinct,  and  that  was  the  beginning 
of  Inlet  village,  which  later  became  the  headquarters  of  the  infamous  Banditti 
of  the  Prairies.  The  tavern  kept  by  Bliss  was  a  favorite  meeting  place  of  the 
gang,  several  of  whom,  such  as  Bliss,  Dewey  and  West  were  known  as  reputable 
and  leading  citizens.  It  was  West  who  finally  exposed  the  criminal  conspiracy, 
of  which  he  himself  was  a  large  part. 

PAW  PAW  GROVE  AND  VILLAGES 

In  the  southeastern  part  of  what  is  now  Wyoming  township  is  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  beautiful  groves  in  Lee  County.  A  small  tree  or  shrub  grows 
freely  in  this  wooded  tract,  and  bears  a  sweet  edible  fruit,  somewhat  like  the 
banana  in  flavor,  but  often  larger  in  size;  this  is  the  papaw,  or  pawpaw.  It  was 
always  a  favorite  gathering  place  of  the  Indians — here  was  Shabbona's  village 
— and  early  travelers  reported  that  the  locality  was  so  charming  and  healthful 
that  it  was  the  great  resort  of  the  red  men  in  this  region  when  the  squaws  were 
raising  the  papooses.  From  the  northeast  corner  of  Paw  Paw  Grove,  the  creek 
by  that  name  runs  through  it  in  a  southeasterly  direction  and  after  making  a 
junction  with  Indian  Creek  empties  into  the  Illinois  River.  On  the  east  side 
near  the  county  line  was  an  excellent  spring  which  never  froze  over,  and  on  the 
northwest  corner  was  another.  Both  were  ever  constant  and  furnished  large 
volumes  of  water  as  feeders  to  Paw  Paw  Creek.  The  sugar  maple  was  very 
abundant.  There  were  many  large  black  walnut  trees,  four  kinds  of  oak,  hickory 
and  cottonwood,  with  a  sprinkling  of  butternut  and  sycamore.  The  prairie  grass 
of  this  region  was  remarkable  in  quantity  and  quality,  while  in  the  lowlands 
a  rider  on  horseback  could  tie  the  tall,  rank  slough-grass  together  above  his  head. 
Yet  the  entire  region  even  outside  the  grove  was  very  healthful  and  free  from 
ague.  The  grove  was  about  three  miles  long  and  two  in  width,  contained  about 
two  thousand  acres,  and  what  was  remarkable,  although  dense,  it  was  free  from 
underbrush. 

It  was  natural  that  the  first  white  settlers  in  this  part  of  the  county  should 
select  Paw  Paw  Grove  and  the  country  about  for  their  homes.  In  the  winter  of 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  617 

1833-34,  Levi  Kelsey,  a  peddler,  with  one  Joel  Griggs,  made  a  claim  and  built 
a  house  in  Paw  Paw  Grove.  Tracey  Reeve  came  in  the  spring  of  1834  but,  unlike 
Kelsey  and  Griggs,  concluded  that  the  Grove  was  reserved  for  the  Indians  and 
did  not  settle  there,  but  located  in  what  are  now  Bureau  and  La  Salle  counties. 
David  A.  Town,  a  Vermonter  and  an  emigrant  to  Ohio,  located  in  Paw  Paw 
Grove  in  the  fall  of  1834,  building  his  house  on  its  southeast  edge.  He  was 
accompanied  by  his  wife  and  four  children,  but  in  the  following  year  moved  to 
tlic  north  end  of  the  grove.  Town  was  determined,  persistent  and  strong,  ooth 
physically  and  mentally,  and  held  township  offices,  being  otherwise  locally  prom- 
inent prior  to  his  death  in  1861. 

The  settlement  begun  by  Town  was  augmented  the  same  fall  by  the  arrival 
of  the  Harrises,  Edward  Butterfield,  John  Ploss  and  John  Wilcox.  They  were 
all  members  of  a  Michigan  colony,  of  which  Rev.  Benoni  Harris,  then  past  sev- 
enty years  of  age,  was  the  head.  Besides  Father  Harris  and  his  equally  aged 
wife,  the  emigrants  comprised  eight  grown-up  children.  Three  of  the  Harris 
daughters  were  married  to  Messrs.  Butterfield,  Ploss  and  Wilcox.  Butterfield 
was  a  soldier  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  and  was  the  means  of  inducing  the  Michi- 
gan colony  to  locate  at  Paw  Paw  Grove.  His  claim  was  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Chicago  road  in  the  outskirts  of  what  is  now  Paw  Paw  village,  while  Ploss  made 
an  improvement  on  the  south  side  of  the  grove,  which  led  to  the  settlement  of 
South  Paw  Paw.  In  1836,  Job  Alcott  arrived  and  built  his  cabin  equi-distant 
between  the  two  Paw  Paws.  This  and  the  Butterfield  cabin  were  the  only  houses 
on  the  south  side  of  the  Chicago  road  for  many  years.  Charles  Morgan,  wife  and 
seven  children,  probably  came  from  Virginia  the  same  year,  and  in  1837  was  keep- 
ing tavern  half  a  mile  east  of  David  A.  Town's  house.  William  Rogers,  the  first 
postmaster,  settled  also  in  1836,  and  had  his  office  near  Morgan's  tavern.  Jacob 
1).  Rogers,  who  located  in  1837,  was  a  Pennsylvanian.  He  located  west  of 
George  Town's  claim  out  on  the  prairie,  for  which  he  was  much  ridiculed.  His 
claim  included  the  west,  part  of  the  site  of  Paw  Paw. 

.  DIXON 'S  PERRY   IN   1836-38 

In  the  meantime,  what  of  Dixon's  Ferry?  Many  things  happened  from  the 
time  Father  Dixon  surveyed  his  town  until  Lee  County  secured  her  political 
independence  from  Ogle.  They  have  been  repeatedly  recorded  in  numerous  local 
publications,  generally  accessible,  but  the  pronounced  stepping  stones  to  the 
present  can  only  be  indicated  in  this  sketch.  By  1836,  there  were  half  a  dozen 
families  and  about  as  many  single  gentlemen  on  the  site  of  Dixon.  On  the  north 
side  of  the  river  was  the  small  log  building  thrown  up  by  Zachary  Taylor,  while 
his  "regulars"  were  encamped  at  the  Ferry  during  the  Black  Hawk  war.  It 
"was  fittingly  called  Fort  Dixon.  The  Galena  stage  road  ran  to  the  westward. 
James  P.  Dixon  had  erected  a  log  house  near  the  corner  now  occupied  by  the 
City  National  Bank  and  Jude  W.  Hamilton,  the  merchant,  had  built  the  first 
frame  house  in  town  just  across  the  street.  The  Dixon's  Ferry  of  September, 
1836,  has  been  described  by  a  settler  of  that  period  (Dr.  Oliver  Everett)  as  a 
place  of  four  log  houses,  a  frame  house,  a  blacksmith  shop  and  two  or  three 
houses  in  course  of  construction.     Father  Dixon's  original  log  house  was  located 


618  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

two  or  three  rods  north  of  Main,  and  was  occupied  by  the  store  and  a  tavern. 
A  log  house  stood  on  the  corner  of  Galena  and  Water  streets  and  was  occupied  by 
Colonel  Johnson  as  a  boarding  house.  Another  log  house  stood  on  the  corner 
of  Water  and  Ottawa  streets  and  was  built  by  Dr.  Forrest.  The  post  office  was 
represented  by  a  lean-to  about  ten  feet  square,  which  was  built  up  against  James 
P.  Dixon's  log  house  "on  the  north  side  of  Main  Street,  and  was  still  operated 
by  Father  Dixon."  The  village  blacksmith  shop  and  "bachelor  apartments"  of 
John  Wilson  were  covered  by  one  roof  a  few  yards  east  of  the  post  office. 

Father  Dixon  lived  "out  in  the  country"  on  his  farm  near  where  the  North 
Western  depot  is  now  situated.  Other  leading  suburbanites  were  Caleb  Tall- 
madge,  who  lived  on  the  Peoria  road  about  a  mile  south  of  town;  Stephen 
Fuller,  who  resided  on  Dr.  Everett's  farm,  and  George  A.  Martin  and  E.  W. 
Covill,  who  occupied  farms  on  the  north  side  of  the  river. 

In  December,  1836,  was  organized  the  County  of  Ogle,  then  including  Lee, 
and  Dixon's  Ferry  was  already  coming  up  as  a  settlement  in  its  southern  sec- 
tion which  would  not  down  at  the  behest  of  Oregon,  or  any  other  rival  of  the 
north. 

In  the  winter  of  1836-37,  Peter  McKinney  and  H.  Thompson  started  the 
Western  Hotel,  afterward  the  Huntley  House;  as  they  also  had  charge  of  the 
tavern  in  Dixon's  original  log  house  they  were  quite  prominent  as  hotel  men. 
In  September  of  the  latter  year  the  first  circuit  court  of  Ogle  County  was  held 
in  Wilson 's  remodeled  blacksmith  shop ;  an  event  suggestive  of  future  honors 
for  Dixon's  Ferry.  Another  hotel,  the  Rock  River  House,  also  appeared.  In 
the  summer  of  1837,  the  first  schoolhouse  (erected  as  such)  arose  as  a  frame 
structure,  at  least  twenty  by  thirty  feet,  and  for  several  years  was  used  for  a 
variety  of  public  purposes.  Organized  religion  was  brought  into  the  community 
by  the  Methodists  in  that  year.  The  people  established  a  Claim  Association 
through  which  to  enforce  their  homestead  rights;  its  members  constituted  a 
pretty  complete  directory  of  the  Dixon  region  of  that  time. 

In  1838,  the  new  schoolhouse  was  opened  to  teachers  and  pupils,  as  well  as 
for  any  other  community  uses.  H.  Bicknell  was  the  first  teacher  to  preside 
therein.  This  schoolhouse  in  Dixon  was  so  famous  for  the  public,  political  and 
religious  gatherings  which  assembled  there,  that  it  is  continually  cropping  out 
in  the  general  chapters  connected  with  the  history  of  the  Rock  River  Valley. 
Even  some  of  its  teachers  became  notable  men. 

DIXON    POLITICAL    SEAT    OF   LEE    COUNTY 

The  brisk  fight  between  Oregon  City  and  Dixon  for  political  honors  when 
Lee  County  was  a  part  of  Ogle  has  already  been  described ;  as  well  as  the  final 
compromise  which  resulted  in  the  separation  of  Lee.  Frederick  R.  Dutcher,  of 
Dixon,  was  the  leader  of  the  separatists  and  engineered  the  bill  through  the 
Legislature.  He  named  the  county  in  honor  of  Light  Horse  Harry  Lee,  of  Revo- 
lutionary fame,  and  not,  as  claimed  by  some  local  historian,  for  Robert  E.  Lee, 
of  the  Confederacy.  The  act  was  approved  February  27,  1839,  and  the  com- 
missioners appointed  for  the  purpose  selected  Dixon  as  the  county  seat.  The 
place  at  which  the  county  buildings  were  to  be  erected  was  staked  on  the  west 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLKY  619 

half  of  the  nort Invest  quarter  of  section  4,  township  21,  range  9,  and  the  east 
half  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  5,  same  township  and  range.  The  pro- 
prietors of  the  town  guaranteed  the  payment  of  $6,460  and  other  citizens,  $1,050, 
while  eighty  acres  of  land  were  also  deeded  for  public  purposes. 

At  an  election  held  on  the  first  Monday  of  August,  1839,  Charles  P.  Ingals 
of  Inlet,  Nathan  R.  Whitney,  of  Franklin  Grove,  and  James  P.  Dixon,  of  Dixon, 
were  elected  the  first  Commissioners'  Court  of  Lee  County.  Isaac  Boardman 
was  clerk  of  the  court.  Aaron  Wakely  was  elected  sheriff;  Joseph  Crawford, 
comity  surveyor;  PI.  Morgan,  probate  justice;  G.  W.  Chase,  recorder.  The 
county  commissioners  held  their  first  session  in  the  Dixon  schoolhouse  on  Sep- 
tember  13,  1839,  the  respective  terms  of  the  three  commissioners  were  determined, 
and  the  county  was  divided  into  six  election  precincts,  with  designated  judges. 
In  October,  an  election  was  held  at  which  were  chosen  two  justices  of  the  peace 
and  two  constables  for  each  precinct.  The  first  assessor  of  the  county,  John 
Morse,  was  appointed  in  March,  1840,  and  in  the  following  June  David  Tripp 
was  chosen  its  first  collector.  During  the  year  1840,  the  brick  courthouse  and 
the  county  jail  were  completed  on  the  public  square  at  the  specified  cost  of  $7,610 
and  eighty  acres  of  land,  the  cash  being  donated  by  the  c/tizens  and  the  land 
by  Father  Dixon.  Thus  the  county  machinery  was  set  in  motion  and  buildings 
provided  for  its  early  crude  operation. 

COUNTY  RULE  OF  COMMISSIONERS'  COURT 

The  county  form  of  government  dominated  by  the  Commissioners'  Court 
was  not  changed  for  a  decade,  but  the  legislative  act  approved  February  12, 
L849,  provided  for  the  organization  of  townships.  Each  township  was  repre- 
sented by  a  supervisor  for  each  town,  or  township,  the  combined  membership 
being  known  as  the  Board  of  Supervisors.  The  original  townships  created  by 
the  act  to  replace  the  old  election  precincts  were  Paw  Paw  (changed  soon  after- 
ward to  Wyoming),  Brooklyn,  Hamo,  Lee  Center,  Bradford,  Hamilton,  Amboy, 
Tremont  (replaced  by  China),  Dixon  and  Palmyra. 

PERIOD  LEADING   TO  DIXON 's  CITYHOOD 

The  tireless  John  Dixon  went  to  Washington  to  push  the  already  good  pros- 
pects of  his  town  and  brought  back  with  him  a  government  order  transferring 
the  United  States  land  office  from  Galena  to  Dixon.  Colonel  John  Dement,  one  of 
the  heroes  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  and  subsequently  a  prominent  figure  in  the 
public  affairs  of  the  city  and  State,  was  appointed  receiver  when  the  transfer 
was  made  and  retained  the  position  under  several  democratic  administrations. 
The  establishment  of  the  land  office  at  Dixon  was  a  great  stimulus  to  settlement; 
so  much  so  that  Joseph  Crawford  at  once  extended  the  original  plat  of  the 
town  and  other  portions  of  the  county  felt  its  effects.  In  1840,  the  population 
of  Lee  County  had  reached  the  respectable  figures  of  2,035.  In  1841,  a  small 
stone  building  on  the  corner  of  Ottawa  and  Second  streets,  opposite  the  resi- 
dence of  Dr.  Oliver  Everett  was  built  and  was  used  for  the  brisk  business  of  the 
land  office  during  a  period  of  four  years. 


620  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

DR.  OLIVER  EVERETT 

The  name  of  Dr.  Everett  often  occurs  in  the  pages  devoted  to  the  city 
and  county;  for  he  was  a  lovable,  useful,  learned  and  marked  man.  He 
came  to  Dixon  in  1836  and  for  fifty  years  administered  to  the  sick  in  body, 
mind  and  estate,  over  a  wide  expanse  of  country,  in  fair  weather  and  foul. 
Money  was  little  object  to  the  good  doctor;  the  alleviation  of  pain,  in  what- 
ever form,  his  chief  concern.  Dr.  Everett  was  a  thorough  geologist  and  his 
long  travels  over  every  section  of  Lee  County  particularly  fitted  him  to  write 
with  authority  (as  he  did)  of  the  physical  construction  of  the  region  with 
which  he  was  so  familiar.  He  was  also  a  faithful  collector  of  natural  history 
specimens  and  of  rare  American  coins.  But  aside  from  the  affection  and 
admiration  lavished  upon  him  as  a  "country  doctor,"  he  is  best  remembered 
for  what  he  accomplished  in  the  preservation  of  the  facts  relating  to  the 
local  history  of  the  Dixon  and  Palmyra  region  of  northwestern  Lee  County, 
his  condensed  "Chronological  Record,"  published  by  the  Dixon  Telegraph  in 
1880,  being  still  invaluable  for  those  who  would  get  a  picture  of  the  country 
and  its  people  before  them  up  to  that  year.  It  was  said  by  an  elderly 
Dixonite  whom  Dr.  Everett  had  brought  into  the  world:  "In  that  long  and 
busy  practice,  he  assisted  something  like  five  thousand  children  into  this  world, 
and  it  is  with  pride  that  I  place  my  name  in  the  long,  long  list  of  children 
who  so  early  greeted  the  good  old  doctor,  whose  presence  and  assistance  at 
such  a  period  were  so  important." 

INCORPORATED    AS    A    VILLAGE 

By  1843,  the  Town  of  Dixon  aspired  to  don  village  clothing,  and  on  the 
20th  of  March  of  that  year  forty-four  of  its  citizens,  being  all  who  voted, 
cast  their  ballots  for  village  incorporation.  In  1845,  the  village  reached  a 
population  of  400  and  was  represented  by  the  Methodists,  Baptists,  Episco- 
palians and  Congregationalists  as  religious  organizations.  The  Methodist  church 
building,  on  Second  Street  south  of  the  Public  square,  had  been  dedicated 
for  a  couple  of  years  and  a  Union  Sunday  School  was  holding  forth  therein. 
In  these  early  days  of  forced  economy  sectarianism  often  had  to  be  forgotten. 
Local  education,  in  1845,  was  represented  by  a  select  and  one  district  school, 
with  a  total  attendance  of  seventy-five  pupils.  At  that  time,  the  total  popu- 
lation of  the  county  was  3,282. 

In  the  autumn  of  1846,  the  first  brick  building  was  commenced  at  Dixon 
on  Main  Street,  west  of  the  present  Lee  County  National  Bank.  In  the  suc- 
ceeding winter  a  toll  bridge  was  built  across  Rock  River  at  the  foot  of  Ottawa 
Street,  and  for  several  years  thereafter  it  was  a  favorite  plaything  of  the  spring 
freshets. 

The  Evangelical  Lutherans  commenced  to  organize  in  August,  1848,  and 
five  years  later  they  founded  the  St,  Paul's  church.  In  Ma.y,  1849,  the  Baptists 
dedicated  their  first  house  of  worship  on  the  west  side  of  Ottawa  Street  near 
Main. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  621 

BUILDING    Of    THE    DAM     AND     KAlil.Y     MII/LS 

In  1850,  Dixon  received  an  impetus  from  the  inauguration  of  the  hydraulic 
works  only  to  be  compared  to  the  establishment  of  the  land  office  a  decade 
before.  At  the  request  of  the  Rock  River  Hydraulic  Company,  made  to  the 
Commissioners '  Court  in  the  preceding  year,  the  sheriff  had  summoned  a  jury 
of  citizens  to  determine  what,  if  any,  damage  would  result  to  abutting  prop- 
erly by  the  building  of  a  five-foot  dam  across  Rock  River.  The  "good  men 
and  true"'  examined  the  matter  and  reported  that  a  benefit,  instead  of  dam- 
age, would  result,  and  the  dam  was  therefore  built  in  1850.  In  the  same 
year  a  sawmill  was  erected  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  and  a  large  flouring 
mid  was  commenced  on  the  south  side.  These  manufactories  were  soon  fol- 
lowed by  other  mills,  by  a  foundry  and  machine  shops.  About  this  time,  a 
local  writer  made  mention  of  Dixon  in  this  wise:  "There  is  a  dam  across 
the  river  at  this  place,  furnishing  one  of  the  best  waterpowers  in  the  State. 
A  sawmill  is  already  in  operation  on  one  bank  and  a  large  flouring  mill  is 
about  to  he  erected  on  the  other.  Measures  are  also  being  taken  to  construct 
a  bridge  over  the  river  at  this  point,  which  is  now  crossed  by  a  good  rope 
ferry,  which  is  operated  night  and  day.  These  considerations,  together  with 
the  fact  that  several  stores  and  dwellings  are  now  in  process  of  erection,  that 
stages  meet  here  from  almost  every  direction,  and  that  a  branch  of  the  cen- 
tral road  is  soon  to  pass  through  the  town  to  Galena,  conspire  to  render  Dixon 
one  of  the  most  desirable  places  of  residence  in  the  Western  country." 

In  May,  1851,  the  population  of  Dixon  was  estimated  at  700  or  800.  There 
was  then  in  the  thriving  village  a  printing  office — the  Dixon  Telegraph  and 
Lee  County  Herald  had  just  been  established — eight  or  ten  stores,  and  several 
professional  men  and  mechanics  in  all  departments  of  trade,  two  church 
buildings,  three  hotels,  a  livery  stable  and  a  market.  From  this  time  until 
the  war,  Dixon  improved  with  great  rapidity. 

During  the  early  '50s,  Dr.  Everett  and  Colonel  Dement  were  very  prom- 
inent in  the  affairs  of  Dixon.  The  Doctor  was  president  of  the  convention 
which  met  at  Dixon  in  March,  1852,  to  consider  the  project  of  building  a 
railroad  from  that  village  to  the  Mississippi  River  at  Fulton,  Whiteside  County, 
and  Colonel  Dement,  having  ably  served  in  the  State  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  1848,  was  now  devoting  much  of  his  time  to  the  development  of  the 
industries  of  the  village.  In  December,  1852,  the  large  five-story  flouring  mill 
erected  by  Brooks,  Dement  &  Daley  (afterward  Becker  &  Underwood's  mill) 
commenced  grinding  corn. 

[NCORPORATED   AS    A    TOWN 

The  outstanding  events  connected  with  the  history  of  Dixon  for  1854  were 
its  incorporation  as  a  lown  and  the  completion  of  the  Xaehusa  House — a  stone 
hotel  which  stood  upon  "round  which  embraced  the  foundation  of  the  old 
Dixon  Hotel.  The  latter  got  no  farther  than  the  foundation,  for  the  hard 
times  of  1S:57  during  which  the  enterprise  was  conceived  did  not  allow  it  to 
advance  beyond  the  launching.  For  many  years  it  was  the  leading  hotel  in 
Dixon,  where  such   as  Lincoln   and    Douglas,    Holmes,  the  poet.    Patti,   the  song- 


622  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

stress,  Grant  and  Logan,  the  warriors,  Moody,  the  evangelist,  and  scores  of 
other  celebrities,  "put  up,"  in  their  travels  up  and  down  the  valley.  When 
it  was  rebuilt  and  extended  as  a  modern  hostelry  in  1914,  it  was  still  the  lead- 
ing hotel  in  Dixon  and  it  maintains  its  old-time  reputation  to  this  day.  "Ye 
Old  Nachusa  Tavern,"  capping  an  imposing  eminence,  is  one  of  the  noted 
landmarks  of  the  valley. 

In  June,  1854,  the  epidemic  of  cholera,  which  was  so  widespread,  visited 
Dixon  and  for  about  a  month  played  havoc  there,  nearly  forty  deaths  being  re- 
corded. But  the  danger  and  the  panic  passed  and  the  set-back  was  only  tempo- 
rary. In  the  coming  fall,  much  building  was  reported — brick  business  houses  and 
churches.  A  new  paper,  the  Dixon  Transcript,  made  its  appearance.  Colonel 
Dement  established  a  machine  shop. 

NORTH  DIXON  AND  THE  DIXON   AIR  LINE 

North  Dixon,  especially,  had  been  growing  with  marked  rapidity,  and  in 
December,  1854,  completed  what  was  then  a  large  and  convenient  schoolhouse 
with  a  seating  capacity  of  130  scholars.  Best  of  all  for  Dixon  as  a  whole, 
in  February,  1855,  trains  commenced  running  from  Chicago  over  the  Dixon 
Air  Line,  and  in  the  following  May  the  town  commenced  to  earn  its  name 
as  a  center  of  higher  education  by  the  opening  of  the  Collegiate  Institute  in 
charge  of  Rev.  W.  W.  Harsha.  Its  own  building  was  completed  in  July.  At 
first  the  Dixon  Collegiate  Institute  was  in  charge  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

In  November,  1855,  the  new  Union  school  was  opened  on  Peoria  Street, 
and  a  local  scribe  says:  "The  old  wooden  desks  were  discarded  at  this  time 
and  the  first  patent  school  furniture  introduced  into  our  schools."  The  popu- 
lation of  Dixon  was  3,054.  There  were  130  buildings  erected  in  town  during 
the  year  1855. 

Dixon,  like  all  other  intelligent  and  progressive  centers  of  Americanism  in 
the  Rock  River  Valley  was  intensely  agitated  over  the  vital  national  issues  of 
1856.  In  June  of  that  year  at  an  Anti-Nebraska  meeting,  a  society  was  formed 
for  promoting  the  settlement  of  Kansas  by  assisting  bona  fide  emigrants  to 
that  territory.  A  Preemont  club  was  active  in  town.  In  the  fall  it  was  ad- 
dressed by  James  K.  Edsall,  formerly  a  member  of  the  Topeka  (Kansas) 
Legislature  which  had  been  dispersed  by  President  Pierce.  He  had  located  in 
Dixon,  having  been  barred  from  Kansas,  and  was  active  in  keeping  the  political 
fires  alive. 

NOW    COMES    THE    CITY    OF    DIXON 

Although  factories,  churches  and  newspapers  were  springing  up  on  every 
side,  it  is  evident  that  the  people  of  Dixon  were  not  yet  ready  to  adopt  any 
kind  of  a  city  charter  just  for  the  sake  of  the  name;  for  in  February,  1857, 
a  proposed  instrument  of  that  nature  was  rejected  by  the  voters,  96  to  279. 
Events  of  1858  worthy  of  note:  Opening  of  a  reading  room  in  charge  of  the 
Young  Men's  Literary  Association;  a  High  School  department  established  in 
the  old  Methodist  church  on  Second  Street;  a  more  acceptable  city  charter 
adopted  at  a  special  election,  on  the  4th  of  December. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  623 

On  March  7,  1850,  the  City  of  Dixon  was  organized  by  the  election  of  the 
usual  municipal  officers.  The  aldermen-elect  were:  W.  H.  Van  Epps  and 
Joseph  Crawford,  First  ward;  II.  E.  Williams  and  R.  H.  Robinson,  Second 
ward;  William  Barge  and  A.  A.  Benjamin,  Third  ward;  W.  A.  Hoisington 
and  William  Peacock,  Fourth  ward.  A.  P.  Curry  was  elected  city  marshal, 
and  C.  V.  Tenney  police  justice.  Colonel  John  Dement,  the  mayor-elect,  failing 
to  qualify,  Joseph  Crawford  was  appointed  acting  mayor  by  the  Council.  An 
election  was  then  ordered  for  April  4th,  when  A.  C.  Steadman  was  chosen 
for  the  mayoralty.  The  vote  on  the  license  question  stood  297  against  and 
171  for  license. 

THROUGH    TWO    DECADES 

In  the  fall  of  1859 — to  be  exact,  on  the  14th  of  October— Dixon  experienced 
its  first  large  conflagration.  Measured  by  the  fires  of  today,  it  would  seem 
small ;  but  seventeen  buildings  on  both  sides  of  Main  Street  were  swept  away, 
causing  a  loss  of  over  $30,000.  They  were  nearly  all  retail  stores.  About  the 
same  time,  occurred  a  structural  accident  of  rather  a  remarkable  nature.  Colonel 
Dement 's  two  plow  factories  and  a  Mr.  Brookner's  sawmill,  which  stood  on 
the  north  side  of  the  river  near  the  dam,  were  underwashed  by  the  current 
at  the  river's  brink;  and  while  the  buildings  were  slowly  moving  toward 
the  river,  where  the  water  Avas  twenty  feet  deep,  the  machinery  and  every- 
thing portable  were  taken  out  and  the  buildings  set  on  fire  to  save  the  two 
bridges  below,  which  it  was  thought  would  be  damaged  by  the  descent  of  the 
timbers  against  them. 

On  New  Year's  Eve,  1861,  a  large  and  enthusiastic  party  was  held  at  the 
Xachusa  House  to  celebrate  the  opening  to  the  public  of  the  Free  Bridge  at 
Dixon.  At  4  o'clock  P.  M.  of  the  1st,  the  mayor  and  Council  in  sleighs  and 
cutters — and  other  prominent  citizens — passed  over  the  bridge  "under  the 
inspiring  influence  of  music  and  cannon."  The  Free  Bridge,  rendering  access 
to  Dixon  so  much  more  convenient,  stimulated  business  and  made  the  local 
merchants  cheerful,  notwithstanding  the  threatened  civil  upheaval  caused  by 
sectional  quarrels. 

During  the  period  of  the  war,  manufacturing  interests  made  but  little  ad- 
vancement in  the  city.  In  1864,  Messrs.  Fargo,  Pratt  &  Company  commenced 
the  manufacture  of  platform  scales.  Other  industrial  enterprises  were  suc- 
cessfully worked  during  the  dark  days  of  the  rebellion;  but  the  absorbing  na- 
tional problems,  the  scarcity  of  laborers,  the  small  demand  for  certain  indus- 
trial products,  affected  Dixon  disastrously,  as  they  did  every  other  inland 
town  in  the  country.  But  no  sooner  had  the  war  closed  and  the  country  re- 
turned to  the  employments  of  peace  than  the  spirit  of  enterprise  was  again 
manifest    in  the  city  and  county. 

Before  the  end  of  the  Civil  war,  in  which  Colonel  Dement  participated, 
several  events  occurred  which  had  a  bearing  on  the  local  history  outside  of 
military  matters.  The  Dixon  Air  Line  dropped  its  local  name  and  was  ab- 
sorbed as  a  part  of  the  great  Chicago  &  North- Western  system.  This  occurred 
in  June,  1864.  In  January,  1865,  the  Lee  County  National  Bank  was  organized 
with  Joseph  Crawford  as  president. 


624  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

After  several  years  of  readjustment,  new  industries  commenced  to  be  estab- 
lished, although  during  the  last  year  of  the  war  Colonel  Dement  erected 
a  large  stone  building  afterward  occupied  by  the  plow  factory  of  Charles  H. 
Curtis.  In  the  fall  of  1865,  both  woolen  and  grist  mills  were  built,  and  in 
the  summer  of  1866  Colonel  Dement  again  appears  in  the  local  industrial 
field  as  the  builder  of  the  flax  factory,  which  soon  developed  into  the  manu- 
facture of  bagging  by  Jerome  &  Downing.  The  foundation  of  the  industry 
which  centers  in  the  manufacture  of  the  Victor  platform  scales  was  laid  in 
August,  1867,  and  about  the  same  time  the  courthouse  was  enlarged  and  im- 
proved. Two  noteworthy  public  improvements  were  completed  in  January, 
1869 — another  large  public  school  building  in  North  Dixon,  and  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  Truesdell  iron  bridge.  The  bridge,  which  was  the  best  over  Rock 
River,  cost  $75,000. 

In  1870,  the  census  of  Dixon  showed  a  population  of  4,054,  and  of  the 
county,  27,252. 

The  chronology  of  the  following  decade  embraces  the  following  happen- 
ings: 

The  City  Hall  building  completed  for  the  use  of  the  Fire  Department,  in 
January,  1871. 

Dixon  National  Bank  organized,  in  September,  with  H.  B.  Jenks  as  president. 

Collapse  of  the  Truesdell  Iron  bridge,  on  May  4,  1873,  caused  by  its  over- 
crowding by  a  mass  of  people  who  had  gathered  to  witness  a  baptismal  in  the 
river  just  below.  Two  hundred  men,  women  and  children  were  thrown  into 
the  rushing  stream,  and  thirty-seven  of  them  were  killed  by  drowning  or  by 
portions  of  the  bridge  falling  upon  them,  and  forty-seven  others  were  seriously 
and  five  mortally  injured.  The  bridge  was  twisted  and  broken  from  end  to 
end,  and  hung  from  the  piers. 

DEATH   OF   FATHER   DIXON 

Father  John  Dixon  died  at  his  farm  in  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  on  the 
6th  of  July,  1876,  aged  ninety-one  years,  eight  months  and  twenty-eight  days. 
His  body  was  taken  to  the  courthouse  in  Dixon,  where  it  lay  in  state  until 
the  funeral.  In  the  newspapers  published  at  that  time  it  is  stated  that  up- 
ward of  ten  thousand  persons  attended  the  funeral,  the  courthouse  square 
and  the  streets  adjoining  being  crowded  to  such  an  extent  that  the  voices  of 
the  speakers  at  the  ceremony  could  not  reach  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd.  This 
book  has  been  thickly  sprinkled  with  eulogies  of  this  Christian,  useful  and 
hardy  patriarch. 

On  September  18,  1878,  Alexander  Charles  Charters,  another  noted  pioneer, 
died  at  his  home  at  Hazelwood  farm,  aged  seventy-eight  years.  He  came 
to  Dixon  about  1838  and  purchased  the  pleasant  site  upon  which  he  founded 
his  homestead. 

On  April  8,  1880,  occurred  the  most  disastrous  fire  that  had  ever  visited 
Dixon.  Early  in  the  morning  of  that  date,  the  conflagration  started  at  the 
waterpower  and  within  an  hour,  the  flax,  grist  and  flouring  mills  were  in  ruins. 
The  water  wheels  and  the  pump  house  were  also  destroyed,  cutting  short  the 
water  supply.     Brown  &  Edward's  foundry,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street, 


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626  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

was  badly  burned  and  the  Curtis  plow  works  caught  fire  several  times.  The 
arrival  of  the  Amboy  fire  company  probably  saved  the  property  on  the  south, 
side  of  the  street.  Two  firemen  were  killed  and  ten  others  badly  burned  and 
injured  by  an  explosion  at  Becker  &  Underwood's  mill.  Here  was  also  the 
heaviest  loss  in  property,  over  half  of  the  estimated  $190,000. 

THE   DIXON   OF    THE   PRESENT 

As  the  City  of  Dixon  has  developed  into  a  thriving  and  progressive  munic- 
ipality of  more  than  9,000  people,  it  is  manifestly  impossible  to  trace  in  detail 
the  development  of  all  its  institutions — its  schools,  its  churches,  its  industries 
and  banks,  or  even  its  growth  as  a  city  body.  The  foundation  of  many  of 
these  has  been  traced  in  this  chapter,  and  the  strong  features  of  its  present 
activities  may  also  be  noted  in  the  chapters  devoted  to  the  topics  indicated. 
From  all  these  sources,  the  deduction  is  rightly  drawn  that  Dixon  is  most 
desirable  as  a  residence  town.  The  distributing  point  for  the  electric  power 
of  much  of  Northwestern  Illinois,  with  many  well-established  factories  that 
practically  never  cease  operation,  good  schools,  firmly  supported  churches, 
splendid  artesian  water  and  beautiful  homes  and  grounds,  with  over  thirty 
miles  of  paved  streets — in  these  important  points  alone,  Dixon  unfailingly 
draws  attention  to  itself  as  one  of  the  most  desirable  residential  centers  of 
the  Rock  River  Valley. 

The  City  of  Dixon  has  large  lungs,  or  breathing  spaces  for  its  people. 
Besides  various  small  parks  within  the  city  limits,  are  Island  park  of  sixty-four 
acres,  in  the  Rock  River;  Assembly  park  of  forty-seven  acres  on  the  north 
bank,  the  headquarters  of  a  great  Chautauqua  assembly,  with  all  the  modern 
accessories;  Adelheid  park,  in  the  western  fringe  of  the  city,  and  most  notable 
of  all,  Lowell  park  of  200  acres,  located  on  Dixon  Park  Boulevard,  about  four 
miles  from  the  down-town  district.  It  adjoins  historic  Hazelwood,  the  rustic 
home  of  Governor  Alexander  Charters,  that  rare  old  Irish  gentleman — one  of 
several  polished  and  educated  entertainers,  who  came  to  the  Dixon  neighbor- 
hood in  the  late  '30s  and  made  the  region  famous  for  its  welcoming  hospitality. 

Lowell  park  was  the  noble  gift  of  the  widow  of  Brigadier  General  Charles 
Lowell.  It  has  a  frontage  of  three-quarters  of  a  mile  along  Rock  River,  which 
is  liberally  supplied  with  hills,  crags,  deep  ravines,  fine  trees  and  shrubs,  and 
its  unspoiled  natural  beauties  are  all  attainable  by  improved  roads  and  paths. 
Pavilions,  bathing  beaches  and  houses,  and  conveniences  for  picnic  parties  and 
other  pleasure  seekers,  make  Lowell  park  Dixon's  most  attractive  and  popular 
resort. 

Two  miles  north  of  the  city  is  the  golf  course  of  the  Country  Club  and 
autoists  and  others  have  at  their  command  a  well-appointed  parking  camp.  In 
a  word,  everything  tends  to  maintain  and  accentuate  the  old-time  reputation 
of  Dixon  as  a  comfortable,  elevating  and  enjoyable  city  of  prosperous  people. 

THE   LEADING    OUTSIDE   VILLAGES 

It  is  claimed  that  a  Frenchman  named  Filamalee  was  the  first  settler  in 
Amboy  township,  west  of  the  center  of  the  county,  and  that  he  lived  in  Pales- 


THE  HOCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  627 

tine  grove  about  a  mile  south  of  Rocky  Ford.  He  left  the  country  as  soon  as 
permanent  white  settlers  commenced  to  arrive,  and  .John  Dexter,  a  Canadian 
who  made  his  claim  and  built  his  cabin  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
13,  is  given  the  credit  of  being  the  first  permanent  resident  of  the  township. 
He  came  in  1835,  and  two  years  later  Asa  B.  Sears  came  up  the  Peoria  road 
with  Benjamin  Wasson  and  a  team  of  horses  and  laid  out  Binghamton,  a  mile 
east  of  the  present  City  of  Amboy.  Afterward  Rocky  Ford,  to  the  southwest 
of  the  site  of  Amboy,  was  founded  by  Frederick  R.  Dutcher,  Joseph  Farwell 
settled  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  22  in  the  late  '30s,  and  in  1854, 
when  the  Illinois  Central  was  building  toward  Freeport,  the  machine  shops 
were  located  at  Amboy  and  the  town  was  laid  out.  Then  Binghamton,  which 
had  become  quite  a  flouring  center,  collapsed.  The  Amboy  of  today  is  a 
little  city  of  about  two  thousand  people,  the  freight  terminal  of  the  Illinois 
Central,  the  seat  of  the  Lee  County  Fair  and  a  pretty,  growing  little  place. 
It  was  originally  incorporated  as  a  city  under  a  special  charter  dated  Febru- 
ary 16,  1857. 

Ashton  township  and  village  are  of  comparatively  late  settlement.  It  is 
said  that  the  reason  for  this  was  that  the  land  in  this  part  of  Lee  County 
was  so  rich  that  speculators  bought  nearly  the  entire  township  and  barred 
out  those  who  would  have  bought  homesteads  at  an  early  day.  The  result 
was  that  Erastus  and  Timothy  Anderson  were  its  first  settlers ;  and  they  did 
not  locate  until  1848.  Other  reasons  for  the  absence  of  settlers  was  that 
Ashton  township — which  was  included  in  Bradford  until  1861 — was  undesir- 
able prairie  land,  devoid  of  timber,  and  no  great  road  or  trail  traversed  it. 
The  entrance  of  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  railroad  in  1854  changed  the 
comparative  isolation  of  the  township  and  gave  birth  to  the  village  itself  (platted 
in  1853  as  the  Town  of  Ogle).  The  village  of  Ashton  is  a  little  community 
of  nearly  a  thousand  people,  on  the  Chicago  &  North  Western  railroad  a  few 
miles  south  of  the  Ogle  County  line.  It  has  suffered  a  number  of  disastrous 
fires  since  1863,  but  is  still  going  ahead.  Both  the  village  and  the  township 
have  given  much  attention  and  money  to  the  building  of  good  roads. 

Franklin  Grove,  a  village  of  perhaps  seven  hundred  people  is  in  the  north- 
eastern part  of  China  township,  on  the  Chicago  &  North  Western  railroad  not 
far  from  the  Ogle  County  line.  In  1834,  Jeptha  Noe  built  the  first  cabin  at 
Franklin  grove,  a  stretch  of  timberland  along  Franklin  Creek.  In  June  of 
the  succeeding  year,  Colonel  Nathan  Whitney,  of  Uniontown,  Ohio,  traveled 
along  the  north  side  of  the  grove,  searching  for  a  stream  of  running  water  as 
far  as  the  present  site  of  the  village  of  Franklin  Grove.  As  Colonel  Whitney 
became  a  settler  soon  afterward,  he  is  regarded  as  the  John  Dixon  of  China 
township.  Charles  Harrison  and  his  son-in-law,  James  Holly,  made  the  first 
two  claims  in  1835.  The  history  of  China  township  from  1834  to  1854  is  the 
record  of  about  twenty  pioneer  families,  including  the  Whitney,  Hussey,  Hel- 
mershausen.  Holly,  Minor,  Morgan,  Yale  and  Harrison  families.  In  1853, 
Arastus  W.  Tolman,  F.  D.  Robertson  and  Rev.  Christian  Lahman  laid  out 
the  village  of  Franklin  Grove.  The  name  was  given  to  the  town  by  John 
Dixon  in  honor  of  his  son,  Franklin.  It  is  said  that  Colonel  John  Dement 
had  an  interest   in  the  new  village  for  several  years. 

What  is  known  as  Sublette  township,  in  the  southern  part  of  Lee  County, 

Ot—l    l°A 


628  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

was  right  in  the  course  of  the  old  army  trails  and  later  stage  lines,  and  its 
settlement  was  therefore  early.  In  1837,  Jonathan  Peterson  and  Sherman  L. 
Hatch  first  took  up  homesteads  in  the  township,  but  returned  to  the  East, 
married  and  brought  their  wives  to  the  sites  of  their  claims  before  they  settled 
permanently  thereon.  Others  came  from  New  England  and  founded  their 
homes.  In  1844  and  1845,  Jacob  Betz  and  Mathias  Reis  settled  near  the  timber 
known  as  Perkin  's  grove '  and  were  the  founders  of  the  industrious,  German 
agriculturists  who  have  spread  over  Sublette  township  and  made  it  one  of 
the  richest  sections  in  the  county.  In  1849,  the  county  was  divided  into  town- 
ships instead  of  precincts.  This  township  was  named  Hamo.  When  the  Illi- 
nois Central  went  through  the  county,  it  named  the  station  near  the  center 
of  the  township  Sublette,  and  it  was  platted  by  the  railroad  company  in  May, 
1855.  The  name  struck  the  fancy  of  the  settlers,  and  during  the  winter  of 
1856-57  a  petition  was  sent  to  the  Legislature  through  John  V.  Eustace  to 
drop  from  the  township  the  name  of  Hamo  in  favor  of  Sublette.  The  change 
was  therefore  made. 

The  township  of  Lee  Center  has  the  questionable  distinction  of  having 
founded  one  of  the  wickedest  and  one  of  the  most  intellectual  villages  in  Lee 
County.  The  rise  and  fall  of  Inlet,  as  the  center  of  the  Banditti  outrages,  as 
well  as  the  rise  and  decline  of  Lee  Center  as  a  promoter  of  higher  education 
have  already  been  narrated.  In  1844,  the  wicked  combinations  of  Inlet  fell 
before  an  aroused  and  organized  public  sentiment  and  a  few  miles  to  the  north- 
east arose  the  Lee  Center  Academy  and  the  village  of  culture.  Lee  Center 
village  was  planned  in  1846  and,  with  the  erection  of  the  academy  and  the 
fall  of  the  Banditti,  Inlet  left  the  map.  The  village  has  long  ago  been  bereft 
of  its  fame,  and  is  little  more  than  a  small  settlement  of  about  three  hundred 
people. 

There  are  three  other  towns  or  railroad  stations  in  Lee  County  dating  from 
the  '70s,  which  are  due  for  mention.  Their  range  in  population  is  from  200 
to  400.  Stewart  is  in  Alto  township,  in  the  extreme  northeast  corner  of  the 
county,  and  is  at  the  junction  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  and  the 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  lines.  The  town  site  was  selected  by  "Wesley 
Stewart  on  his  lands  and  he  platted  the  village  in  1870.  The  village  of  West 
Brooklyn  was  platted  in  August,  1872,  on  lands  belonging  to  Oliver  P.  John- 
son, Demas  L.  Harris  and  Reuben  N.  Woods.  These  three  gentlemen  were 
large  land  owners  in  what  was  then  western  Brooklyn  township ;  hence  the 
origin  of  the  name  West  Brooklyn.  West  Brooklyn  village  is  a  station  on  the 
Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  line,  as  is  Compton,  a  few  miles  east,  which  in 
1873  succeeded  the  older  settlement  at  Melugin's  Grove.  The  C,  B.  &  Q.  had 
passed  about  a  mile  to  the  south  of  the  Grove  and  spoiled  its  chances  for  future 
growth. 

Harmon,  also  a  station  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  railroad,  in 
the  western  township  by  that  name,  was  laid  out  in  May,  1872,  by  D.  H. 
Wicker,  J.  S.  Meckling,  Alonzo  Kinyon  and  C.  G.  Wicker. 

PROGRESSIVE   ORGANIZATION    OF   THE    TOWNSHIPS 

Lee  County  of  today  is  organized  into  twenty-two  townships,  as  follows: 
Alto,  Amboy,  Ashton,  Bradford,  China,  Dixon,  East  Grove,  Hamilton,  Harmon, 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  629 

Lee   Center,   Marion,  May.    Melugin's  Grove,  Nachusa,  Nelson,  Palmyra,  Rey- 
nolds, South  Dixon,  Sublette,  Viola,  Willow  Creek  and  Wyoming. 

Jn  1850,  the  county  was  divided  into  the  ten  civil  townships  of  Amboy, 
Bradford,  Brooklyn,  Dixon,  Hamilton,  Hanno,  Lee  Center,  Palmyra,  Paw  Paw 
and  Tremont.  Prior  to  July  of  the  same  year,  the  name  Wyoming  was  sub- 
stituted for  Paw  Paw  and  China,  for  Tremont.  In  1850,  when  Lee  County 
adopted  township  organization,  Hamilton  embraced  what  are  now  East  Grove, 
May,  the  south  half  of  Marion  and  what  is  still  called  Hamilton  township. 
May  was  organized  from  the  original  territory  in  1856,  Marion  in  1859  and 
East  Grove  in  1865.  Willow  Creek  township  was  organized  from  Wyoming 
in  1855.  Hanno  relinquished  its  old  name  of  Hanno  for  that  of  Sublette,  the 
new  railroad  station  on  the  Illinois  Central,  in  1857.  The  same  year  Harmon 
township  was  organized,  followed  by  the  creation  of  Reynolds  in  1859.  Ash- 
ton  township  was  carved  from  Bradford  in  1861,  and  the  same  year  Alto, 
Ogle  and  Viola  were  erected  by  the  Board  of  Supervisors.  In  1867,  South 
Dixon,  at  the  request  of  the  agricultural  element,  was  separated  from  Dixon 
township,  and  in  1871,  Nachusa  was  created  from  both  Dixon  and  China  town- 
ships. At  a  still  later  date,  Melugin's  Grove  township  displaced  Brooklyn. 
Which  accounts  for  all  of  the  twenty-two  townships  into  which  Lee  County 
is  now  divided. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

WHITESIDE  COUNTY 

water  courses  and  drainage — name  and  organization  of  county — commence- 
ment op  the  county  seat  fight — then  sterling  gains  a  point — lyndon 

again  to  the  front a  futile  compromise1 — sterling  holds  the  county 

seat  for  eight  years real  permanent  county  seat township  organ- 
ization— swamp  lands  of  the  county the  coming  of  the  railroads — 

pioneer  agricultural  society — early  villages  of  the  county — the  vil- 
lage of  fulton first  newspapers  in  whiteside  county sterling  and 

rock  falls two  cities  in  a  nutshell — the  city  of  morrison incorpo- 
rated as  a  city — county  buildings — morrison  of  the  present — morrison 
municipal  building charles  bent  and  the  whiteside  sentinel prophets- 
town albany  and  erie — lyndon  and  tampico — whiteside  county  in  the 

wars — whiteside's  standing  agriculturally. 

Whiteside  County  is  in  the  lower  valley  of  the  Rock  River,  northeast  of  Rock 
Island  County.  It  has  an  area  of  679  square  miles  and  a  population  of  36,174 
people.  The  northwestern  part  of  the  county  is  hilly,  consisting  of  a  succession 
of  ridges,  some  of  them  quite  sharp  and  rising  to  an  elevation  of  a  hundred  feet, 
separated  by  narrow  valleys ;  the  central  portions  are  moderately  rolling,  and 
the  southeastern  part  of  the  county  is  quite  level.  Swamp  land,  sloughs  and 
marshes  formerly  covered  the  last  named  districts,  but  most  of  this  area  has  been 
drained  and  placed  under  productive  cultivation. 

WATER  COURSES  AND  DRAINAGE 

The  general  slope  of  the  county  is  to  the  west  and  south,  which  determines 
the  watershed  and  the  drainage.  The  Rock  River  flows  in  a  generally  south- 
westerly direction  through  the  eastern,  south-central  and  southwestern  sections, 
and  after  a  course  of  fifty  miles  through  Whiteside  County,  leaves  the  county 
at  its  southwestern  corner,  flows  along  the  northwestern  boundary  of  Henry 
County,  passes  through  Central  Rock  Island  County  and  empties  into  the  Mis- 
sissippi about  four  miles  south  of  the  City  of  Rock  Island.  The  principal  tribu- 
taries which  join  the  parent  stream  in  Whiteside  County  both  rise  in  Carroll 
County,  to  the  north.  Elkhorn  Creek  rises  in  eastern  Carroll  County,  flows  gener- 
ally in  a  southwesterly  course  and  falls  into  Rock  River  about  seven  miles  below 
Sterling;  its  two  branches  are  Sugar  and  Grove  creeks.  Rock  Creek  also  rises 
in  the  eastern  part  of  Carroll  County,  a  few  miles  southwest  of  the  source  of  the 
Elkhorn,  flows  in  the  same  general  direction  and  joins  the  Rock  about  a  mile 
east  of  Erie;  the  tributaries  of  Rock  Creek  are  Little  Rock  and  Lynn  creeks. 
Independent  creeks  are  Grove,  which  flows  into   Rock  River   west  of  Spring 

630 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  631 

Creek;  and  otter  and  West  Spring,  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  county, 
which  empty  into  the  Mississippi.  The  highest  lands  in  the  county  are  in  the 
northeastern  part,  drained  by  Sugar  and  Spring  creeks,  and  probably  attain  an 
elevation  of  800  feel  above  sea-level.  The  Mississippi  bluffs  are  from  90  to  150 
feet  above  the  river. 

NAME  AND  ORGANIZATION   OF   COUNTY 

Whiteside  Comity  was  named  in  honor  of  General  Samuel  Whiteside,  a  brave 
and  distinguished  officer,  who  participated  in  the  Indian  wars  in  this  section  of 
the  country,  from  1812  until  the  close  of  the  Black  Hawk  war.  During  the  lat- 
ter, he  was  first  major,  afterward  colonel  and  finally  general  of  volunteers.  In 
his  pursuit  of  Black  Hawk,  in  1832,  he  passed  through  Whiteside  county  and 
burned  Prophetstown.  General  Whiteside  was  a  native  of  Rutherford  County, 
North  Carolina,  came  to  Illinois  Territory  about  1836,  and  settled  in  what  is 
now  Madison  County.  Besides  holding  high  military  rank  in  the  volunteer  serv- 
ice. General  Whiteside  was  frequently  elected  and  appointed  to  civil  offices 
of  trust  and  honor.  He  died  in  1861,  and  was  buried  near  the  home  of  his 
daughter  in  Christian  County,  Illinois. 

Whiteside  County  was  brought  down  to  its  present  boundaries,  through  Taze- 
well, Peoria  and  Jo  Daviess,  and  during  the  period  from  1825  to  1836,  inclusive. 
On  January  16th  of  the  latter  year  its  present  limits  were  fixed,  and  it  was 
attached  to  Jo  Daviess  County  for  general  election  purposes  and  to  Ogle  County 
for  judicial  and  county  purposes,  until  it  had  perfected  its  own  organization. 
In  the  spring  of  1836,  the  County  Commissioners'  Court  of  Jo  Daviess  County 
divided  Whiteside  into  three  election  precincts,  and  appointed  judges  of  election 
over  them.  Elkhorn  Grove  precinct  embraced  what  afterward  became  the  town- 
ship of  Jordan,  Whiteside  County,  as  well  as  several  townships  in  Ogle,  Lee  and 
Carroll  counties.  Harrisburg  precinct  comprised  the  present  townships  of 
Sterling,  Coloma,  Montmorency,  and  Hahnaman,  and  the  east  half  of  Hopkins, 
Hume  and  Tampico,  the  election  to  be  held  at  the  house  of  Hezekiah  Brink,  in 
Earrisbnrg  (now  Sterling).  Crow  Creek  precinct  comprised  the  remainder  of 
the  county,  the  election  to  be  held  at  the  house  of  William  D.  Dudley,  in  Lyndon. 
At  the  August  election  for  representative  to  the  General  Assembly  78  votes  were 
cast,  in  these  three  election  precincts. 

In  September,  1836,  Burke's  precinct  was  added  to  the  three  original  divi- 
sions, and  included  the  present  towns  of  Portland  and  Erie,  while  in  the  follow- 
ing year  the  commissioners  of  Jo  Daviess  made  another  alignment  of  election 
precincts.  Prom  this  time  until  May,  1839,  when  Whiteside  County  elected  its 
first  officers,  other  changes  were  made  in  precinct  names  and  boundaries,  and 
local  legislation  was  enacted  applying  to  its  present  organization.  The  General 
Assembly  also  located  several  State  roads  which  passed  through  Whiteside 
County.  The  act  of  March  11,  1837,  located  the  road  from  Galena  to  Beardstown, 
on  the  Illinois  River,  by  way  of  Apple  River;  Savanna,  at  the  mouth  of  Plum 
River,  Carroll  County ;  Prophetstown,  on  Rock  River,  Whiteside  County ;  Hen- 
derson and  Knoxville,  Knox  County,  and  Rushville,  Schuyler  County.  In  183(J 
the  General  Assembly  located  a  State  road  which  ran  through  the  western  por- 
tion of  Whiteside  from  Albany  south  to  a  point  on  Green  River  and  thence  to 


632  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

an  intersection  with  the  State  road  from  Beardstown  to  Galena.  During  the  same 
year  the  State  road  was  resurveyed  and  relocated  a  short  distance  near  Prophets- 
town  ;  and  all  these  surveys  and  improvements  were  advantageous  to  the  new 
county  of  Whiteside. 

The  declaration  of  independence  by  which  Whiteside  severed  its  connection 
with  Ogle  and  thenceforth  was  a  distinct  political  organization,  was  the  election 
of  its  officers,  on  the  6th  of  May,  1839,  which  resulted  as  follows :  Nathaniel  G. 
Reynolds,  Elijah  Worthington  and  John  B.  Dodge,  commissioners;  James  C. 
Woodburn,  sheriff;  Daniel  B.  Young,  probate  justice;  David  Mitchell,  county 
treasurer;  Charles  R.  Rood,  surveyor;  Augustus  W.  Newhall,  recorder;  Ivory 
Coleord,  coroner;  Guy  Ray,  clerk  of  County  Commissioners'  Court.  The  first 
meeting  of  the  court  was  held  at  the  house  of  William  D.  Dudley,  in  Lyndon, 
on  May  16th,  and  the  new  officials  duly  qualified.  On  the  following  day,  they 
met  at  the  schoolhouse  near  Mr.  Dudley's  cabin,  and  laid  out  eleven  road  dis- 
tricts, as  well  as  appointed  supervisors  and  assessors. 

COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  COUNTY  SEAT  FIGHT 

The  first  act  of  the  General  Assembly  in  relation  to  locating  the  seat  of  jus- 
tice for  Whiteside  County  was  approved  February  21,  1839,  by  Governor  Thomas 
Carlin.  By  that  measure  the  voters  were  to  voice  their  sentiments  on  the  first 
Monday  in  May,  of  that  year,  at  the  time  that  they  selected  the  county  officers. 
In  the  event  of  more  than  one  place  receiving  votes  another  election  should  be  held 
in  four  weeks,  and  so  on,  until  some  one  place  should  receive  a  majority  of  all  the 
votes  cast.  No  place  having  received  a  majority  of  the  votes,  at  the  first  election, 
four  more  attempts  were  made  to  settle  the  contest,  and  it  was  not  until  Sep- 
tember 23,  1839,  that  Lj^ndon  was  successful.  Although  the  proprietors  of  the 
rival  towns  of  Harrisburg  and  Chatham,  on  the  Rock  River  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  county,  had  adjusted  their  differences,  and  made  a  bid  for  the  county  seat 
under  the  new  name  of  Sterling,  Lyndon,  near  the  center  of  the  county,  won — 
at  least  temporarily.  This  was  the  commencement  of  a  fight  for  county  seat 
honors  which  was  waged  between  Lyndon  and  Sterling  for  nearly  twenty  years, 
only  to  be  decided  finally  by  Morrison,  a  new  town  which  was  about  as  far  north 
from  the  center  of  Whiteside  as  Lyndon  was  south  of  it. 

The  town  thus  designated  as  the  county  seat  (Lyndon)  was  admirably  located 
for  the  purpose.  Nearly  in  the  center  of  the  county,  a  short  distance  beyond 
Prophetstown  on  the  north  shores  of  Rock  River,  it  had  a  fine  water  power  at 
its  disposal  and  was  for  years  one  of  the  most  promising  points  in  the  Valley. 
The  County  Court  had  been  meeting  there  since  May,  1839,  and  in  February  of 
the  following  year  a  contract  was  made  with  Thomas  C.  Gould  for  the  erection 
of  a  one-and-a-half  story  courthouse,  26  by  17  feet  on  the  ground,  for  all  the 
usual  purposes  for  which  such  a  structure  is  put. 

THEN  STERLING  GAINS  A  POINT 

The  new  town  of  Sterling  was  biding  its  time  to  make  another  attempt  to 
draw  to  itself  the  seat  of  the  county  government.  The  proprietors  of  the  town 
formerly  known  as  Harrisburg  had  offered  sixty  acres,  and  the  owner  of  the 


DETAIL  PICTURE  OF  STERLING  WATER  POWER 


THIRD  STREET  IN  1868,  STERLING 


634  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

defunct  town  of  Chatham,  twenty  acres,  the  total  tract  to  be  donated  for  the 
public  purposes  of  the  county,  as  well  as  $2,000,  provided  the  public  buildings 
be  placed  on  Block  58,  west  of  Broadway — that  being  a  central  position  in  the 
compromise  town  of  Sterling.  Sterling  had  claimed  that  Lyndon  had  secured 
the  location  through  the  action  of  a  majority  of  the  commissioners  in  rejecting 
one  of  the  election  precincts,  which  justly  should  have  been  counted  for  the 
former.  In  February,  1840,  a  recanvass  of  the  votes,  in  which  the  disputed  pre- 
cinct was  given  to  Sterling,  was  the  means  of  transferring  the  county  seat  to 
Sterling.  Announcement  to  that  effect  was  made  by  the  Commissioners'  Court 
on  April  8,  1841,  and  a  month  later  it  commenced  to  meet  at  the  new  seat  of 
justice. 

LYNDON  AGAIN  TO  THE  FRONT 

In  the  fall  of  1842,  Lyndon  again  had  a  majority  of  the  county  commissioners 
as  its  supporters,  and  in  December  of  that  year  again  became  the  seat  of  jus- 
tice. In  1843,  the  General  Assembly  reopened  the  question,  and  appointed  com- 
missioners from  Jo  Daviess,  Henry,  Ogle  and  Mercer  counties  to  locate  the  seat 
of  justice  for  Whiteside.  Three  of  the  five  commissioners  met  at  Albany,  White- 
side County,  to  examine  the  different  locations  and  decided  that  Lyndon  had 
the  advantage  over  all.  Lyndon  then  donated  forty  acres  of  land  for  public  pur- 
poses, but  no  county  buildings  were  erected  on  the  tract,  and  the  county  seat 
question  was  still  unsolved. 

A   FUTILE  COMPROMISE 

Then,  on  April  14,  1846,  the  county  commissioners  entered  an  order  that 
the  grand  and  petit  jurors  elected  at  the  March  term  should  attend  the  May  term 
of  the  Circuit  Court  at  Sterling,  instead  of  Lyndon,  as  the  public  buildings 
erected  at  the  former  place  had  been  accepted  and  none  had  been  erected  at 
Lyndon.  A  compromise  was  effected  by  which  the  terms  of  the  Circuit  Court 
were  held  at  Sterling  and  the  county  commissioners  held  their  sessions  at 
Lyndon. 

Then  the  fight  became  merrier  than  ever.  Lyndon  was  determined  not  to 
yield  to  the  order  of  the  commissioners  without  a  struggle,  and  through  two  of 
her  citizens,  applied  for  a  mandamus  compelling  the  commissioners  to  relocate 
the  headquarters  of  the  Circuit  Court  in  their  town;  at  the  county  seat  last 
selected  under  authority  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State.  The  court  refused  to 
grant  the  writ  on  the  ground  that  the  buildings  used  for  county  purposes  at 
Lyndon  were  not  upon  the  ground  donated  for  that  purpose,  as  required  by 
statute. 

Sterling  made  the  next  move,  and  the  General  Assembly  passed  an  act,  ap- 
proved in  February,  1847,  making  that  place  the  seat  of  justice  until  the  county 
should  pay  that  town  for  the  lands  and  money  donated  as  an  inducement  to 
locate  the  county  seat  there.  Therefore,  the  seat  of  justice  was  removed  to  Ster- 
ling, the  first  meeting  of  the  Commissioners'  Court  being  on  September  7,  1847. 
The  courthouse  at  Sterling  had  been  finished  and  furnished  for  county  and  judi- 
cial  purposes,  so  that  comfortable  and  convenient   quarters  were  afforded  to 


Til  K  HOCK   MY  Eli  VALLKY  635 

all  having  business  with  the  county  or  the  courts.  But  as  no  steps  were  taken 
by  the  county  to  reimburse  the  town  of  Sterling,  the  arrangement  was  still  a 
temporary  matter. 

STERLING  HOLDS  THE  COUNTY  SEAT  FOR  EIGHT  YEARS 

Under  such  circumstances,  Lyndon  took  the  offensive  to  have  the  Legislature 
declare  the  ''permanent"  seat  of  justice  of  Whiteside  County.  On  February  6, 
184!».  a  Legislative  act  was  approved  providing  for  an  election  to  be  held  on  the 
first  Tuesday  of  the  following  April,  to  determine  whether  the  permanent  county 
seat  should  be  at  Lyndon  or  Sterling,  "the  latter  place  being  the  then  tem- 
porary seat  of  justice."  The  election  resulted  in  the  eleven  precincts  casting  a 
vote  of  519  for  Sterling  and  451  for  Lyndon.  Lyndon's  main  support  came 
from  the  precinct  in  which  the  town  was  situated  and  the  adjoining  precincts  of 
Prophetstown  and  Portland  to  the  southwest,  while  Sterling  drew  from  its  imme- 
diate territory  to  the  northeast,  as  wrell  as  from  Union  Grove,  Albany  and  Round 
Grove  precincts,  in  the  western  and  northwestern  portions  of  the  county.  For 
eight  years  Sterling  remained  undisturbed  as  the  county  seat  of  Whiteside. 

REAL  PERMANENT  COUNTY  SEAT 

In  the  meantime,  a  new  rival  had  appeared  in  the  field  and,  since  the  rail- 
roads of  Illinois  were  up  and  going,  it  was  no  longer  necessary  that  the  seat  of 
justice  should  be  located  on  Rock  River.  The  Chicago  &  North-Western  line 
had  been  pushed  through  Northern  Illinois  and  the  town  of  Morrison  surveyed 
and  platted  as  a  growing  village.  In  October,  1855,  the  young  town  welcomed 
its  first  railroad  train,  and  within  two  years  the  future  of  Morrison  was  assured. 
Although  Lyndon  had  been  relegated  to  the  background  of  county  seat  aspirants, 
young  Morrison  pressed  her  claim  so  vigorously  that  the  issue  became  a  question 
not  as  to  the  choice  between  several  towns  but  solely  between  Sterling  and  her- 
self. So  that  when  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly  relating  to  the  issue  was 
approved  February  7,  1857,  the  vote  cast  at  the  ensuing  general  election  was 
only  to  decide  whether  the  seat  of  justice  was  to  be  moved  from  Sterling  to 
Morrison.  In  case  of  a  vote  favorable  to  Morrison,  it  was  stipulated  in  the  act 
that  a  tract  at  least  300  feet  square  should  be  donated  by  the  town  to  the  county 
in  section  18,  as  well  as  the  sum  of  $.'5,000,  to  be  used  for  public  purposes  and 
the  erection  of  county  buildings. 

The  canvass  was  exciting  and  the  vote  east  was  very  close.  Sterling  carried 
strongly  the  northeastern  townships  of  the  county  and  had  a  decisive  majority 
in  Lyndon,  while  Morrison  drew  its  strength  mainly  from  the  northwestern  town- 
ships, having  stanch  support  from  Fulton  and  Albany.  The  total  vote  for 
removal  was  1,631 ;  against,  1,572. 

As  Morrison  has  retained  the  county  seat  for  nearly  seventy  years,  this  seems 
a  good  point  to  take  an  account  of  historic  stock,  and  review  some  of  the  most 
important  events  connected  with  the  development  of  Whiteside  up  to  this  time. 

TOWNSHIP  ORGANIZATION 

In  1819  an  election  in  Whiteside  County  was  held  for  the  purpose  of  ascer- 
taining the  sentiment  of  the  voters  on  the  desirability  of  changing  the  county 


636  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

form  of  government  from  that  of  the  Commissioners'  Court,  with  the  political 
division  of  election  precincts,  to  that  of  township  organization  under  the  juris- 
diction of  a  Board  of  Supervisors.  The  vote  cast  showed  a  strong  sentiment  for 
the  township  form,  and  in  the  following  year  the  county  was  divided  into  twen- 
ty-four townships.  On  account  of  some  illegality  that  action  was  declared  void, 
and  on  November  4,  1851,  another  election  carried  township  organization  by  a 
vote  of  376  for,  and  144,  against.  The  new  and  legal  townships  were  laid  out 
by  the  commissioners  appointed  for  the  purpose — L.  D.  Crandall,  L.  H.  Wood- 
worth  and  William  Pollock — and  were  reported,  on  February  24,  1852,  as  fol- 
lows: Pulton,  Ustick,  Clyde,  Genesee,  Jordan,  Sterling,  Montmorency,  Coloma, 
Hahnaman,  Hume  (formerly  Jackson),  Como  (formerly  Homer),  Hopkins, 
Tampico,  Volney  (formerly  Washington),  Prophetstown,  Portland,  Erie,  Fen- 
ton  (formerly  Eden),  Lyndon,  Mount  Pleasant,  Union  Grove,  Garden  Plain, 
Albany  and  Newton  (formerly  Greenfield) — twenty-four  in  all. 

The  first  annual  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  was  held  at  Sterling, 
September  13,  1852,  and  W.  S.  Barnes,  of  Albany  township,  was  elected  chair- 
man. 

SWAMP   LANDS   OP   THE   COUNTY 

The  swamp  lands  of  Whiteside  County,  mostly  situated  in  its  eastern  and 
southeastern  townships,  were  secured  through  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly 
approved  June  22,  1852,  and  based  on  a  congressional  act  of  1850  authorizing 
the  various  States  to  convey  such  lands,  for  purposes  of  reclamation,  to  the 
counties  having  them  within  their  limits.  After  the  necessary  levees  or  drains 
had  been  constructed  from  the  fund  raised  by  the  sale  of  swamp  lands,  if  there 
was  any  balance  the  proceeds  should  be  used  for  purposes  of  education,  the  con- 
struction of  roads  and  bridges,  or  such  other  objects  as  might  be  deemed  expedi- 
ent by  the  courts,  county  judge  or  Board  of  Supervisors. 

Under  this  act,  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  at  their  March  term  in  1855  ap- 
pointed William  Pollock  drainage  commissioner.  There  were  three  sales,  in 
1855,  1856  and  1857.  Altogether  nearly  64,000  acres  were  sold,  the  proceeds 
of  which  amounted  to  $167,000,  of  which  one-quarter  was  in  cash  and  the  balance 
in  notes.  Some  other  sales  were  afterward  made,  making  the  entire  area  of 
swamp  lands  thus  disposed  of  70,000  acres  and  the  proceeds  $177,000. 

THE  COMING  OP  THE  RAILROADS 

Whiteside's  first  railroads  entered  the  county  in  the  late  '50s,  about  two 
years  before  Morrison  became  its  seat  of  justice.  Its  pioneer  line,  the  Galena 
&  Chicago  Union,  was  headed  toward  the  Mississippi  River,  via  Rockford  and 
Freeport,  in  the  early  '50s,  and  later  the  Dixon  Air  Line  was  projected  directly 
toward  Whiteside  County.  In  the  fall  of  1855  Sterling,  Morrison,  Fulton  and 
other  points  in  the  county  to  the  Mississippi  River  were  connected  by  rail,  and 
Whiteside  was  no  longer  entirely  dependent  on  Rockford,  Freeport  and  Dixon 
as  markets  of  supply.  Since  1856,  the  lines  formerly  known  as  the 
Rockford,  Rock  Island  &  St.  Louis,  running  through  the  Rock  River 
Valley;     the    Western    Union,    traversing    the    western    part    of    the    county; 


LOOKING  ALOXC   SE(X)ND  STREET,  ROCK  FALLS 


VIKW  ON  MAIN  STEEET,  MORRISON 


638  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

the  Mendota  &  Prophetstown  branch  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy,  and 
what  was  called  the  Rock  Falls  branch  of  the  latter,  terminating  at  Rock  Falls, 
have  added  to  the  transportation  facilities  of  the  county.  The  Chicago  &  North- 
western and  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  railroads  have,  for  seventy 
years,  given  Whiteside  County  its  only  transportation  service  worthy  of  the 
name. 

PIONEER  AGRICULTURAL   SOCIETY 

The  Whiteside  County  Agricultural  Society  was  organized  in  the  village  of 
Union  Grove  on  the  26th  of  February,  1856,  the  following  being  elected  its  first 
officers :  Robert  L.  Wilson,  president ;  A.  R.  Hamilton,  vice-president ;  Dr.  L.  S. 
Pennington,  secretary,  and  Luther  Dodge,  treasurer.  The  annual  fairs  of  the 
society  were  held  at  Morrison  until  the  year  1863,  when  the  grounds  were  located 
on  the  Rock  River,  a  short  distance  southwest  of  the  City  of  Sterling.  The 
county  fairs  have  since  been  held  at  that  place. 

EARLY  VILLAGES  OP  THE  COUNTY 

Nearly  all  the  villages  in  Whiteside  County  which  have  lived  and  prospered 
were  founded  prior  to  1858,  and  the  pioneer  settlements  made  in  the  townships 
in  which  they  are  located  were  generally  made  in  1835.  The  exceptions,  in 
which  settlers  commenced  to  come  at  even  an  earlier  period,  were  Fulton  town- 
ship, in  which  locations  were  made  in  1833,  and  Sterling  and  Prophetstown,  the 
histories  of  which  date  from  1834. 

THE  VILLAGE  OP  PULTON 

In  1832,  John  Baker,  a  native  of  Maryland,  was  driven  from  New  Orleans 
by  the  cholera  and  decided  to  follow  the  Mississippi  northward  and  seek  a 
favorable  town  site.  At  a  point  a  few  miles  below  the  present  village  of  Albany 
he  found  a  government  surveyor  who  was  running  his  lines  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  river  from  the  mouth  of  the  Rock  River  to  the  northwest  corner  of  White- 
side County.  Baker  went  farther  up  the  river,  made  a  claim  a  short  distance 
above  the  Albany  of  today  and  built  a  cabin  there  on  the  banks  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. Then  he  commenced  to  explore  the  country,  and  in  the  spring  of  1835 
located  a  claim  on  the  Narrows,  covering  the  site  of  the  city  or  village  of  Fulton, 
as  well  as  a  tract  of  land  east  of  town.  For  the  first  year,  he  lived  alone,  as  he 
had  done  on  his  claims  near  Albany.  Baker  erected  a  small  house  on  Cattail 
Creek,  which  for  some  time  was  the  headquarters  of  travelers  seeking  locations 
in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  either  in  Illinois  or  Iowa. 

John  W.  Baker,  a  nephew  of  the  original  John,  joined  his  uncle  in  the  fall 
of  1836,  and  brought  with  him  his  wife,  three  sisters  and  a  niece.  The  three 
sisters  were  soon  married,  although  the  niece  died  soon  after  her  arrival.  More 
than  twenty  male  settlers,  some  of  them  with  families,  added  to  the  crude  town 
in  1837.  Others  followed  until  the  settlement  was  quite  noticeable.  In  May, 
1839,  a  number  of  its  citizens  presented  a  petition  to  the  commissioners  against 


THE  ROCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  639 

granting  a  license  for  the  sale  of  liquor — 'the  first  temperance  movement  in 
Whiteside  County. 

The  original  owners  of  the  real  estate  upon  which  Fulton  now  stands  were 
•John  Hakei-,  Henry  C.  Fellows,  James  McCoy,  Alvin  Humphreys,  George  W. 
Kellogg,  John  B.  Jenkins,  Daniel  Reed,  R.  J.  Jenks,  Jeremiah  Humphreys, 
Lyman  Blake,  John  VY.  Baker,  Edward  Rolph  and  some  others.  The  land  \v;is 
purchased  of  the  government  in  1840.  Fulton  was  organized  as  a  village  in  1855 
and  its  first  trustees  were  Henry  C.  Fellows,  Dr.  W.  C.  Snyder  and  Dr.  A.  W. 
Benton.  In  1859,  it  became  a  city  under  a  special  charter  granted  that  year  by 
the  General  Assembly.  Its  first  mayor  under  that  organization  was  James  Mc- 
Coy. The  Chicago,  Fulton  &  Iowa  line  (Chicago  &  North- Western)  had  been 
opened  to  Fulton  in  December,  1855;  the  Western  Union  (Chicago,  Milwaukee 
&  St.  Paul)  at  a  somewhat  later  date.  Fulton  became  widely  known  for  its 
lumber  interests  and  numerous  sawmills  were  erected.  Afterward  the  Chicago 
&  North-Western  Railroad  and  others  erected  large  grain  elevators. 

Fulton  is  still  one  of  the  four  largest  towns  in  Whiteside  County.  It  has  a 
population  of  about  2,500  people,  and  its  schools  and  churches  are  well  regu- 
lated and  supported.  Its  religious  organizations  date  from  1854  and  1855, 
when  the  Congregationalists  and  Baptists  first  formed  societies.  The  Fulton 
Methodist  circuit  was  established  in  1856,  although  services  were  held  by  mis- 
sionaries years  before.    Of  later  date  is  the  strong  Dutch  Reformed  congregation. 

FIRST  NEWSPAPER  IN  WHITESIDE  COUNTY 

In  the  days  when  Fulton  and  Albany  promised  to  be  booming  river  towns, 
those  reckless  newspaper  men,  as  was  their  custom,  flocked  into  the  borderland 
of  what  is  now  Whiteside  County  in  order  to  be  early  in  the  field.  During  the 
early  period  of  1853,  Judge  James  McCoy  and  John  Phelps  concluded  that  Ful- 
ton needed  a  newspaper,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  went  to  St.  Louis  and 
Galena  and  bought  a  press  and  type  with  which  to  start  the  newspaper  and  a 
job  printing  office.  The  press  was  shipped  so  late  in  the  season  that  the  steamer 
which  carried  it  had  to  go  into  winter  quarters  at  Rock  Island.  It  was  not 
until  the  spring  of  1854  that  the  outfit  was  on  the  ground  at  Fulton.  Judgs 
McCoy  could  expound  law  and  Mr.  Phelps  could  sell  goods,  but  neither  knew 
anything  practical  about  getting  out  a  newspaper  or  printing  hand  bills  and 
letter  heads.  So  they  imported  A.  McFadden,  a  practical  printer,  from  Free- 
port,  nnd  in  May,  1854,  he  put  out  the  Investigator,  the  first  newspaper  issued 
in  Whiteside  County.  This  was  the  predecessor  of  the  Fulton  Weekly  Courier 
and  the  Fulton  Journal,  the  latter  having  been  issued  under  its  present  name 
since  1863. 

STERLING    AND    ROCK   FALLS 

Sterling  and  Rock  Falls  lying  on  either  side  of  the  Rock  River  are  twin  com- 
munities of  between  12,000  and  13,000  people,  with  a  great  waterpower,  a  com- 
plete transportation  system,  both  by  rail  and  canal,  and  one  of  the  largest  and 
most  progressive  industrial  centers  in  the  Rock  River  Valley. 

Sterling  took  its  rise  from  the  combination  of  the  two  villages  of  Harrisburg 


640  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

and  Chatham.  In  June,  1834,  Hezekiah  Brink  erected  a  house  of  logs  and  rifted 
lumber  in  what  is  now  the  First  Ward  of  Sterling.  He  was  soon  afterward 
joined  by  others,  and  the  settlement  began  its  career.  In  the  summer  of  1836, 
Captain  D.  S.  Harris,  of  the  steamer  Pioneer,  came  up  the  river  with  a  load  of 
provisions  and  landed  above  the  rapids,  the  settlers  assisting  with  their  ox  teams 
in  towing  the  boat  over  them  to  a  landing  point.  A  quantity  of  these  provi- 
sions was  sold  to  the  settlers,  and  for  payment  the  captain  took  a  half  interest 
in  the  town,  which  was  then,  in  his  honor,  named  Harrisburg.  Immediately, 
Captain  Harris,  Elijah  Worthington,  Hezekiah  Brink  and  others,  had  the  town 
surveyed  and  platted.  The  town  was  bounded  on  the  east  and  north  by  the  city 
limits ;  on  the  west  by  what  is  now  Vine  Street,  Sterling,  and  on  the  south  by 
Rock  River.  Very  soon,  a  petition  went  forward  to  Washington  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Rock  River  Rapids  postoffice  wih  Hezekiah  Brink  as  postmaster. 
Mr.  Brink  declined  the  honor  and  with  his  declination  the  idea  of  a  postoffice 
was  abandoned.  Some  error  having  been  discovered  in  the  first  survey  of  the 
town  of  Harrisburg,  it  was  resurveyed  and  replatted  in  1837,  and  one  of  Cap- 
tain Harris'  agents  built  a  store  on  its  site  which  was  opened  by  Worthington 
&  Brink.  Several  dwellings  were  also  erected,  so  that  Harrisburg  commenced 
to  make  quite  a  showing. 

In  the  spring  of  1835,  William  Kirkpatrick,  who  owned  a  mill  and  a  large 
claim  on  Yellow  Creek,  near  Freeport,  made  a  claim  and  built  a  cabin  at  the 
"rapids."  The  settlers  of  Harrisburg  gave  him  a  cold  shoulder,  claiming  that 
he  had  all  he  could  do  to  develop  his  interests  near  Freeport,  and  that  he  was 
an  adventurer  and  a  land  shark.  Their  suspicions  were  allayed  when  he  entered 
into  a  $1,000  bond  with  several  substantial  citizens  to  lay  out  a  town  at  the  rapids 
of  Rock  River  during  the  following  year.  This  he  did,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1836  he  platted  the  town  and  called  it  Chatham.  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  himself 
erected  the  first  frame  house  in  town,  hauling  the  lumber  for  it  from  his  mill 
on  Yellow  Creek,  forty  miles  distant.  Nelson  Mason  and  John  D.  Barnett  soon 
purchased  the  interest  of  Mr.  Kirkpatrick,  improved  his  frame  house  and  opened 
a  store  of  assorted  goods,  which  was  well  patronized  by  white  settlers  and  Indian 
transients.  Chatham  also  had  to  be  surveyed  again,  on  account  of  faulty  work 
on  the  original  plat.  Both  Chatham  and  Harrisburg  were  platted  and  the  sur- 
veys recorded  before  any  of  the  townships  were  divided  into  sections  by  the  gov- 
ernment surveyors  and  several  years  before  the  land  was  placed  on  the  market. 
Chatham  was  bounded  on  the  east  by  what  is  now  Cherry  Street,  Sterling,  on 
the  north  by  the  city  limits,  on  the  west  by  A  Street  of  today,  and  on  the  south 
by  the  river.  In  June,  1837,  a  postoffice  was  established  at  Chatham  called  Rock 
River  Rapids,  with  John  D.  Barnett  as  postmaster.  The  postoffice  was  kept 
in  Mason  &  Barnett 's  store.  Harrisburg  afterward  secured  the  institution,  but 
about  1841,  when  E.  B.  Worthington  was  postmaster,  the  latter  bought  land  on 
the  intermediate  strip  between  the  rival  towns  and  established  the  postoffice  i 
what  afterward  became  Broadway. 

As  early  as  1839  a  contract  was  let,  but  never  carried  out,  to  construct  a  canal 
around  the  rapids  at  Chatham.  In  the  early  part  of  1840  Sterling  was  without 
a  store,  Mason  &  Barnett  having  gone  out  of  business  and  their  successors  re- 
mained only  a  short  time,  when  they  moved  to  Albany.  But  the  two  weak 
little  towns  united  in  their  successful  fight  for  the  county  seat,  and  after  taking 


642  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

the  name  of  Sterling,  progress  was  continuous,  although  slow  until  the  railroad 
era.  Since  the  fall  of  1855,  when  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  entered  its  limits, 
it  has  been  growing  as  a  modern  community  and  an  industrial  and  business  cen- 
ter. Unlike  most  other  towns,  Sterling  did  not  organize  as  a  village  previou ; 
to  its  incorporation  as  a  city.  On  February  16,  1857,  it  was  organized  as  a  cit 
by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  approved  that  day.  Its  first  municipal  offi- 
cers were  elected  in  the  following  April,  as  follows :  Lorenzo  Hapgood,  mayor ; 
John  Pettigrew  and  David  H.  Myers,  aldermen  of  the  First  ward;  Henry  Bush 
and  D.  R.  Beck,  aldermen  of  the  Second  ward,  and  James  Gait  and  B.  G. 
Wheeler,  aldermen  of  the  Third  ward.  On  the  23rd  of  April,  the  Council  elected 
L.  King  Hawthorne,  city  clerk;  Edward  N.  Kirk,  city  attorney,  and  Winfield  S. 
Wilkinson,  city  surveyor. 

In  1854,  the  Sterling  Hydraulic  Company  built  a  dam,  making  the  water 
power  available  and  giving  the  city  a  permanent  lease  of  industrial  life.  Three 
years  afterward,  the  plat  of  Rapids  City  was  entirely  vacated.  In  1867  A.  P. 
Smith,  a  native  of  New  York  and  a  man  of  energy  and  sagacity,  moved  to  the 
neighborhood  from  Sterling  and  laid  out  the  town  of  Rock  Falls.  He  at  once 
began  the  construction  of  a  race  connecting  with  the  dam  of  the  Sterling 
Hydraulic  Company,  and  around  this  improvement  the  new  town  clustered. 

Bridges  were  built  connecting  Sterling  and  Rock  Falls  in  1857  and  1863,  but 
they  were  swept  away  in  whole  or  in  part  by  floods  and  about  1877  a  substan- 
tial iron  bridge  was  constructed  for  $40,000.  It  extended  from  the  foot  of  Mul- 
berry Street,  Sterling,  to  Bridge  Street,  Rock  Falls,  a  little  east  of  the  Industrial 
building.  This  was  replaced  finally  by  the  modern  handsome  concrete  bridge 
now  in  use  which  was  built  at  a  cost  of  $180,000. 

With  the  gradual  development  of  the  two  water  power  dams,  the  industries 
of  Sterling  and  Rock  Falls  have  increased  in  number  and  volume  of  output. 
Among  the  earliest  established  were  the  Sterling  Pump  Works  started  as  a 
private  enterprise  by  M.  C.  Bowers  in  1863 ;  a  small  wagon  shop,  the  origin 
of  the  Anchor  Works,  also  established  at  Sterling,  in  the  same  year ;  the  Sterling 
School  Furniture  Company,  organized  in  1869,  and  the  Williams  &  Orton  foun- 
dry and  machine  shops,  the  business  of  which  was  incorporated  in  1871 ;  as  well 
as  the  Empire  Feed  Mill  Company  and  the  Sterling,  Mineral  Paint  Company, 
both  organized  in  the  early  '70s.  At  Rock  Falls,  Gait  &  Tracy  erected  a  machine 
shop  in  1867,  which  was  the  foundation  of  the  Keystone  Works;  the  Keystone 
Manufacturing  Company  was  organized  in  1870,  with  Thomas  A.  Gait  president, 
and  G.  S.  Tracy,  vice  president  and  superintendent,  and  became  one  of  the 
largest  manufacturing  plants  in  the  Rock  River  Valley.  Its  agricultural  imple- 
ments went  all  over  the  United  States  and  to  the  southern  Americas.  The  Rock 
Falls  Mitten  Factory  was  put  in  operation  in  1869,  and  in  1871  the  Eureka 
Manufacturing  Company  commenced  to  put  out  a  variety  of  articles  such  as 
furniture  and  minor  agricultural  implements.  Its  chief  output  at  the  present 
time  consists  of  motor  vehicle  bodies.  As  the  two  cities  have  now  more  than  forty 
manufactories,  it  is  manifestly  impossible  in  this  sketch  to  trace  the  establish- 
ment and  growth  of  them  all.  It  may  be  stated,  however,  that  altogether  they 
employ  four  thousand  men  and  women,  and  that  their  products  include  every- 
thing for  which  there  is  an  American  call. 


Jjjj  JJjjjj 

jjj  Tnr: 


CENTEAL  SCHOOL,   STERLING 


V.    M.   C.   A.   BUILDING,   STERLING 


Vol.  1—41 


644  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

TWO   CITIES  IN   A   NUTSHELL 

Population :— 1920  census:  Sterling,  8,182;  Rock  Falls,  2,927.  Estimate, 
1924:     Sterling,  9,000;  Rock  Falls,  3,300. 

Sterling  has  commission  form  of  government;  Rock  Falls,  aldermanic  form. 

Water  supply  from  four  deep  wells  of  Sterling  Water  Company,  which  dis- 
tributes to  both  cities. 

Motor  fire  protection,  including  new  triple  combination  pump,  hose  wagon 
and  truck. 

Twenty-five  miles  of  brick  and  concrete  paved  streets. 

Park  district  recently  voted  and  new  park  system  being  developed. 

Post  office  receipts  of  Sterling  and  Rock  Falls,  $90,000  annually. 

Six  hotels ;  one  new  and  others  recently  improved. 

Sterling  has  2,600  homes;  Rock  Falls,  800. 

Community  served  by  one  newspaper,  the  Sterling  Daily  Gazette,  which 
was  established  as  the  Republican  in  July,  1856. 

Sterling  and  Rock  Falls  are  also  served  by  six  banks — five  of  them  being 
located  in  the  former  city.  The  Sterling  banks  are :  The  First  National,  estab- 
lished in  1870 ;  Sterling  National,  1882 ;  State  Bank,  1906 ;  First  Trust  &  Sav- 
ings, 1916;  Farmers  &  Merchants,  1922.  The  First  National  Bank  of  Rock 
Falls  was  founded  in  1902.  The  strength  of  the  banks  in  the  two  cities  is  illus- 
trated by  these  late  figures :  Capital,  $600,000 ;  surplus  and  undivided  profits, 
$519,000 ;  deposits,  $5,648,000. 

Educational:  Modern  township  high  school  and  new  parochial  high  school 
in  Sterling ;  new  community  high  school  in  Rock  Falls.  Good  grade  schools ; 
one  large  new  one  in  Sterling  and  another  being  built.  Large  business  college 
in  Sterling. 

Twenty- two  church  organizations,  with  edifices  valued  at  over  $1,500,000. 

Most  of  nationally  known  fraternal  organizations  function  in  Sterling.  Social 
club  features  are  maintained  by  the  Elks,  Masons,  Odd  Fellows,  Knights  of 
Columbus,  Veterans  of  Foreign  Wars  and  Moose  and  Sterling  Clubs.  Red  Cross 
maintains  welfare  service,  and  County  Tuberculosis  Society,  health  service. 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  a  $100,000  home,  with  a  membership  of  over  700,  and 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  has  recently  opened  a  $50,000  home. 

The  $100,000  City  Hospital  is  soon  to  be  enlarged. 

Sterling  supports  a  strong  Country  Club,  a  community  Golf  Club,  Rotary, 
two  woman's  clubs,  a  Manufacturers'  Association,  Credit  Bureau  and  Association 
of  Commerce.  The  last  named  organization  is  particularly  active.  Its  literature 
is  enlightening  and  reliable.  The  following  is  quoted  from  one  of  its  latest 
booklets : 

Sterling  and  Rock  Falls — "110  miles  west  of  Chicago  by  rail,  117  miles  by 
auto.  The  "Twin  Cities,"  are  practically  one  community.  Located  in  fertile 
Rock  River  Valley,  they  rank  among  the  important  industrial  centers  of  the 
Middle  West.  Beautiful  residences,  attractive  churches,  excellent  schools,  thea- 
ters, clubs  and  busy  factories  make  this  an  ideal  community  in  which  to  live  and 
prosper. 

"On  main  line  Chicago  &  Northwestern  railroad,  Chicago  to  Omaha;  north 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  645 

terminal  C.  &  X.  W.  branch  line  to  Peoria  and  Southern  Illinois;  junction  point 
of  Shabbona  and  Rock  [sland  branches  of  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy. 

"Sterling,  Dixon  &  Eastern  Electric  railway  gives  connection  with  Illinois 
( 'cuiral  at   Dixon,  12  miles  east. 

"Illinois  &  .Mississippi  (Hennepin)  canal  taps  Rock  River  here,  providing 
water  connection  with  points  on  Illinois  and  .Mississippi  rivers,  Gulf  of  Mexco, 
etc.  Will  have  connection  with  Chicago  and  eastern  points  as  soon  as  Illinois 
Waterway   is  completed. 

"On  Lincoln  Highway,  paved  across  Illinois  and  well  into  adjoining  states, 
and  on  several  other  excellent  auto  routes.     Bus  lines  in  several  directions." 

THE  CITY  OF  MORRISON 

The  first  settlements  made  in  .Mount  Pleasant  township  were  those  of  William 
II.  Pascal,  .John  D.  Pascal,  James  J.  Thomas  and  Felix  French,  their  claims  be- 
ing in  the  timber  just  east  of  the  present  City  of  Morrison,  in  1835,  and  in  the 
following  year  others  occupied  the  site  of  the  future  county  seat.  Jacohstown, 
Illinois  City  and  other  prospective  municipalities  were  projected,  and  some 
improvements  made  in  the  vicinity,  hut  Morrison  was  created  by  the  short- 
sightedness of  the  people  of  Unionville,  a  flourishing  and  somewhat  haughty 
settlement  a  short  distance  to  the  north. 

In  1851,  the  line  of  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railroad  had  been  surveyed 
through  Northern  Illinois,  with  Unionville  as  one  of  its  stations.  The  people  of 
that  village  and  locality  were  so  convinced  that  the  railroad  must  come  to  them 
that  they  held  their  lands  at  extravagant  prices  and  would  not  yield  a  fraction 
in  their  demands.  Lyman  Johnson  and  II.  S.  Vroom,  who  were  railroad  builders 
and  contractors  and  had  come  to  the  place  in  that  capacity,  handled  the  situa- 
tion so  well  that  the  line  was  shifted  to  the  south  and  to  a  tract  of  land,  of 
which  they  were  the  principal  purchasers.  There,  in  1855,  near  the  geographical 
center  of  the  county  they  laid  out  a  town,  on  sections  17,  18  and  19,  and  il 
was  named  in  honor  of  Charles  Morrison,  a  wealthy  merchant  of  New  York, 
and  a  friend  of  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  town,  W.  H.  Van  Epps.  The  fir*! 
house  erected  was  by  Lyman  Johnson,  who  commenced  it  before  the  town  was 
laid  out.     It  was  afterward  enlarged  and  used  as  a  hotel,  the  Morrison  House. 

On  October  19,  1855,  the  first  train  was  run  into  Morrison  in  charge  of  John 
Furlong,  and  the  next  day  his  shanty  came  on  a  flat  car  and  was  unloaded  for 
his  residence  at  Morrison.  Residences  and  stores  soon  followed,  and  some  of 
the  new-comers  came  from  Unionville  and  even  Fulton.  The  Baptists  put  up  a 
brick  church.  The  board  shanty,  which  did  duty  as  a  railroad  depot,  was  soon 
a  busy  shipping  point,  and  in  185(i  the  post  office  was  moved  from  Unionville  to 
Morrison.  John  E.  Dennett,  who  had  established  himself  as  a  merchanl  the  year 
before,  was  made  postmaster. 

INCORPORATED    AS   A   CITY 

On  November  3,  1857.  the  citizens  of  the  county  voted  to  transfer  the  seal 
of  justice  from  Sterling  to  Morrison,  and  the  records  were  removed  on  May  3, 
1858.     For  several  years  the  county  offices  were  on  the  second  floor  of  a  brick 


646  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

building  on  Main  Street  and  court  was  held  on  the  floor  above  in  what  was 
afterward  known  as  Concert  Hall.  The  removal  of  the  county  seat  to  Morrison 
gave  the  town  a  great  impetus.  An  excellent  class  of  stores  was  established  and 
the  city  became  the  center  of  a  large  and  lively  trade.  On  April  18,  1857,  the 
voters  of  Morrison  met  at  Johnson's  Hall  to  consider  the  question  of  incorpora- 
tion; seventeen  voted  in  favor  of  it  and  two,  against.  At  the  election,  a  week 
later,  Lyman  Johnson,  Samuel  H.  Vroom,  S.  H.  McCrea,  James  G.  Gridley  and 
William  L.  Coe,  were  chosen  trustees,  and  Hiram  Olmstead,  police  magistrate. 
Forty-four  cast  their  ballots  at  this  first  election.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  Bela  C.  Bailey  was  appointed  street  commissioner  and  police 
constable;  so  that  Morrison  was  all  ready  to  go  ahead  as  an  incorporated  body 
under  the  laws  of  the  State. 

COUNTY  BUILDINGS 

The  first  county  building  erected  after  the  seat  of  justice  was  fixed  at  Morri- 
son was  the  jail,  which  was  completed  in  the  winter  of  1858-59  and  rebuilt  and 
much  improved  in  1876.  The  contract  for  the  building  of  the  courthouse  was 
let  in  December,  1863,  and  completed  in  the  spring  of  1866.  The  walls  of  the 
structure  are  of  brick,  with  corners  of  cut-stone,  and  the  court  house  furnishes 
accommodations  for  judicial  and  jury  purposes,  and  rooms  for  the  Board  of 
Supervisors,  the  law  library  and  the  sheriff.  The  other  county  offices  are  in- 
stalled in  a  separate  building,  the  original  of  which  was  erected  on  the  western 
part  of  the  county  grounds  in  1862. 

The  first  county  poor  house  and  farm  was  selected  during  1853  in  Union 
Grove  township.  Buildings  were  erected  and  about  half  of  the  240-acre  farm 
improved.  The  property  was  sold  in  1869,  and  the  present  site  selected  on  the 
Sterling  &  Morrison  road,  just  north  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad 
in  section  23,  township  21  north,  range  5  east.  The  main  building  was  com- 
pleted in  the  summer  of  1870.  In  1875,  a  structure  was  erected  on  the  county 
poor  farm  for  the  care  of  the  insane. 

MORRISON   OP   THE   PRESENT 

The  present  City  of  Morrison  is  a  neat,  brisk  little  city  of  3,000  people,  and 
is  functioning  under  the  act  of  incorporation  approved  by  the  governor  Feb- 
ruary 23,  1869,  with  the  reorganizing  measure  of  1872.  Under  the  former  meas- 
ure, George  A.  Whitcomb  was  elected  mayor,  and  under  reorganization,  E.  B. 
Warner.  The  city  stores  are  well  stocked,  as  befits  the  county  seat  and  the  center 
of  a  good  sectional  trade.  The  three  banks  established  at  Morrison  are  substan- 
tial and  have  proven  their  soundness  for  many  years.  The  First  National  was 
founded  in  1865,  the  Smith  Trust  &  Savings  in  1878,  and  the  State  Bank  in 
1911.  The  churches  and  schools  are  also  old  and  well  tried.  Morrison  claims 
that  her  first  public  school  was  the  one  opened  in  the  grove  near  the  present  site 
of  the  city  in  1838,  although  the  real  local  system  dates  from  the  establishment 
of  the  district  school  at  Morrison  in  1858 ;  which  coincides  with  the  permanent 
fixing  of  the  county  seat  there.    The  Township  High  School  is  the  best  evidence 


mrimiorsK  and  other  county  buildings,  morrtson 


II  Kill   SCHOOL,  MORRISON" 


648  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

of  the  interest  taken  by  Morrison  in  the  public  education  of  her  youth.  The 
first  class  to  graduate  from  the  high  school  was  in  1871.  The  city  has  two  sub- 
stantial graded  school  buildings  to  accommodate  the  North  and  South  sides. 
The  South  side  school  is  noticeably  attractive. 

Morrison  has  several  flourishing  churches.  The  oldest  of  the  religious  organ- 
izations originated  at  Unionville,  the  Protestant  Methodist,  in  1839 ;  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  in  1842;  the  Congregational  in  1844;  the  Baptist,  in  1854,  and 
the  Presbyterian  in  1855.  The  Odd  Fellows  were  the  first  of  the  secret  orders 
to  be  locally  established,  in  1858,  and  in  the  following  year  the  Masons  organ- 
ized a  lodge. 

MORRISON  MUNICIPAL  BUILDING 

The  most  recent  and  most  notable  manifestation  of  public  spirit  by  the  people 
of  Morrison  is  the  erection  of  a  substantial  and  elegant  Municipal  Building, 
completed  at  a  cost  of  $80,000  and  dedicated  March  2,  1925.  It  is  one  of  the 
very  few  buildings  erected  by  a  municipality  in  Illinois,  for  the  needs  of  the 
community.  A  general  description  of  it  is  worth  while  as  indicating  how  it 
represents  the  democratic  and  patriotic  spirit  of  the  city. 

The  Municipal  Building  provides  a  commodious  basement  in  which  is  a  large 
dining  or  banquet  room  with  a  finely  equipped  kitchen ;  also  a  rest  room  for  men. 

On  the  first  floor  of  the  building  is  a  roomy  entrance  or  lobby  in  which  is  a 
pedestal  upon  which  will  rest  a  statue  commemorative  of  the  deeds  of -the.  soldiers 
of  the  Civil,  Spanish-American  and  World  wars,  and  upon  the  walls  of  which 
will  be  placed  bronze  tablets  containing  the  names  of  the  soldiers  of  all  wars 
who  volunteered  or  were  enlisted  from  Morrison  or  its  immediate  vicinity  in  the 
several  Avars  in  which  our  country  has  participated. 

Prom  the  lobby  to  the  left,  one  enters  an  audience  room  which  with  its  main 
floor  and  balconies  has  a  capacity  of  seating  1,200  persons.  Under  the  stage 
are  provided  sliding  receptacles  for  the  chairs  used  upon  the  main  floor  from 
which  they  can  be  removed  in  a  few  minutes  and  the  floor  entirely  cleared  ready 
for  "on  with  the  dance,"  or  for  a  public  exhibition  of  athletic,  sports. 

To  the  right  from  the  lobby  is  the  entrance  to  the  rooms  belonging  to  the 
Woman's  League  which  include  an  audience  room,  rest  room,  an  emergency 
hospital,  a  kitchenette  and  a  toilet  room,  for  the  use  of  any  ladies  visiting  Mor- 
rison from  the  surrounding  country  or  who  are  touring  Lincoln  Highway,  which 
passes  the  doors  of  the  building. 

The  same  entrance  passes  on  to  the  City  Council  rooms  and  to  the  rooms  pr  - 
vided  for  the  use  of  patriotic  organizations.  At  present  these  rooms  are  occu- 
pied by  the  Post  of  the  American  Legion. 

To  the  rear  in  the  Municipal  building,  which  occupies  117  by  99  feet  on  the 
northwest  corner  of  Lincoln  Way  and  Genesee  Streets,  and  facing  the  latter 
si  reet  are  located  the  Fire  Department  of  the  city  and  its  equipment,  and  also 
the  engine  and  boiler  rooms  for  heating  the  building. 

It  is  only  just  to  say  that  the  valuable  ground  upon  which  the  Morrison 
Municipal  Building  stands  was  contributed  by  the  Woman's  League  and  the 
American  Legion  Post  of  Morrison. 


650  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

CHARLES  BENT  AND  THE  WHITESIDE  SENTINEL 

Morrison  has  also  a  representative  newspaper,  which  has  stood  by  her  for- 
tunes, good  and  bad,  ever  since  the  town  won  county  seat  honors.  On  the  23rd 
of  July,  1857,  Alfred  McFadclen,  who  had  resigned  the  editorship  of  the  Pulton 
Investigator,  issued  the  first  number  of  the  Whiteside  Sentinel  at  Morrison. 
With  the  exception  of  one  year,  he  continued  its  publication  for  a  decade.  In 
July,  1867,  the  paper  was  purchased  by  Charles  Bent  and  Maurice  Savage,  who 
issued  it  until  May,  1870,  when  Mr.  Bent  became  its  sole  proprietor.  Mr.  Bent 
became  identified  with  the  Whiteside  Sentinel  the  year  after  he  was  mustered  out 
of  military  service  as  a  lieutenant  in  the  147th  Illinois  Infantry,  which  was  one 
of  the  last  regiments  to  be  disbanded.  For  about  eighteen  months,  while  he  was 
engaged  in  the  preparation  and  publication  of  a  history  of  Whiteside  County, 
the  Sentinel  was  conducted  by  Robert  W.  Welch  of  New  York,  but  at  the  con- 
clusion of  that  period  Mr.  Bent  repurchased  the  paper.  Since  that  time,  the 
Whiteside  Sentinel  has  been  continuously  owned  and  conducted  either  by  Mr. 
Bent  or  his  son,  Charles  Bent,  Jr.,  the  latter  having  sole  charge  of  it  during  the 
absence  of  the  father  as  United  States  pension  agent  at  Chicago,  and  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  past.  The  senior  editor  and  proprietor  is  living  in  partial  retire- 
ment from  the  active  labors  of  his  profession,  and  the  editors  and  publishers  of 
this  work  have  been  fortunate  in  securing  his  cooperation  as  an  adviser  of  long 
and  honorable  residence  in  the  lower  Rock  River  Valley. 

PROPHETSTOWN 

Although  Asa  Crook  and  others  who  became  interested  in  the  town  settled 
in  1834  near  its  present  site,  Prophetstown  was  not  platted  until  1838.  Its  pro- 
prietors were  George  W.  Campbell,  Dixon  B.  Morehouse,  James  Craig,  Asa  Crook, 
Erastus  Nichols,  Jabez  Warner  and  Daniel  Webster.  Yes,  it  was  the  master 
of  eloquence,  Webster,  who  had  an  interest  in  Prophetstown,  but  he  soon  dis- 
posed of  it  in  Philadelphia,  or  he  might  have  been  a  struggling  lawyer  and  land 
owner  of  the  West  rather  than  the  noted  orator  and  statesman  of  the  East. 
The  original  plat  included  that  part  of  the  present  village  lying  north  of  Main 
Street.  In  1855,  the  town  was  re-surveyed,  as  the  first  survey  was  found  to  be 
incorrect. 

Prophetstown  was  incorporated  as  a  village  in  1859  and  on  the  4th  of  Apr'.l 
of  that  year  occurred  the  first  election  for  charter  officers.  Andrew  J.  Tuller 
was  the  first  president  of  its  Board  of  Trustees.  This  village  of  about  1,200 
people  is  beautifully  located  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Rock  River,  and  is  the 
market  town  of  a  rich  agricultural  district  in  the  southern  part  of  Whitesida 
County.  Its  two  banks  give  it  standing  as  a  convenient  trading  center  for  a 
considerable  district.  The  Citizens  State  is  the  older  as  it  was  founded  in  1899 ; 
the  Farmers  National  was  established  in  1902.  A  number  of  newspapers  were 
established,  or  rather,  started  at  Prophetstown  immediately  after  the  railroad 
had  been  completed  to  the  village.  The  first  venture  was  the  Spike,  in  which 
Charles  Bent  was  interested,  but  it  did  not  stand,  although  it  was  conducted 
for  twelve  or  thirteen  years.  Its  successor,  the  Echo,  established  by  William 
Wilson  in  1892,  is  still  alive. 


BUSINESS   STREET  LOOKING   EAST,  MORRISON 


BUSINESS  STREET  LOOKING  WEST,  MORRISON 


652  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

ALBANY    AND    ERIE 

Albany  and  Erie  are  small  villages  in  the  western  part  of  Whiteside  Countj^ 
the  former  on  the  Mississippi  and  a  station  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 
Railroad,  and  the  latter,  just  west  of  Prophetstown  on  a  branch  of  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  line. 

The  earliest  settlers  in  what  is  now  known  as  the  village  of  Albany  were  Ed- 
ward Corbin  and  his  brother-in-law,  a  Mr.  Mitchell,  who  came  in  1835  from  the 
State  of  Ohio.  Mr.  Mitchell  made  claim  to  what  is  now  known  as  Upper  Albany 
and  Mr.  Corbin,  to  Lower  Albany.  Both  of  the  original  proprietors  sold  out 
to  more  permanent  settlers  who  came  during  the  following  year.  Upper  Albany 
was  for  some  time  called  Van  Buren,  and  Lower,  simply  Albany,  and  the  two 
towns  were  thus  platted  in  1836.  In  December,  1839,  the  two  were  surveyed  and 
platted  as  Albany,  and  a  post  office  was  established  in  that  year.  The  opening 
of  Frink  &  Walker's  line  of  stages  from  Chicago  to  Albany  in  1844  commenced 
one  of  the  progressive  eras  of  the  town.  Previously,  the  coach  line  ran  from 
Chicago  to  Galena,  and  thence  to  Albany  by  water.  The  village  was  almost 
devastated  by  the  tornado  of  June  3,  1860,  which  came  from  the  Northwest, 
swept  through  portions  of  Iowa,  crossed  the  river  and  ruined  a  large  section  of 
the  village,  as  well  as  caused  the  death  of  several  of  its  citizens.  This  terrible  sot- 
back  was  partially  lightened  by  the  advent  of  the  Western  Union  Railroad  in 
November,  1865.  At  times,  previous  to  the  coming  of  the  tornado  in  1860, 
Albany's  promises  were  bright,  but  they  were  not  finally  redeemed,  and,  despite 
her  picturesque  location  and  offerings  of  fine  building  sites  for  residences  and 
factories,  it  is  now  a  forlorn  settlement  of  only  600  or  700  inhabitants — a  sta- 
tionary railroad  station.  For  forty-five  years  various  attempts  were  made  to 
found  newspapers  at  Albany,  but  without  success  until  1899,  when  the  Review 
was  founded. 

The  first  settlers  came  into  Erie  township  as  early  as  1835,  but  the  old  sec- 
tion of  the  village  was  not  platted  until  1850.  The  original  proprietors  of  the 
town  were  Samuel  Carr,  M.  G.  Wonser,  James  McMillen  and  George  Marks.  Pre- 
vious to  the  laying  out  of  the  town  there  were  several  log  cabins  on  the  site,  a 
tavern  and  a  schoolhouse.  About  the  time  it  was  platted,  the  post  office  was 
moved  from  Crandall's  Ferry  to  the  village,  and  the  regular  trips  of  the  Rock 
Island  and  Dixon  stages  also  enlivened  the  place.  Erie  did  not  obtain  railroad 
connection  until  January,  1869,  when  the  line  then  known  as  the  Rockford,  Rock 
Island  &  St.  Louis  took  the  village  into  its  system.  It  created  such  a  stimulus 
in  the  coming  of  settlers  and  increase  of  business  that  its  people  voted  for  village 
incorporation  in  September,  1872.    Erie  has  now  a  population  of  about  800. 

LYNDON  AND  TAMPICO 

Lyndon  and  Tampico  are  two  villages  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 
railroad,  in  the  central  and  southeastern  sections  of  the  county,  their  population 
ranging  from  600  to  800,  respectively.  Naturally,  Lyndon  is  situated  on  the 
north  hank  of  the  Rock  River.  The  original  village  was  platted  in  1837  by 
John  C.  Pratt,  William  D.  Dudley,  Adam  R.  Hamilton,  Elisha  Hazzard, 
Chaunccy  Woodruff,  Ebenezer  Seeley,  Dr.  Augustin  Smith  and  P.  Daggett.     It 


THE  ROCK  KIVKK  VALLEY  653 

(•(insisted  of  eighteen  blocks,  with  ;i  reservation  for  a  public  square  and  another 
for  a  levee,  as  the  proprietors  anticipated  a  large  river  business.  Boats  had 
passed  up  and  down  the  river  before  that  time  carrying  freight  both  ways  and 
it  was  hut  natural  that  Lyndon  should  look  to  the  river  as  the  medium  by  which 
the  grain  and  produce  of  the  region  should  be  taken  to  market  and  finished  goods 
received  in  return.  After  the  town  was  platted  several  steamers  were  loaded 
with  grain  at  the  Lyndon  levee  Eor  St.  Louis  and  other  southern  ports;  so  that, 
in  a  measure,  its  anticipations  were  realized,  and  for  a  long  time  the  town  pros- 
pered. The  completion  of  the  Rockford,  Rock  Island  &  St.  Louis  Railroad  in 
1869  gave  Lyndon  a  new  outlook,  although  the  line  ran  outside  of  the  original 
town.  To  meet  the  situation,  Railroad  Addition  was  platted,  and  a  station 
erected  on  it.  The  consequence  was  that  the  site  of  the  old  town  was  almost 
deserted.  With  the  organ  i/.at ion  of  the  Lyndon  Hydraulic  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany in  1872,  a  number  of  industrial  plants  were  established  at  the  water 
power  dam.  The  company  erected  a  merchant  flour  mill  and  not  long  afterward 
private  parties  erected  plants  for  the  manufacture  of  straw  wrapping  paper, 
flour  and  feed  and  farm  implements.  Lyndon  by  no  means  fulfilled  early  ex- 
pectations, although  it  is  still  one  of  the  best  of  the  smaller  villages  in  the 
county.     It  was  incorporated  in  1874. 

Tampico  is  a  little  larger  than  Lyndon.  There  were  a  few  buildings  on  the 
town  site,  including  several  corn  cribs  and  a  saloon,  when  the  railroad  reached 
it  in  .March,  1872,  and  when  the  village  was  incorporated  in  the  following  July. 
A  post  office  had  already  been  established,  with  J.  S.  Kimball  as  postmaster.  The 
village  government  was  not  organized  until  February  26,  1875,  when  J.  W. 
Classburn  was  elected  president  and  J.  C.  Mosshart,  clerk.  Tampico  is  chiefly 
noted  for  its  misfortunes  through  fire  and  wind.  Destructive  fires  swept  through 
various  portions  of  it,  the  burned  areas  sometimes  overlapping,  in  1872,  1874 
and  1876,  and  on  June  6,  1874  (the  conflagration  occurred  in  January),  a  tor- 
nado almost  completed  the  work  of  destruction  suffered  by  the  fire  of  six  months 
previous.  Many  were  seriously  wounded,  as  the  wind  storm  dashed  through 
the  village  about  11  o'clock  in  the  evening  when  most  everybody  had  retired. 
Outside  of  Tampico,  little  damage  of  any  kind  was  done.  About  two  weeks 
before  the  village  suffered  its  third  serious  fire,  and  some  two  years  after  the 
passage  of  the  wind  storm,  the  Tampico  Tornado  was  established,  its  proprietors 
taking  the  precaution  of  printing  the  newspaper  at  Propbetstown.  It  was 
afterward  moved  to  the  village  itself,  where  it  has  been  published  since  1877. 

WHITESIDE  COUNTY   IN   THE  WARS 

The  men  and  women  of  Whiteside  County  have  always  lived  up  to  the  stand- 
ard of  American  patriotism,  which  is  the  highest  the  world  affords.  Charles 
Bent,  the  journalist  and  Civil  war  veteran,  has  condensed  in  telling  figures  what 
its  sacrifices  were  during  that  trying  period  of  1861-65.  In  1860  the  population 
of  the  county  was  18,72!).  In  1863,  the  enrollment  of  volunteers  for  the  Union 
army  was  3,328;  in  1864,  3,338,  and  in  1865,  the  same.  The  total  quota  of  men 
prior  to  December  31,  1864,  2,129  men  ;  total  credits,  2,()1!».  <t>uota  of  the  county, 
December  31,  1865,  2,539;  'tit  ire  credit  during  the  war,  2,535.  Deficit  under 
all    calls,  only   four  men.      The  total    indebtedness  of   the   county   caused   by   the 


654  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Civil  war  was  $529,402.  By  September,  1867,  seventy  per  cent  of  it  was  paid, 
and  a  few  years  afterward  not  a  dollar  of  indebtedness  remained. 

Whiteside  County  sent  its  soldiers  into  many  commands  and  fields  of  serv- 
ice. Company  F,  of  the  Forty-second  Illinois  Infantry,  was  composed  mostly  of 
men  from  Fulton  and  Albany.  Company  B  and  a  large  part  of  G  also  enlisted 
from  the  county  in  the  one-year  service,  while  Companies  A  and  D  (the  latter 
cadets  from  Fulton  College)  joined  the  100-day  men.  Company  E,  of  the 
146th,  was  from  Whiteside,  and  many  of  the  boys  from  the  county  were  enrolled 
when  the  Forty-sixth  was  organized  into  a  veteran  regiment  in  1864.  The 
county  contributed  Company  F  to  the  Ninety-third  Infantry  in  1862,  the  men 
being  recruited  from  Garden  Plain,  Fulton,  Mount  Pleasant,  Newton,  Albany, 
Erie  and  Fenton.  The  Eighth  Illinois  Cavalry,  which  saw  four  years  of  hard 
fighting  and  steady  service,  was  represented  by  Whiteside  County  horsemen  in 
Companies  C,  G,  H  and  I.  Alpheus  Clark  of  Lyndon,  was  made  major  shortly 
before  his  death  from  wounds,  in  July,  1863.  Two  of  the  best  companies  of 
the  Thirteenth  Infantry  were  furnished  by  Whiteside — B  from  Sterling  and 
G,  from  Morrison.  The  Seventy-seventh  was  largely  representative  of  the 
county  in  Companies  B,  C,  D,  H  and  I.  Edwin  N.  Kirk,  who  recruited  and 
organized  the  Thirty-fourth,  was  commissioned  its  colonel,  in  the  fall  of  1861. 
He  afterward  commanded  a  brigade,  was  wounded  at  Shiloh  and  received  fatal 
injuries  at  Stone  River,  on  December  31,  1862.  He  was  taken  to  his  home  in 
Sterling,  where  he  died  in  June,  1863,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-five.  On  ac- 
count of  the  celerity  of  its  movements,  the  Thirty-fourth  Infantry  was  often 
called  "McCook's  foot  cavalry." 

The  Whiteside  County  men  who  served  in  the  Spanish- American  war  of  1898 
were  identified  with  the  Sixth  Regiment,  U.  S.  Volunteers.  Company  E,  of 
Sterling,  was  the  first,  and  Company  I,  of  Morrison,  the  last  of  the  twelve  com- 
panies of  this  command  to  be  sworn  in.  Lyndon,  Albany,  Prophetstown,  Erie 
and  Rock  Falls  were  also  well  represented.  Not  tracing  the  preliminary  move- 
ments of  the  regiment,  it  is  enough  to  know  that  the  Second  Brigade,  of  which 
the  Sixth  Illinois  and  the  Sixth  Massachusetts  were  regimental  units,  boarded 
coaches  and  box  cars  for  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  on  July  5,  1898,  and  from 
that  port  were  transported  to  Santiago,  whither  they  arrived  on  two  steamers 
not  long  after  the  bombardment  had  ceased.  They  were  not  permitted  to  land, 
as  their  presence  was  required  at  Guanica,  Porto  Rico.  Although  a  consider- 
able force  of  Spanish  regulars  and  volunteers  were  occupying  the  island,  they 
were  headed  for  San  Juan,  on  the  northeast  coast,  and  the  Sixth  Illinois  only 
had  a  slight  brush  with  irregular  troops  before  being  ordered  to  Ponce.  The 
march  was  through  a  rain-soaked  country  and  very  trying,  and  repeated  for 
several  weeks.  Finally,  on  September  7th  they  sailed  on  the  Manitoba,  an 
English  transport,  and  a  couple  of  weeks  later  reached  Sterling  and  Morrison 
where  they  were  mustered  out  of  the  service.  They  did  their  good  part  as  sol- 
diers, albeit  they  were  not  buoyed  up  by  brilliant  action  and  glory. 

In  the  operations  of  the  World  war,  whether  sending  men  to  the  front,  or 
supporting  the  soldiers,  at  home,  Whiteside  County  was  always  forward.  Mere 
words  do  not  speak  as  forcibly  as  facts  and  figures,  which  fortunately  can  be 
drawn  upon  from  official  governmental  sources.  From  such  published  docu- 
ments it  is  learned  that  7,801  registered  for  service  in  the  county  and  that  857 


SOLDIERS  MONUMENT,  STERLING 


656  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

were  accepted.  Whiteside  County  subscribed  as  follows  to  the  various  war 
funds:  First  Liberty  loan,  $370,450;  second,  $1,298,600;  third,  $1,444,900; 
fourth,  $2,232,750;  Victory,  $1,595,750;  war  savings,  $606,989.  To  the  Red 
Cross  funds,  she  gave  $23,807,  and  to  United  War  Work  Fund,  $92,298. 

Whiteside's  standing  agriculturally 

It  is  easy  to  write  that  Whiteside  County  is  one  of  the  most  productive  agri- 
cultural sections  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  but  quite  another  proposition  to 
prove  it  by  cold,  hard,  convincing  facts.  Uncle  Sam  and  his  Federal  Census 
of  1920  come  to  the  rescue.  The  latter  authority,  sustained  by  the  Government, 
shows  that  Whiteside  County  is  sixth  of  the  twelve  counties  covered  by  this  his- 
tory in  the  total  value  of  its  land,  buildings  and  implements  devoted  to  pur- 
poses of  agriculture,  also  including  live  stock;  the  figures  being  $95,736,000. 
She  stands  fourth  in  the  value  of  such  crops  as  corn,  wheat  and  other  grains, 
potatoes  and  hay,  realizing  from  those  sources  $5,631,000.  Whiteside  County 
is  fourth  among  the  counties  as  a  corn  producer ;  the  123,000  acres  set  aside  for 
that  cereal  produced  over  5,000,000  bushels,  valued  at  $13,500,000.  The  county 
is  also  one  of  the  foremost  breeders  of  horses  in  the  Rock  River  Valley,  being 
a  close  competitor  of  Ogle  County  for  fourth  place.  The  foregoing  gives  a  more 
satisfactory  idea  of  the  actual  performances  of  Whiteside  County  in  the  field  of 
agriculture  than  a  gush  of  generalities  in  her  praise. 


CHAPTER  XXV  II 
HEX IJV  COUNTY,  ILLINOIS 

OLD   HENRY  COUNTY — SIMPLE  LOCATION  OF  COUNTY  SEAT — GENESEO  REPLACES  RICH- 
MOND DOUBLE-HEADED  COUNTY  SEAT — CAMBRIDGE,  THE  COUNTY  SEAT — CHURCHES 

AND  SCHOOLS  OF  THE  COUNTY THE  FOUNDERS  OF   THE  BISHOP   HILL   COLONY 

THE  JANSONITES  LEAVE  SCANDINAVIA SITE  OF  BISHOP  HILL  COLONY  SELECTED — 

I  HE  SETTLEMENT  GROWS — THE  CHOLERA  AND  GOLD  FEVER — THE  MURDER  OF  ERIC 

.MN'SON OLSON    SUCCEEDS    JANSON THE    LAWS    OF     THE    COLONY — ASSISTS    IN 

FOUNDING  GALVA — PROGRESSIVE  DISSOLUTION — SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 

CONNECTING  EDWIN  A.  OLSON,  U.  S.  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY — THE  CITY  OF  KEWANEE 
— OUTSIDE  OF   KEWANEE — AS  AN    AGRICULTURAL   COUNTY. 

Henry  County,  with  its  population  of  45,000  people  distributed  over  an  area 
of  814  square  miles,  lies  partly  in  the  lower  Rock  River  Valley  and  in  the  upper 
valley  of  the  Mississippi.  Green  River,  the  chief  southern  branch  of  the  Rock, 
drains  the  northern  and  central  portions  of  the  county  on  its  westward  course 
toward  Rock  Island,  while  Edwards  River,  with  its  tributaries,  meander's 
through  the  southern  sections  and  joins  the  Mississippi  in  Western  Mercer 
( 'ounty. 

OLD    HENRY    COUNTY 

Before  Old  Henry  County  was  created  in  1825,  the  succession  of  counties 
which  led  to  its  birth  was  quite  involved  and  impressive.  In  1788,  the  North- 
west Territory  was  erected  with  its  seat  of  justice  at  Marietta.  It  was  divided 
into  three  counties — Hamilton  (Ohio),  Knox  (Indiana)  and  St.  Clair  (Illinois). 
When  the  Territory  of  Illinois  was  formed  in  1809,  its  county  divisions  were 
Randolph  and  St.  Clair.  Then  the  order  of  succession  leading  to  old  Henry 
County  was  .Madison  County,  1812;  Bond  County,  1817;  Clark  County,  1819; 
Pike  County,  1821,  and  Fulton  County,  1823. 

An  act  of  the  General  Assembly,  approved  January  13,  182.",  created  Knox, 
Peoria.  Putnam,  Schuyler,  "Warren  and  Henry.  The  last  named  which  honored 
Patrick  Henry  by  name  was  taken  from  both  Pike  and  Fulton  counties.  In  1826 
the  Fever  River  voting  precinct,  with  headquarters  at  Galena,  was  established 
by  the  Commissioners'  Court  of  Henry  County,  and  was  the  first  political  divi- 
sion of  its  kind  in  northwestern  Illinois.  In  the  following  year,  the  Galena 
settlement  had  sufficient  population  (350)  to  warrant  a  petition  praying  for 
separate  county  organization.  The  General  Assembly  therefore  erected  Jo 
Daviess  County,  with  Galena  as  the  seat  of  justice. 

657 


658  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

SIMPLE   LOCATION    OF    COUNTY    SEAT 

On  January  5,  1835,  the  boundaries  of  Henry  County  on  the  north  and  north- 
west were  denned  as  the  Rock  River,  and  in  the  following  year  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  limits  of  Whiteside  County,  it  assumed  its  present  form  and 
area.  It  seems  that  James  M.  Allan  had  already  laid  his  plans  to  locate  a  county 
seat  for  the  new  political  division.  With  him,  to  decide  was  to  act,  and  it  is 
related :  "He  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  until  he  found  an  established  corner 
in  Sugar  Tree  Grove,  and  from  that  point,  guided  by  a  pocket  compass,  rode 
due  north,  counting  the  steps  of  his  horse,  until  he  reached,  as  he  supposed,  sec- 
tion 17,  township  16  north,  range  3  east,  about  five  miles  from  where  he  started ; 
and  this  led  him  to  a  rise  in  the  middle  of  as  beautiful  a  prairie  as  may  be 
found  anywhere.  He  had  made  no  error  in  his  measurement  and  he  afterward 
entered  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  17,  staked  out  a  town  thereon  and  named 
it  Richmond ;  and  the  town  was  henceforth  a  standing  candidate  for  the  county 
seat. ' ' 

The  commissioners  to  locate  the  county  seat  met  at  Richmond  to  view  the 
different  sites.  Major  Allan's  location,  virtually  the  only  tangible  site,  naturally 
carried  the  day.  The  proprietor  of  Richmond  therefore  deeded  120  acres  of 
his  section  to  the  county.  The  Major  also  deeded  three  lots  to  George  Harris 
provided  he  should  erect  a  hotel  on  the  site  by  June  1st.  Further,  Mr.  Harris 
was  to  build  a  courthouse  on  the  county  lands,  18  by  24  feet,  one  and  a  half 
stories  high.  But  the  unfinished  courthouse  burned  and  the  Harris  hotel  was 
used  both  for  court  and  jail.  The  first  Circuit  Court  for  Henry  County  com- 
menced its  session  in  April,  1839,  with  Thomas  Ford  presiding  and  James  M. 
Allan,  clerk. 

GENESEO    REPLACES   RICHMOND 

Finally,  nothing  was  left  of  Richmond  but  a  straw-covered  stable,  and  the 
county  commissioners  decided  that  steps  should  be  taken  to  select  a  more  con- 
venient and  dignified  seat  of  justice.  In  1837,  Geneseo,  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  county,  had  been  platted  by  a  colony  of  New  York  men  under  the  leader- 
ship of  R.  R,  Stewart  and  another  company  from  the  Empire  State  had  even 
anticipated  them  by  several  months  in  the  platting  of  Morristown,  a  short 
distance  to  the  southwest.  Andover,  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  county,  had 
also  been  founded  by  a  Connecticut  colony  of  Congregationalists.  But  during 
the  following  two  years  the  chief  contestants  for  county  seat  honors  were  Mor- 
ristown and  Geneseo.  Geneseo  then  became  the  temporary  county  seat,  although 
the  County  Court  held  one  session  at  the  Richmond  stable. 

DOUBLE-HEADED  COUNTY  SEAT 

After  the  Legislature  had  legalized  the  acts  passed  at  Geneseo,  it  passed  a 
measure  to  permanently  locate  the  county  seat  of  Henry.  The  only  contest  was 
between  Morristown  and  Geneseo,  as  the  few  houses  which  had  appeared  at 
Sugar  Creek  Grove,  almost  in  the  geographical  center  of  the  county,  had  not 
acquired  the  dignity  of  a  village.    The  inducements  offered  by  Morristown  were 


HIGH  SCHOOL,  CAMBRIDGE 


COUNTY  COURT  HOUSE,  CAMBRIDGE 


Vol.  1—42 


660  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

considered  superior  to  those  advanced  by  Geneseo.  Morristown  proposed  to 
give  an  entire  quarter  section  and  $1,000  in  cash,  stipulating  that  a  public  house 
should  be  erected  out  of  the  fund  arising  from  her  donations,  and  that  all  col- 
onists who  bought  lots  should  erect  houses.  Geneseo  offered  her  fair  grounds 
and  buildings,  to  be  transformed  into  county  property.  The  Circuit  Court  was 
allowed  to  meet  at  Geneseo  until  the  fall  of  1841. 

At  its  completion  the  public  house  at  Morristown  was  conveyed  to  the  county 
and  used  for  court  and  official  purposes  for  two  years,  or  until  the  courthouse 
was  finished.     That  structure  was  18  by  24  feet,  a  story  and  a  half  high. 

CAMBRIDGE,  THE  COUNTY  SEAT 

For  two  years  more,  these  make-shift  arrangements  continued.  In  the  mean- 
time, the  pretty  little  settlement  at  Sugar  Creek  Grove,  under  the  direction  of 
Judge  Joseph  Tillson,  had  been  growing  in  size  and  ambition.  It  was  con- 
veniently situated  for  tax-payers,  litigants  and  others  having  official  or  judicial 
matters  to  transact,  while  Morristown  was  far  distant  for  those  who  had  settled 
in  the  central  and  southern  sections  of  the  county.  In  the  winter  of  1843,  Judge 
Tillson  therefore  had  the  foresight  to  forward  a  bill  to  Colonel  John  Buford, 
of  Rock  Island,  who  then  represented  the  senatorial  district  in  the  legislature 
including  Henry  County,  providing  for  the  relocation  of  its  seat  of  justice. 
Joshua  Harper  represented  the  interests  of  the  new  claimant  in  the  lower  House. 
On  February  21,  1843,  the  bill  passed  both  houses  of  the  legislature,  providing 
as  a  site  for  the  county  seat,  eighty  acres  of  section  7,  township  15,  range  3  east ; 
forty  acres  from  the  northwest  quarter  and  another  forty  from  the  southwest 
quarter.  The  bill  also  stipulated  that  the  courts  should  be  held  at  Morristown 
until  buildings  should  be  provided  at  the  new  location.  In  June,  1843,  Judge 
Tillson,  who  came  of  an  old  Massachusetts  family,  surveyed  and  platted  the  new 
county  seat  under  the  name  of  Cambridge.  Even  the  little  courthouse  planned 
for  Morristown  was  incomplete,  and  the  county  commissioners  arranged  to  have 
it  loaded  on  wagons  and  hauled  to  the  site  prepared  for  it  in  Cambridge.  The 
courthouse  landed  on  the  5th  of  September,  1843,  and,  after  being  made  habit- 
able, was  used  for  county  purposes  until  the  new  building  was  completed  in 
July,  1845.  With  the  growth  of  the  county,  a  more  commodious  structure  was 
required  for  county  purposes  and,  for  many  years,  the  second  courthouse  was 
used  for  educational  purposes,  as  a  town  ball  and  a  community  church. 

Cambridge  has  remained  the  county  seat  since  1843,  and  is  a  neat  little  vil- 
lage of  about  1,400  people,  with  business  houses,  churches  and  schools  adequate 
for  local  demands  and  resident  comforts. 

CHURCHES   AND  SCHOOLS   OF   THE   COUNTY 

The  first  religious  organization  to  be  formed  in  Henry  County  was  a  Meth- 
odist class,  which  was  organized  in  the  fall  of  1835  at  the  home  of  P.  K.  Hanna, 
in  the  township  of  that  name,  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  county,  on  the 
Rock  River.  It  was  organized  by  Rev.  Colin  D.  James.  The  society  grew  and 
a  brick  church  was  erected  which  was  known  for  years  as  the  Rock  River  Chapel. 
A  better  house  of  worship  was  afterward  built  in  the  village  of  Cleveland.    At 


THE  HOCK  RIVER  VALLET  661 

Colona,  a  settlement  ;i  short  distance  to  the  south,  the  Methodists  also  form  d 
a  class  as  early  as  1  S4i2,  and  the  Presbyterians  organized  at  a  somewhat  later  day. 

In  the  southern  part  of  the  county,  the  Wet hersfield  colony  of  Connecticut 
Congregationalists,  established  the  town  of  Andover,  and  in  1839  founded  their 
first  church  there,  under  Rev.  I.  Pillsbury.  The  Methodists  organized  in  1841, 
Rev.  W.  P.  Vaill,  of  their  Home  Missionary  Society,  having  arrived  at  Andover, 
some  time  previously.  After  Andover  had  been  abandoned  by  the  colonists 
in  favor  of  Wethersfield,  the  town  site  farther  east,  Kewanee  was  platted  (in 
1854)  on  either  side  of  the  Military  Tract  Railroad  and  commenced  to  draw 
from  the  strength  of  the  colony — its  churches,  its  schools  and  its  business  houses. 

The  several  colonies  which  were  planted  in  Henry  County  in  the  late  '30s 
brought  to  this  Far  West  region  the  seeds  of  education  from  New  England, 
New  York  and  even  continental  Europe.  Cambridge  was  settled  by  stray  pio- 
neers about  the  time  a  party  of  men  and  women  from  the  Genesee  country  of 
New  York  occupied  the  site  of  a  town  they  called  Geneseo.  One  of  the  most 
prominent  of  these  colonists  was  R.  R.  Stewart.  The  New  York  colonists  spread 
over  nearly  20,000  acres  in  the  western  townships  of  the  county,  including  O  - 
and  Colona.  The  Wethersfield  Colony,  composed  of  Connecticut  emigrants  under 
the  guidance  of  Dr.  Caleb  J.  Tenney,  a  leading  Congregational  minister,  first 
located  around  Andover  shortly  before  the  county  was  organized,  but  after- 
ward continued  their  enterprise  in  the  Kewanee  region. 

Still  farther  south  in  what  is  Henry  County,  and  more  than  a  decade  after 
the  coming  of  the  Wethersfield  colonists,  Eric  Janson  and  his  1,100  who  had 
broken  away  from  the  Lutherans  in  Sweden  founded  Bishop  Hill,  near  the  south- 
ern line  of  the  county.  A  few  months  afterward,  in  January,  1847,  its  colonists 
opened  an  English  school ;  and,  as  stated,  the  members  of  the  other  earlier  col- 
onies in  Henry  County  were  placing  instructors  over  their  children  soon  after 
they  were  planted  on  the  new  frontier. 

THE  FOUNDERS   OF  THE  BISHOP   HILL   COLONY 

As  the  founding,  development  and  dissolution  of  the  Bishop  Hill  colony 
form  a  most  interesting  chapter  in  the  history  of  Henry  County,  it  is  considered 
fortunate  that  the  projectors  and  builders  of  this  history  were  able  to  secure  a 
full,  attractive  and  authentic  narrative  tracing  the  planting  and  dispersal  of 
the  Bishop  Hill  Colony  from  its  old-world  origin  to  its  natural  distribution 
under  the  kinder  influences  of  American  communities.  The  author  is  Philip  J. 
Stoneberg,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  founders  of  the  colony,  and  his  paper 
follows : — 

About  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  southwest  of  Chicago,  in  the  south- 
eastern part  of  Henry  County,  Illinois,  there  is  a  little  village  by  the  name  of 
Bishop  Hill.  This  rural  community  has  several  large  brick  buildings,  the  rea- 
son for  whose  presence  in  such  a  small  town  one  might  be  disposed  to  ask. 
But  when  the  fact  is  ascertained  that  these  buildings  were  once  built  and 
occupied  by  a  good  sized  communistic  settlement  which  laid  the  foundations 
of  the  town  and  made  it  their  principal  scene  of  activity  for  about  fifteen  years, 
there  appears  to  be  an  answer. 

The  history  of  the  social  organization  which  existed  at  Bishop  Hill  more 
than  thirty  years  ago  takes  ,us  back  into  the  first  half  of  the  last  century  and 


662  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

across  the  ocean  to  the  European  Kingdom  of  Sweden.  We  shall  learn  that 
there  was,  at  the  bottom,  a  religious  motive  whose  pursuit  \  culminated  in  a 
colony  on  the  prairies  of  Illinois. 

On  the  19th  of  December,  1808,  there  was  born  fin  one  of  the  parishes  of 
central  Sweden  a  boy  who  in  his  manhood  years  was  to  become  the  most  im- 
portant individual  in  the  .founding  of  the  Bishop  Hill  Colony.  At  his  con- 
firmation at  the  age  of  fifteen  he  showed  a  marked  ability  in  dealing  with 
religious  subjects.  As  he  became  older  his  interest  in  matters  ,  theological  in- 
creased and  he  employed  his  spare  moments,  when  he  was  not  attending  to  his 
farm  duties,  in  studying  i  devotional  books  by  Luther,  Arndt,  Nohrburg,  and 
others,    At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  wrote  poems  and  short  compositions. 

He  discarded,  presently,  all  religious  books  except  the  Bible.  He  declared 
that  the  Bible  was  all  sufficient  for  study  and  meditation  and  that  it  alone  was 
the  guide  to  salvation  from  sin.  He  held  that  belief  in  God  and  Christ  led 
to  a  complete  forgiveness  of  sins. 

In  the  beginning  of  January,  1843,  he  made  a  journey  to  the  distant  prov- 
ince of  Helsingland  to  look  up  others  of  a  like  devotional  turn  of  mind.  These 
men  and  women  sought  a  life  of  conscientious  morality  by  private  devotions 
and  a  frequent  study  of  the  Scriptures  in  their  homes,  receiving  the  nickname 
of  ' '  devotionalists. ' ' 

Janson  stopped  one  night  at  the  farm  home  of  Jonas  Olson  who,  with  his 
brother  Olof,  was  an  ardent  devotionalist.  Janson  attended  a  gathering  of 
spiritually  minded  men  and  women  and  made  a  deep  and  favorable  impres- 
sion.   A  number  of  places  were  visited  by  Janson  upon  this  journey. 

He  started  out  on  his  second  trip  towards  the  end  of  February  and  did  not 
arrive  home  until  the  close  of  April,  visiting  upwards  of  a  dozen  parishes.  He 
then  remained  at  home  for  about  two  months,  attending  to  his  family  affairs, 
whereupon  he  made  a  third  trip  to  Helsingland.  This  time  he  met  with  con- 
siderable hatred  on  the  part  of  the  clergy  who  had  combined  to  drive  him  out. 
Near  the  close  of  1843  he  made  his  fourth  journey  northward  and  settled  in 
that  region  with  his  family. 

The  number  of  those  increased  who  believed  in  the  doctrines  and  ideas 
which  Janson  expressed.  Several  men  who  had  the  gift  of  oratory  and  exhorta- 
tion conducted  meetings  in  private  houses  in  various  parishes  in  central  Sweden ; 
and  such  persons  as  believed  in  the  principles  expounded  were  urged  to  prac- 
tice them  in  order  that  pious  lives  might  be  the  result. 

In  the  eyes  of  conservative  laymen  and  clerics  of  the  Church,  the  new  move- 
ment was  fanatical  and  ought  to  be  suppresed.  The  name  of  Jansonism  was 
given  to  it,  and  that  of  Jansonists  to  the  believers  themselves,  on  account  of 
the  important  part  of  Eric  Janson  in  the  revival. 

The  Jansonistic  disbelief  in  the  use  of  books  other  than  the  Bible  was  em- 
phasized before  long  as  strongly  as  it  could  well  be  done.  In  a  certain  village 
on  the  11th  of  June,  1844,  a  large  number  of  religious  books,  excepting  the 
Bible,  the  Hymn  book,  and  the  catechism  were  thrown  into  a  heap  and  ignited. 
The  fire  consumed  one  book  after  another,  so  that  in  a  few  minutes  a  few 
charred  scraps  fluttering  about  on  the  blackened  ground  were  all  that  was  left, 
in  October  of  the  same  year  a  similar  event  took  place  in  another  parish  when 
not  even  the  hymn  book  and  the  catechism  were  spared.  And  still  a  third 
bonfire  of  theological  tomes  was  brought  about,  as  if  the  passion  for  such  deeds 
was  becoming  insatiable. 

If  the  religious  views  of  the  Jansonists  were  provoking  opposition — if  sim- 
ple devotional  gatherings  in  private  houses  were  regarded  by  the  churchly 
authority  as  unseemly,  then  with  what  feeling  of  horror  must  not  the  burning 
of  religious  books  have  been  viewed  by  the  conservative  as  well  as  the  ultra- 
orthodox!  For  these  bold  acts  the  perpetrators  were  visited  by  the  law  and 
required  to  pay  fines. 

It  would  be  natural  to  suppose  that  the  leader  in  the  new  religious  move- 


I'.    HAMMOND 
Geneseo  Centenarian,     Prom  photograph  taken  in  187(i 


664  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

ment  would  be  subjected  to  a  great  deal  of  persecution.  And  so  he  was. 
Janson  was  placed  under  arrest  six  different  times  within  the  same  two  years. 
His  first  taste  of  prison  was  in  the  parish  of  Osterunda  for  his  pronounced 
activities.  Shortly  after  he  was  set  free  by  the  court.  But  it  was  not  long 
before  he  was  again  placed  in  bonds  and  transported,  this  time,  to  the  prison  in 
the  city  of  Gefle,  whence  he  was  removed  to  another  place.  Through  the 
intercession  of  four  of  his  devoted  co-workers  at  the  court  of  the  King,  Janson 
was  set  free  once  more.  In  September,  1844,  he  was  arrested  for  the  third 
time  but  was  released,  though  he  was  put  into  custody  soon  after  for  his  part 
in  burning  devotional  books. 

After  another  brief  interval  of  freedom  Janson  found  himself  within  the 
prison  walls  on  Christmas  Day.  Here  he  remained  for  nearly  four  months 
when  he  was  set  free  in  April,  1845,  through  a  petition  to  the  King.  But  be- 
cause of  his  bold  utterances  and  gaining  popularity  he  seemed  to  be  a  target 
for  the  police  authorities.  He  was  in  hiding  for  fifteen  weeks  when  he  decided 
to  give  himself  up  voluntarily  to  the  court  in  the  parish  of  Delsbo.  Here  he 
was  put  on  trial.  After  the  argument  in  the  case  was  over,  the  judge  concluded 
to  acquit  the  prisoner;  but  because  the  opposition  to  Janson  was  exceedingly 
bitter,  it  was  thought  best  to  conduct  him  to  the  prison  at  Gefle.  While  he  was 
being  conveyed  thither  to  what  it  was  believed  a  life  imprisonment,  he  was 
rescued  in  a  daring  manner  by  four  of  his  faithful  brethren,  after  which  he 
made  good  his  escape  wandering  from  one  parish  to  another,  hiding  in  this 
farmhouse  and  that,  until  at  length  he  crossed  the  mountains  and  came  to  one 
of  the  ports  of  Norway  whence  he  took  sail  for  America  in  January,  1846,  by 
way  of  Denmark,  England  and  Germany;  in  the  party  were  himself,  his  wife 
and  two  children  and  three  other  persons. 

Let  us  now  go  back  and  find  out  what  befell  some  of  Janson 's  co-workers. 
In  the  summer  of  1844  a  complaint  was  made  by  a  parish  priest  against  a 
number  of  persons  because  of  their  religious  faith  and  each  one  was  fined  a 
considerable  sum  of  money.  In  December  of  the  same  year  the  brothers  Olof 
and  Jonas  Olson  were  arrested  for  preaching  in  the  open  air,  but  were  released 
when  it  was  learned  that  they  were  summoned  to  appear  before  the  church 
authorities  at  Upsala.  A  man  high  in  judicial  circles  kindly  helped  them  out  of 
their  dilemma. 

On  New  Year's  Eve  Jonas  Olson  was  arrested  and  brought  to  Gefle  where 
he  was  incarcerated  among  prisoners  whom  he  himself  as  an  officer  of  the 
crown  had  formerly  sentenced.  He  was  shortly  released.  Sometime  afterwards 
the  two  brothers,  Olof  and  Jonas  Olson,  were  summoned,  for  the  second  time, 
to  appear  before  an  assembly  of  the  clergy  at  Upsala.  They  were  now  threatened 
with  banishment  if  they  persisted  in  conducting  devotional  gatherings. 

On  one  occasion  Jonas  Olson  was  fined  for  reading  a  passage  from  the 
Scriptures  and  reciting  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  a  private  house.  In  a  certain 
parish  his  brother  Olof  was  fined  one  hundred  crowns  for  a  similar  proceeding ; 
and  since  his  conduct  was  regarded  by  the  authorities  as  "Sabbath-breaking" 
he  was  fined  ten  crowns  more ! 

On  the  forenoon  of  May  12,  1845,  a  devotional  meeting  was  in  progress  in 
a  private  house  in  the  parish  of  Osterunda.  While  one  of  the  guests,  Olof 
Stoneberg,  was  reading  a  portion  of  Scriptures  several  men  forced  their  way 
in  and  assaulted  him.  On  the  next  Sabbath  the  same  Stoneberg  was  reading 
from  the  Bible  to  a  gathering  in  another  house,  when  a  mob  of  men  appeared 
in  the  yard,  including  the  priest.  Only  after  repeated  orders  of  the  crown 
officer  present  did  the  crowd  disperse. 

THE  JANSONISTS  LEAVE   SCANDINAVIA 

From  the  instances  given  it  is  evident  that  the  Jansonists  were  subjected  to 
persecutions.  Furthermore,  they  were  denied  to  partake  of  the  eucharist.  They 
were  also  deprived  of  the  rights  to  testify  in  the  courts  of  law,  being  thereby 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  665 

deprived  and  rendered  helpless  is  legal  actions  against  themselves.  In  view 
of  all  this,  it  appears  that  these  men  and  women  were  being  shorn  of  those 
old-time  rights,  privileges,  and  pleasures  to  which  they  as  well  as  their  fore- 
fathers had  been  aeeiistomed.  Two  courses  remained  open  to  them:  the  one,  to 
renounce  their  newly-begotten  ideas  on  religion  and  dwell  unmolested  among 
the  lakes  and  mountains  of  their  childhood  days;  the  other  to  adhere  to  their 
beliefs  and  depart  for  a  land  far  away  across  the  rough  billows  of  the  deep. 
They  chose  the  latter  course. 

Before  he  left  Scandinavia,  Eric  Janson  had,  with  some  of  his  friends, 
determined  upon  a  plan  for  the  emigration  of  the  Jansonists  to  America,  the 
land  which  was  known  to  he  a  haven  for  the  persecuted  and  oppressed.  It  was 
thought  that  it  would  he  best  for  all  to  live  together  in  one  community  in  the 
western  world,  for  spiritual  as  well  as  economic  benefit.  Janson,  it  should 
lie  said,  had  developed  exalted  notions  of  himself  since  he  first  began  to  preach. 
He  now  was  coming  to  regard  himself  as  the  representative  of  Christ  in  the 
New  Jerusalem  which  he  and  his  followers  would  build  in  the  new  world.  He 
compiled  a  hymn-book  and  wrote  a  catechism  which  were  to  be  used  in  the  new 
community,  both  being  published  in  Soderhamn  in  1846.  Thus  from  a  spiritual 
view  the  establishment  of  a  colony  was  desirable. 

From  the  economic  standpoint  it  was  believed  that  one  social  organization 
would  be  necessary  and  that  this  must  be  based  on  a  community  of  goods.  In  the 
first  place  some  of  the  Jansonists  were  penniless,  others  had  but  small  means, 
while  some  were  well-to-do.  If  all  should  obtain  transportation  across  the  ocean 
and  later  in  America  to  their  ultimate  destination  it  would  be  necessary  for 
all  to  put  their  means  into  a  common  fund.  In  the  second  place  the  welfare  of 
every  individual  in  the  new  home  would  require  a  common  treasury  out  of 
which  to  pay  for  the  necessaries  of  life  until  the  people  could  obtain  food  and 
raiment   through  their  own  labors. 

.Mindful  of  the  apostolic  plan,  Eric  Janson  appointed  seven  men  as  leaders 
of  the  emigration.  Chief  of  them  were  Jonas  Olson,  Andrew  Berglund,  Olof 
Johnson,  and  Olof  Stoneberg.  These  should  have  charge  of  a  common  fund 
out  of  which  all  debts  should  be  paid  which  rested  upon  any  individuals  who 
were  anxious  to  join  in  the  emigration.  The  transportation  of  every  emigrant 
should  also  be  paid  out  of  this  fund,  while  the  money  that  remained  over  and 
above  these  expenditures  should  be  used  in  the  establishment  of  the  new  colony. 
The  common  treasury  was  created  by  the  contributions  of  the  Jansonists  who 
Bold  persona]  property  of  all  kinds,  houses  and  lands  to  the  extent  of  their 
individual   possessions. 

When  it  is  realized  that  upwards  of  a  thousand  persons  were  willing  to 
emigrate,  it  is  seen  that  the  undertaking  was  not  a  small  affair  for  those  days. 
Passes  must  be  obtained  from  the  authorities  a  difficult  matter  in  some  cases. 
Furthermore,  an  ocean  voyage  in  those  days  was  not  so  inviting  as  now.  The 
ships  were  small  and  uncomfortable,  some  being  old  and  unseaworthy.  The 
emigrants  assembled  in  the  ports  of  Goteborg,  Soderhamn,  Stockholm  and  Gefle, 
and  from  these  points  the  ships  for  America  made  their  departure.  The  first 
shipload  of  emigrants  that  left  Soderhamn  suffered  shipwreck  on  the  Swedish 
coast.  One  ship  with  half  a  hundred  passengers  was  entirely  lost.  Another 
was  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Newfoundland.  One  vessel  was  five  months  on 
the  voyage. 

SITE  OF  BISIIOl'   HILL   COLONY   SELECTED 

Already  in  1845  Olof  Olson  had  left  Sweden  for  America,  with  a  commission 
to  examine  the  country  with  the  view  of  finding  some  suitable  region  for  a 
settlement.  In  New  York  he  became  acquainted  with  a  countryman  of  his  by 
the  name  of  Olof  Hedstrom,  a  Methodist  minister,  who  preached  regularly  in 
an  old  discarded  ship  fitted  up  into  a  meeting  house.    Hedstrom  had  a  brother, 


666  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Jonas,  who  lived  at  Victoria,  a  small  village  in  Knox  County,  Illinois.  Olof 
Olson  was  persuaded  to  visit  the  latter  and  examine  the  Illinois  country  which 
was  receiving-  considerable  attention  at  that  time  because  of  its  agricultural 
possibilities.  He  came  to  Illinois,  he  saw  rich  rolling  prairies,  and  was  con- 
quered. 

In  July,  1846,  Eric  Janson  together  with  a  few  followers,  arrived  in  the 
village  of  Victoria,  Knox  County,  Illinois.  After  further  observations  had 
been  made  a  piece  of  property  was  bought  in  the  next  county  on  the  north. 
This  property  was  bought  for  $250  on  the  first  day  of  August  in  the  name  of 
Olof  Olson  and  consisted  of  sixty  acres  of  land.  On  the  21st  of  August  the 
party  purchased  in  the  same  county  for  a  consideration  of  $1,100  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty-six  acres  with  buildings,  livestock  and  grain.  Hither 
moved  Janson,  Olof  Olson  and  the  rest  of  the  party.  After  a  further  examina- 
tion of  the  neighborhood  a  location  for  the  colony  was  picked  out.  This  site 
was  secured  on  September  26,  1846,  when  four  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of 
government  land  were  bought  at  $1.25  per  acre.  Thus  a  beginning  was  made 
to  bring  the  Bishop  Hill  Colony  into  existence,  a  settlement  named  after  the 
Swedish  parish  where  Eric  Janson  was  born. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year  a  number  of  emigrants  arrived  in  New  York.  There 
was  no  Statue  of  Liberty  in  the  harbor  to  remind  them  of  the  freedom  offered 
in  the  United  States.  They  did  not  need,  however,  any  especial  reminders 
to  what  they  had  come.  Here  they  knew  they  would  be  free  to  exercise  their 
religious  beliefs  and  would  be  accorded  fair  treatment.  From  New  York  City 
the  journey  was  made  up  the  Hudson  River  to  Troy  or  Albany,  and  thence  on 
the  Erie  Canal  to  Buffalo,  and  from  Buffalo  by  way  of  the  Great  Lakes  to 
Chicago.  Horses  and  wagons  were  purchased  in  Chicago  for  the  conveyance  of 
the  weak  and  the  sick,  and  of  the  baggage.  The  able-bodied  walked  the  entire 
distance  of  the  final  destination,  a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles. 

A  large  body  of  emigrants  arrived  in  Bishop  Hill  in  October,  and  to  accom- 
modate them  dug-outs  were  made  in  the  hillsides.  In  these  dug-outs  two  tiers  of 
beds  were  placed  along  each  wall.  The  dug-outs  proved  to  be  unsanitary  and 
much  sickness  resulted.  Radical  changes  in  diet  too,  were  injurious  to  the 
settlers.  These  conditions,  together  with  the  malaria  fevers  which  rose  out  of 
the  lowlands  on  the  prairies  caused  many  deaths. 

THE  SETTLEMENT  GROWS 

In  the  spring  of  1847  re-enforcements  were  received.  A  number  of  the  men 
who  then  arrived  were  put  to  erecting  a  wall  of  turf  around  the  entire  settle- 
ment. As  the  years  rolled  by  new  bands  of  settlers  came  and  kept  up  the  vigor 
and  spirit  of  the  colony.  Attention  to  their  spiritual  wants  and  desires  was  natu- 
rally uppermost  in  the  minds  of  the  colonists.  To  this  end  they  erected  a  church 
in  the  fall  of  1846.  This  was  built  out  of  canvas  and  was  in  the  shape  of  a  cross. 
It  seated  about  eight  hundred  persons.  Every  morning  Janson  called  the 
people  to  the  hour  of  prayer  in  the  church.  For  two  years  "the  tent  church" 
stood  intact  when  it  was  accidentally  destroyed  by  fire.  The  neighboring  woods 
were  then  utilized  as  a  temple  of  worship  during  mild  weather  until  a  new 
church  was  built  in  1848.  The  new  edifice  was  constructed  of  wood  with  adobe 
between  the  plastering  and  the  siding.  The  lower  story  and  the  basement  were 
fitted  up  into  dwelling  rooms,  while  the  second  story  was  the  hall  of  worship. 
Here  religious  services  were  held  every  evening  throughout  the  year,  the  meet- 
ing sometimes  lasting  until  late  at  night.  On  the  Sabbath  two  services  were 
conducted.  About  a  half  dozen  men  took  turns  in  leading  these  meetings  in 
the  capacity  of  preachers  and  exhorters. 

Although  the  Jansonists  had  not,  as  a  people,  had  any  especial  opportunities 
to  learn  to  read  and  write  and  reekon,  yet  they  believed  in  education.  During 
the  first  winter  a  school  for  adults  was  conducted  in  the  tent  church.     The  next 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  667 

year  a  school  in  the  English  language  was  opened,  presided  over  by  a  Pres- 
byterian clergyman  who  had  sonic  assistance  in  the  teaching  at  times.  Twelve 
young  men  in  particular  were  given  instruct  ion  in  the  use  of  English  in  order 
that  they  might  go  forth  and  be  apostles  of  Jansonism.  Later  certain  spacious 
rooms  in  one  of  the  brick  buildings  were  devoted  to  school  purposes,  a  man  and 
his  wife  doing  the  teaching  a  few  years.  Towards  the  last  year's  of  the  colony 
a  large  brick  schoolhouse  was  built. 

With  the  increase  in  population  from  one  year  to  the  next,  the  leaders 
soon  Baw  thai  better  and  larger  buildings  must  be  had.  So  the  industry  of 
making  bricks  was  started  near  the  village  through  the  finding  of  suitable  clay. 
Thenceforth  huge,  substantia]  buildings  of  brick  were  erected,  most  of  which 
are  standing  today  as  impressive  reminders  of  the  wisdom  of  the  pioneers. 

The  colonists  having  been  for  the  most  part  agricultural  people  in  Sweden. 
naturally  followed  the  same  work  in  the  new  world.  The  products  of  the  middle 
west  were  soon  understood,  and  fields  of  Indian  corn,  oats,  wheat,  broom  corn 
and  hay  were  cultivated  with  care  and  industry.  Oxen  were  used  extensively 
and  the  care  of  them  was  assigned  to  the  older  boys.  A  large  number  of  horses 
were  also  utilized.  The  main  headquarters  of  the  farming  operations  were  at 
the  village,  but  there  were  a  number  of  sub-stations  besides  where  gangs  of 
workmen  relieved  each  other  at  fixed  intervals.  During  the  busy  season  other 
labor  was  lessened  or  suspended  for  that  in  the  fields,  and  men,  women,  and 
children  over  fourteen  years  of  age  worked  side  by  side.  Sometimes  at  the 
close  of  a  day's  work  in  the  harvest  field  the  laborers  all  formed  a  line  of  march, 
and  singing  the  songs  dear  to  them,  they  returned  to  the  village  to  partake 
of  the  evening  meal  in  the  large  dining  hall  in  one  of  the  brick  buildings. 

The  entire  work  of  the  colony  was  apportioned  with  care  and  system  among 
the  several  hundred  members.  Since  there  was  a  great  need  of  the  men  in  the 
trades  and  in  farming,  the  women  were  given  a  number  of  tasks  to  perform. 
A  certain  number  of  women  milked  the  cows;  some  had  the  care  of  the  calves; 
others  worked  in  the  dairy. 

The  village  contained  a  general  merchandise  store  and  post  office,  a  smithy, 
a  brewery  for  making  small  beer,  a  weaving  establishment,  a  dye  house,  a 
hotel,  a  flour  mill,  a  hospital,  a  laundry.  There  were  wagon,  furniture,  harness, 
tailor  and  shoemaking  shops.  The  tailor  shop  employed  six  men  and  three 
women.  The  smithy  boasted  seven  forges,  while  the  wagon  shops  were  widely 
known  for  the  excellent  character  of  their  work.  The  weaving  establishment 
contained  twelve  reels  and  twelve  handlooms ;  besides  one  hundred  and  forty 
spinning  wheels  were  distributed  among  the  women  of  the  community.  About 
12. .")()()  yards  of  woven  goods  were  made  in  1848  while  the  output  was  over 
31,600  yards  in  1851. 

The  surplus  products  of  the  shop  or  of  the  farm  were  sold  in  various 
towns  in  the  northwestern  and  northeastern  parts  of  the  state.  The  nearest 
.markets  were  many  miles  away.  Sometimes  trips  were  made  to  Chicago  to 
dispose  of  products  of  the  colony  and  purchase  needful  things  in  return. 

THE    CHOLERA    AND    GOLD    FEVER 

In  August,  1849,  a  few  Norwegians  arrived  in  the  colony  carrying  with  them 
that  dread  disease  known  as  the  Asiatic  cholera.  A  child  of  six  years  succumbed 
to  the  awful  malady  after  which  the  disease  spread  in  earnest.  Men  rose  in 
the  morning  strong  and  well,  were  indisposed  the  next  day  and  in  the  throes 
of  death  the  third.  So  frequent  were  the  deaths  that  there  was  not  time  to 
make  the  coffins  of  other  than  unplaned  boards.  Seventy  persons  died  at  the 
new  farm  near  Orion,  while  dozens  breathed  their  last  in  the  village.  After 
three  weeks  the  epidemic  ceased  to  rage,  leaving  sadness  and  sorrow  in  its  wake. 

The  gold  fever  of  1848-50  penetrated  the  colony  on  the  Illinois  prairies  as 


668  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

it  did  every  part  of  the  Union.  It  was  decided  that  a  small  company  should 
set  out  to  prospect  for  gold  in  California  for  the  benefit  of  the  Colony.  Nine 
men  composed  the  party.  Securing  some  of  the  best  horses  and  a  supply  of 
provisions  they  began  their  long  journey  in  the  month  of  March.  After  various 
hardships  they  arrived  on  California  soil  near  the  middle  of  August.  Gold 
was  hard  to  find,  however,  and  their  dreams  of  sudden  wealth  were  rudely 
shattered  one  by  one.  Towards  the  end  of  September  one  of  the  men  died 
of  mountain  fever.  The  party  remained  only  a  few  months  longer,  making  but 
a  few  hundred  dollars  during  the  time  they  were  there. 

THE  MURDER  OF  ERIC  JANSON 

In  the  meantime  important  occurrences  were  taking  place  in  the  colony. 
An  adventurer  named  John  Root  had  fallen  in  love  with  one  of  the  maidens. 
The  two  were  married  with  the  provision  that  if  at  any  time  in  the  future 
Root  desired  to  leave  the  colony  he  might  do  so  but  that  he  would  not  be  per- 
mitted to  take  his  wife  with  him  without  her  consent.  The  day  came  when 
Root  wanted  to  leave.  His  wife  being  unwilling  he  took  her  away  in  a  buggy  by 
force  at  noon  while  the  people  were  at  dinner.  Soon  after,  Mrs.  Root's  sister 
discovered  what  had  happened  and  gave  the  alarm.  Several  men  took  the 
fleetest  horses  and  set  out  in  pursuit  and  overtook  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Root  on  the 
prairie.    Root  was  then  compelled  to  give  up  his  wife. 

Some  time  later  Root  succeeded  in  spiriting  his  wife  away  to  the  city  of 
Chicago.  News  of  her  whereabouts  leaked  out,  however,  and  she  was  brought 
back  through  the  agency  of  some  of  her  friends.  Root  now  became  thoroughly 
incensed  and  by  a  great  deal  of  energy  gathered  a  mob  to  destroy  the  village. 
Affairs  looked  serious  for  a  while,  when  the  mob  finally  dispersed.  Root  had 
decided,  nevertheless,  to  have  his  innings  with  the  colonj^  and  with  Eric  Janson 
in  particular.  May  13,  1850,  attending  to  some  law  suits,  and  as  Janson  was 
talking  with  his  attorney  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  courthouse  at  the  noon- 
hour  that  day,  Root  appeared  at  the  doorway,  drew  his  pistol  and  shot  Janson 
dead.  For  this  crime  Root  was  afterwards  sentenced  to  a  term  in  the  State 
Penitentiary  but  served  only  a  part  of  it,  being  pardoned  by  the  Governor. 

The  colony  was  now  face  to  face  with  a  serious  occurrence,  the  death  of 
Eric  Janson.  He  who  had  been  the  spiritual  head  of  the  colony,  blessing  this 
individual  and  cursing  that  one;  he  who  had  been  the  superintendent  of  the 
economic  affairs  as  well,  appointing  men  to  one  task  or  another,  buying  and 
selling  products  and  property — he  was  gone  forever  from  the  stage  of  life. 

What,  then,  of  the  future?  Janson,  it  was  understood,  had  on  numerous 
occasions  asserted  that  the  leadership  of  the  colony  should  always  be  hereditary 
within  his  own  family.  Therefore  on  the  day  of  Janson 's  funeral  Mrs.  Janson 
appointed  Andrew  Bergland  regent  until  her  son,  Eric,  should  become  of  age. 
But  the  idea  that  the  Janson  family  should  continue  to  possess  supreme  power 
was  not  destined  to  last  long.  The  people,  it  soon  appeared,  had  been  assimilating 
the  principles  of  democratic  rule  from  their  contact  with  American  customs. 

OLSON   SUCCEEDS    JANSON 

When  Jonas  Olson  returned  from  California  in  1851  he  assumed  the  leader- 
ship of  affairs  and  later,  January  17,  1853,  the  colony  was  formally  organized 
under  a  state  charter  with  a  board  of  seven  trustees,  consisting  of  Olof  Johnson, 
Jonas  Olson,  Jonas  Ericson,  Jacob  Jacobson,  Jonas  Kronberg,  Swan  Swanson, 
and  Peter  Johnson.  The  last  named  trustee  resigned  his  office  January  10,  1859, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Olof  Stoneberg.  The  charter  provided  that  the  trustee 
should  hold  office  during  good  behavior,  but  that  they  were  liable  to  removal 
for  good  cause  by  a  vote  of  the  majority  of  the  male  members  of  the  colony. 


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670  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Vacancies  in  the  office  of  trustee  were  to  be  filled  in  such  manner  as  should 
be  provided  by  the  by-laws.  The  trustees  were  to  have  the  power  of  making 
contracts,  to  purchase  real  estate  and  again  convey  the  same  whenever  they 
thought  it  proper  to  do  so.  The  business  of  the  corporation  should  be  manu- 
facturing, milling,  all  kinds  of  mechanical  business,  agriculture  and  merchan- 
dising. 

THE   LAWS   OF   THE    COLONY 

The  by-laws  were  adopted  May  6,  1854,  and  were  signed  by  316  adult 
members.  In  the  course  of  time  the  total  number  of  adult  signers  rose  to  526. 
The  by-laws  provided  that  any  person  sustaining  a  good  moral  character  might 
become  a  member  of  the  colony  by  transferring  to  the  trustees  thereof  all  his 
real  and  personal  property  and  subscribing  to  the  by-laws.  The  board  of  trustees 
was  empowered  to  determine  the  question  of  moral  character  and  admission 
and  a  majority  of  the  trustees  should  constitute  a  quorum  for  that  purpose. 
The  trustees  might,  in  their  discretion,  refer  the  question  of  admission  to  a 
vote  of  the  adult  male  members  of  the  colony.  On  the  withdrawal  or  discon- 
tinuance of  membership  a  person  was  entitled  to  no  compensation  or  pay  for 
any  services  or  labor  that  he  might  have  performed  during  the  time  he  may 
have  been  a  member.  The  trustees  might,  however,  at  their  option,  give  to 
such  person  or  persons  such  things,  whether  money  or  property,  as  they  should 
deem  right  and  proper.  Any  member  guilty  of  disturbing  the  peace  and 
harmony  of  the  colony  by  vicious  and  wicked  conduct  or  by  preaching  and 
disseminating  doctrines  of  religious  belief  contrary  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
Bible  generally  received  and  believed  by  the  people  might  be  expelled. 

The  by-laws  further  stated  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  trustees  to  regulate 
and  direct  the  various  industrial  pursuits  and  business  of  the  colony  in  person 
or  by  such  agents  or  foremen  as  they  might  see  fit  to  appoint  from  time  to  time 
and  to  require  such  agents  or  foremen  to  account  to  them  in  such  manner  as 
they  should  deem  proper.  Annually  on  the  second  Monday  of  January  a 
meeting  of  the  adult  members  was  to  take  place  for  the  general  transaction 
of  business.  At  this  meeting  the  trustees  were  required  to  make  a  full  and 
complete  report  of  the  financial  condition  and  affairs  of  the  colony  for  the 
year  ending  on  the  Saturday  previous.  Special  meetings  might  be  called  by 
the  board  or  by  a  majority  of  the  male  members  by  signifying  their  request 
to  the  trustees  in  writing  five  days  in  advance. 

The  by-laws  provided  that  the  property  and  industry  and  the  proceeds 
thereof  belonging  to  the  colony  should  constitute  a  common  fund  from  which 
the  trustees  were  required  to  provide  for  the  subsistence,  comfort  and  reasonable 
wants  of  every  member  of  the  colony ;  for  the  support  of  the  aged  and  infirm ; 
for  the  care  and  cure  of  the  sick  and  the  burial  of  the  dead ;  and  for  the  proper 
education  of  the  children  and  the  transaction  of  all  business  necessary  to  the 
prosperity  of  the  colony. 

At  the  death  of  Eric  Janson  the  colony  was  in  debt  to  the  extent  of  $8,000 
and  affairs  were  not  in  the  best  shape,  but  after  its  organization  under  the 
charter  the  colony  assumed  a  prosperous  air  and  gradually  but  continually 
increased  in  property.  More  land  was  purchased  and  paid  for,  new  buildings 
were  erected  and  various  improvements  were  made. 

ASSISTS  IN   FOUNDING   GALVA 

In  the  year  1854  the  colony  did  a  large  amount  of  work  in  building  up  the 
village  of  Galva  five  miles  southeast  of  Bishop  Hill.  That  village  originally 
received  the  name  of  Gefle  in  honor  of  Olof  Johnson,  whose  birthplace  was 
the  Swedish  city  of  Gefle,  but  this  word  was  soon  anglicized  into  the  word  Galva. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLKY  671 

The  first  report  of  the  trustees  under  the  charter  organization  was  made  Jan- 
uary 22,  18.").").  According  to  tins  report  the  colony  owned  8,028  acres  of  land,  im- 
proved and  unimproved;  fifty  town  lots  in  (Jalva,  improved  and  unimproved 
valued  at  $10,000;  ten  shares  in  the  Central  Military  Tract  Railroad  valued  at 
+  1,000;  also  586  head  of  cattle,  10!)  horses  and  mules;  1,000  hogs,  and  divers 
poultry,  wheat,  flax,  broom-corn,  etc.  The  colony  likewise  possessed  other 
property  to  the  value  of  $31,471.02.  The  indebtedness  amounted  to  $13,370.97, 
leaving  a  balance  in  favor  of  the  colony  amounting'  to  $18,100.05. 

On  January  12,  1857,  the  report  for  the  year  1856  was  given,  showing  a 
balance  over  and  above  liabilities  of  $35,141.06.  The  net  increase  for  the  year 
1858  was  $55,281.84  and  for  the  year  1859  it  amounted  to  $30,968.78.  The 
net  value  of  the  entire  property  of  the  colony  on  the  11th  of  January,  1860, 
including  real  estate,  was  estimated  at  $770,631.94. 

While  thus  there  was  an  increase  of  property  there  was  on  the  other  hand 
an  increase  of  indebtedness  as  well.  The  report  covering  the  year  1854  showed 
a  debt  of  $13,370.91  and  that  for  1856  of  $59,136.39.  While  the  report  for 
1857  showed  a  decrease  to  $15,937.47,  that  for  1858  indicated  a  jump  to  $55,- 
919.74  and  that  for  1859  an  advance  to  the  sum  of  $75,645.64. 

This  state  of  affairs  led  many  to  believe  that  something  was  wrong.  Rumors 
got  abroad  among  the  members  that  the  trustees  were  not  making  and  manag- 
ing the  business  of  the  colony  in  a  proper  manner.  Some  became  suspicious  of 
Olof  Johnson,  who  had  been  the  agent  of  the  colony  for  a  few  years.  It  was 
held  that  he  had  engaged  in  transactions  which  proved  a  failure  and  plunged 
the  colony  more  deeply  in  debt.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  growth  of  the  debt 
coupled  with  dissatisfaction  with  the  business  management  of  the  trustees  and 
their  agent,  weakened  the  bonds  of  harmonious  cooperation  in  the  colony. 

PROGRESSIVE   DISSOLUTION 

At  first  it  was  whispered  and  later  stated  openly  that  a  good  many  were 
in  favor  of  a  division  of  the  property  and  a  dissolution  of  the  communistic 
ties.  As  the  colonies  came  in  contact  with  the  settlers  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  colony  they  saw  that  individual  work  for  individual  benefit  was  reaping 
large  returns.  Y"ears  had  now  passed  since  a  unity  of  religious  views  and  a 
common  sacrifice  had  drawn  these  pioneers  together.  There  was  not  preva- 
lent now  as  then  the  same  enthusiasm  for  a  common  cause.  The  rising 
generation  did  not  know  the  full  meaning  of  suffering  tribulations  for  the 
sake  of  certain  views  on  religion.  The  strenuousness  of  the  religious  system 
practiced  by  the  colonists  did  not  appeal  to  the  young  and  a  spirit  of  reac- 
tion  was  in  the  air. 

And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  early  in  the  year  1860  proceedings  were 
inaugurated  among  the  members  and  trustees  of  the  colony,  looking  to  a 
.final  division  of  the  property  of  the  colony  among  its  members,  after  paying 
and  discharging  its  corporate  debts  and  obligations,  and  to  a  final  dissolution 
of  the  corporation.  It  was  decided  that  an  adult  person  should  receive 
a  full  share  and  a  person  under  twenty  years  a  fractional  share  according  to 
age.  An  estimate  was  made  of  the  proportioned  amount  of  real  and  personal 
property  which  one  share  would  represent.  The  entire  property  of  the 
colony  was  then  divided  into  two  large  divisions  and  one  of  these  was  allotted 
to  what  was  called  "The  Olson  party"  which  represented  two  hundred  and 
sixty-five  shares,  and  the  other  to  "The  Johnson  party"  and  represented  one 
hundred  and  fifty  shares  in  the  colony. 

Committees  were  appointed  to  apportion  among  the  members  of  the  two 
parties  the  respective  portions  of  real  and  personal  property  which  the  share 
of  each  member  should  represent.  A  competent  surveyor  was  secured  to  survey 
the  real  estate  after  which  by  the  authority  of  the  county  surveyor  all  the 
lands  were  platted  according  to  the  surveys  made.     The  name  of  the  mem- 


672  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

ber  representing  each  tract,  with  the  courses  and  distances,  was  marked 
on  the  plats  which  were  finally  recorded  in  the  County  Recorder's  office. 

In  the  spring  of  1861  the  Johnson  party  perfected  the  individualization 
of  its  property,  and  the  Olson  party  took  the  same  step  in  March,  1862. 
The  basis  of  distribution  in  the  Johnson  party  was  as  follows :  To  every 
person,  male  and  female,  who  had  attained  the  age  of  thirty-five  years  a 
full  share  was  given,  consisting  of  about  twenty-two  acres,  one  timber  lot  and 
one  village  lot,  together  with  an  equal  part  of  all  barns,  horses,  cattle  and 
other  domestic  animals,  and  of  all  farming  implements  and  household  utensils. 
All  persons,  male  and  female,  under  thirty-five  years  received  a  share  cor- 
responding in  amount  and  value  to  the  age  of  the  individuals.  .The  smallest 
share  was  about  eight  acres  of  land,  a  small  town  and  timber  lot  and  a  part 
of  the  personal  property. 

Ten  thousand,  eight  hundred  and  fifty-seven  acres  of  land  were  thus  trans- 
ferred from  a  corporate  body  into  the  hands  of  a  large  number  of  individuals 
for  good  or  for  ill.  It  was  understood  that  the  members  should  not  receive 
deeds  to  the  respective  pieces  of  land  representing  their  shares  until  the 
corporate  debts  of  the  colony  were  paid,  or  until  the  individual  share-holders 
had  paid  their  due  proportion  of  the  same. 

Owing  to  the  facts  that  the  colonists  needed  the  immediate  fruits  of  their 
toil,  and  the  immediate  rents  and  profits  of  their  land,  to  enable  them  to  make 
needful  improvements  it  was  determined  that  the  corporation  would  attempt 
to  obtain  extensions  from  the  creditors  of  the  colony  until  such  time  as  the 
members  had  obtained  reasonable  start  and  could  contribute  their  shares  to 
pay  the  indebtedness  of   the   colony. 

In  August,  1865,  the  trustees  assessed  upon  the  shares  of  the  mem- 
bers $200  per  share  for  the  object  of  paying  colony  debts — $50  at  or  about 
the  time  of  assessment,  $50  about  three  months  later  and  the  balance,  $100,  about 
four  months  thereafter.  Deeds  were  afterwards  made  out  and  placed  in  escrow, 
to  be  delivered  to  the  share-holders  when  the  assessments  had  been  paid.  Many 
assessments,  however,  were  not  paid  so  that  a  large  part  of  the  debt  continued 
to  exist. 

In  March,  1868,  the  trustees  decided  that  it  was  best  to  complete  the  legal 
individualization  of  the  corporate  property  and  pay  all  liabilities.  At  that 
time  the  indebtedness  was  $158,000  having  been  increased  by  $48,000  since  1861, 
largely  because  of  the  heavy  rate  of  interest.  A  second  assessment  was  ac- 
cordingly made  upon  the  members  of  the  colony.  But  believing  that  at  that 
time  the  majority  of  the  members  were  unable  to  pay  their  assessments  in 
money,  the  trustees  thought  it  was  necessary  to  find  some  capitalist  who  would 
be  able  to  advance  moneys  or  assume  liabilities  for  said  members,  in  case  they 
were  unable  to  pay  their  respective  portions  of  liability,  and  give  such  mem- 
bers such  time  and  terms  as  would  enable  them  respectively  to  meet  the  same 
without  sacrifice  of  property.  And  so  the  trustees  entered  into  an  agreement 
with  Elias  Greenebaum  of  Chicago  to  perform  this  service  for  those  members 
who  desired  it,  upon  their  giving  him  individual  notes  and  mortgages. 

At  this  juncture  six  members  filed  a  bill  of  complaint  in  the  Henry  County 
Circuit  Court  against  the  trustees  of  the  colony.  This  lawsuit  proved  to  be 
expensive  and  accomplished  little  good.  It  was  first  ended  in  1879  on  the 
basis  of  a  compi'omise. 

The  religious  life  of  the  people  underwent  a  change  with  the  breakup 
of  the  colony.  A  process  of  division  set  in.  Some  persons  became  indifferent 
to  religion,  a  few  endeavored  to  remain  faithful  to  Jansonism,  a  good  many 
joined  the  Second  Adventist  denomination,  but  the  bulk  became  Methodists. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  history  of  the  Bishop  Hill  Colony.  It  shows  that  a 
people  will  undergo  many  hardships  for  the  sake  of  religious  freedom,  when 
once  it  puts  free  thought  above  authority.  It  shows,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
power  a  strong  man  can  exercise  over  his  fellow  beings  by  striking  the  chord 


THE  ROCK   RIVEB   VALLEY  673 

of  mutual  sympathy  and  implicit  faith.     It  shows,  further,  thai  a  communistic 

settlement  can  he  a  success  under  certain  conditions  for  a  certain  length 
of  time. 

The  founders  and  supporters  of  Bishop  Hill  Colony  made  mistakes  now 
and  then  and  did  not  always  practice  the  ethical  teachings  they  had  adopted. 
In  this  they  revealed  their  kinship  to  the  rest  of  mankind.  They  deserve 
admiration,  nevertheless,  for  having  shown  more  of  human  and  solid  char- 
acter than  multitudes  who  go  through  life  content  in  having  others  frame  their 
ideals  for  them. 

For  some  years  now  the  surviving  colonists,  their  descendants  and  friends 
have  met  in  the  village  on  the  23rd  of  September  for  a  sumptuous  dinner 
together  and  a  program  bearing  upon  the  founding  and  development  of  the 
colony.    In  this  way  the  varied  lessons  of  the  past  Will  be  not  forgotten. 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

On  September  23-24,  1896,  the  settlement  of  Bishop  Hill  was  celebrated 
by  a  semi-centennial  gathering  in  the  quaint  little  village.  It  was  well  at- 
tended by  descendants  of  the  colonists,  although  two  of  those  in  attendance 
who  had  continuously  resided  at  Bishop  Hill  came  over  with  the  first  of  the 
colonists  in  duly,  1846.  The  oldest  representative  was  Rev.  Jonas  Olson,  nearly 
94  years  of  age.  Peter  Wickblom  and  N.  G.  Hollander  were  both  87  years 
of  age,  the  former  delivering  one  of  the  addresses  at  the  celebration  exercises. 
The  principal  addresses  were  delivered  by  John  Root,  president  of  the  celebra- 
tion organization;  Rev.  Axel  Gabrielson,  the  local  Methodist  minister;  and 
mayor  of  Bishop  Hill;  Captain  Eric  Janson,  son  of  Eric  Janson,  founder 
of  the  colony,  then  a  resident  of  League  City,  Texas ;  and  Hon.  Jonas  W. 
Olson,  of  that  family  so  noted  in  the  founding  of  the  colony.  The  occasion 
was  commemorated  by  the  unveiling  of  a  monument  in  the  village  park,  upon 
the  face  of  it  being  inscribed  the  following:  ''1846 — Dedicated  to  the  memory 
of  the  hardy  pioneers  who,  in  order  to  secure  religious  liberty,  left  Sweden, 
their  native  land,  with  all  the  endearments  of  home  and  kindred,  and  founded 
Bishop  Hill  Colony  on  the  uninhabited  prairies  of  Illinois.  Erected  by  sur- 
viving members  and  descendants  on  the  50th  anniversary,  September  twenty- 
third,  1896." 

CONNECTING   EDWIN    A.   OLSON,   U.  S.    DISTRICT   ATTORNEY 

Edwin  A.  Olson,  United  States  District  Attorney  for  the  Northern  District 
of  Illinois,  for  many  years  (thirty-four  or  more)  an  honored  resident  of  Chi- 
cago, is  identified  with  the  southern  part  of  Henry  County  in  not  a  few  vital 
ways.  In  the  first  place  he  is  descended  from  one  of  the  original  members 
of  the  Bishop  Hill  Colony  and  he  was  born  in  Andover,  at  which  is  still 
located  the  family  homestead.  In  -July,  1924,  Mr.  Olson  was  the  principal 
speaker  at  a  celchrat ion  in  Andover  commemorating  the  seventy-fifth  anni- 
versary of  the  founding  of  the  Swedish  Methodist  Church  there,  a  religious 
organization  which  is  said  to  be  the  second  oldest  of  that  denomination  in  the 
world. 


674  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

THE    CITY    OF   KEWANEE 

The  City  of  Kewanee,  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Henry  County,  has  nearly 
half  the  population  of  the  county,  about  18,000  people.  In  1854,  the  original 
plat  was  laid  out  as  a  station  on  the  Central  Military  Tract  road  (afterward 
the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy).  Soon  after  the  town  was  laid  out,  the 
Catholics  organized  a  society  at  the  house  of  Matthew  Joyce,  which  occupied 
the  site  of  the  edifice  afterward  erected  by  St.  Mary's  Catholic  Church.  In 
August,  1855,  some  Congregationalists  from  Wethersfield  commenced  to  meet 
in  the  village  schoolhouse,  which  had  just  been  erected  and  about  the  same 
time  the  Dial,  through  its  editor,  J.  H.  Howe,  began  to  point  Kewanee 's  way 
to  a  bright  future.  In  1858,  the  Congregationalists  established  a  regular 
church,  with  Rev.  Charles  H.  Pierce  as  its  settled  pastor,  and  a  few  months 
later  the  Methodists  of  Weathersfield  colony,  who  had  been  meeting  in  a  school- 
house  about  a  mile  away,  moved  into  town.  The  Baptists  also  transferred 
their  headquarters  from  the  site  of  the  colony  to  the  new  railroad  town.  The 
Church  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints  was  an  early  religious  organization,  which 
did  not  originate  in  Wethersfield  colony.  It  was  first  established  in  1859  at 
Amboy,  Lee  County,  and  commenced  its  work  at  Kewanee  in  1862. 

One  of  the  secrets  of  Kewanee 's  advancement  is  her  vigorous  journalism. 
The  Dial  was  soon  purchased  by  C.  Bassett,  who  figured  prominently  in  local 
journalism.  In  1870,  he  bought  the  Kewanee  Radical  and  started  the  Ad- 
vertiser; subsequently,  the  Independent.  The  Kewanee  Courier  was  estab- 
lished in  March,  1876,  by  C.  N.  Whitney,  who  brought  an  outfit  from  Prince- 
ton, Bureau  County.  The  Star-Courier,  of  which  Mr.  Whitney's  publication 
was  the  originator,  Avas  first  issued  as  a  daily  (evening  paper,  except  Sunday) 
in  1894.  Leo  H.  Lowe,  who  is  both  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  daily  and 
weekly  Star-Courier  is  one  of  the  veteran  and  honored  men  of  the  Rock  River 
Valley.  Of  late  years,  it  has  become  more  and  more  evident  that  the  expanding 
industrial  element  should  have  a  mouthpiece  to  expound  and  exploit  their 
interests,  and  in  1920  this  need  was  met  by  the  establishment  of  the  Kewanee 
Labor  Bulletin.  '  ',      ,  ! 

The  city  has  fourteen  or  fifteen  labor  organizations.  It  is  credited  with 
nearly  4,000  wage  earners,  there  being  only  a  few  hundred  more  in  the  entire 
county  which  are  classed  as  industrial  workers.  Were  it  not  for  the  great 
Kewanee  Works  the  showing  would  be  even  more  pronounced  in  favor  of  the 
agriculturists  of  the  county.  Throughout  the  county  (substantially  Kewranee 
in  this  item)  the  different  industrial  plants  disburse  more  than  $5,600,000  in 
wages  and  the  output  of  their  products  is  valued  at  over  $19,000,000.  Three 
substantial  banks  are  at  the  basis  of  its  financial  system,  through  which  are 
conducted  the  business  and  industrial  interests  of  the  city.  They  are  the  First 
National,  State  Savings  and  the  Savings  Bank  of  Kewanee,  and  their  combined 
capital  is  $375,000;  surplus,  $376,000,  and  deposits,  $3,800,000.  The  First 
National  is  much  the  oldest,  having  been  founded  in  1871;  the  Savings  Bank 
of  Kewanee,  in  1902,  and  the  State  Savings  Bank,  in  1912. 

The  educational  system  of  Kewanee  comprises  the  Franklin  High  School, 
five  other  public  school  buildings  and  one  business  college,  conducted  under 
private  management.     There  are  also  two  parochial  schools.     The  first  school 


Kewanee 

.•Mr- it ■               Hs  ■- 

Hi^h  School 

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giii            iiiill 

HI  1 1  JTpVHHS 

In  LSI  I'liMBv 

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CMfll1fl%Fltrv 

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Weathersfield  High  School 


Weathers  field  School 


KEWANEE  SCHOOLS 


Vol.  1—43 


676  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

within  the  town  limits  was  built  by  George  A.  Morse  soon  after  Kewanee  was 
platted.  The  high  school  department  was  organized  in  1856.  The  original 
schoolhouse  was  occupied  as  such  until  1858,  when  the  East  Side  building 
was  erected.  In  1865,  the  latter  was  enlarged,  and  in  the  following  year  an- 
other schoolhouse  was  built. 

In  no  way  does  Kewanee  better  indicate  its  metropolitan  character  than 
by  the  variety  of  churches  established,  and  the  charities  and  secret  and  benev- 
olent societies  in  active  operation.  It  has  twenty-five  churches  of  all  denom- 
inations and  there  is  no  secret  and  benevolent  order  of  standing  which  is  not 
well  represented.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  a  flourishing  organization  and  a  fine 
home  for  its  various  activities.  The  two  hospitals — one  public  and  the  other 
Catholic — are  high  in  the  list  of  useful  and  benevolent  community  institu- 
tions. The  social  element,  the  needs  of  which  are  so  vital  to  the  well  being 
of  a  representative  American  city,  has  established  and  supported  such  or- 
ganizations as  the  Rotary  and  Kiwanis  clubs,  and  those  of  longer  standing  such 
as  the  Elks,  the  Eagles  and  others,  which  have  also  their  secret  and  benevolent 
features.  Literary  and  musical  societies  are  numerous,  the  former  largely  sup- 
ported by  the  typical  American  element  and  the  latter,  by  the  German.  In 
short,  the  outstanding  industrial  character  of  Kewanee  gives  her  institutions 
of  whatever  nature  a  varied  complexion. 

Kewanee  is  one  of  the  most  progressive  municipalities  in  the  Rock  River 
Valley.  The  city  was  incorporated  under  the  general  laws  of  the  State  on 
January  18,  1897,  and  has  been  under  the  commission  form  of  local  govern- 
ment since  January  24,  1911. 

OUTSIDE  OF   KEWANEE 

Geneseo  and  Cambridge,  old-time  rivals  for  the  county  seat  (now  long  held 
by  Cambridge),  are  the  largest  places  outside  of  Kewanee  in  Henry  County. 
The  population  of  Geneseo  is  about  3,500,  and  it  is  clean,  homelike  and  sub- 
stantial looking,  and  the  business  and  banking  center  of  a  rich  agricultural 
region.  Of  its  three  banks,  two  are  quite  old — the  First  National,  established 
in  1864,  and  the  Farmers'  National,  in  1876;  the  Central  Trust  and  Savings 
was  not  founded  until  1907.  Their  combined  strength  is  represented  by  $350,000 
capital,  $635,000  surplus  and  $3,116,000  deposits.  The  Geneseo  Republican 
is  one  of  the  oldest  newspapers  in  the  State  and  dates  from  1856,  the  birth- 
year  of  the  party  which  it  still  stanchly  upholds. 

Cambridge,  the  quiet,  neat  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  between  1,300 
and  1,400.  It  also  publishes  an  old  newspaper,  the  Cambridge  Chronicle,  which 
commenced  its  journalistic  career  in  1858.  As  the  county  seat,  it  is  necessary 
that  Cambridge  should  have  ample  banking  facilities,  irrespective  of  the  fact 
that  it  is  the  natural,  as  well  as  the  actual  trading  center,  of  a  large  central 
district  of  the  county.  Its  present  ample  conveniences  in  financial  matters 
date  from  1881,  when  its  two  banks,  the  Farmers  National  and  the  First 
National,  were  founded.  Their  capital  totals  $100,000,  surplus  $259,000  and 
deposits  $1,695,000. 

Both  Geneseo  and  Cambridge  are  on  lines  of  the   Chicago,  Rock  Island  & 


Views  of  .AJortli  East  ParK 


looking  north  showing 
swimming  pool 


Iookind  south  from  bath  house 

o 


NORTH  EAST  PARK,  KEWANEB 


678  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Pacific,  which  were  opened  from  Chicago  to  Rock  Island  in  July,  1854,  and 
since  that  year  have  accommodated  Henry  County  much  more  than  any  other 
means  of  transportation.  One  of  its  lines  passes  through  the  northern  sec- 
tions of  the  county,  including,  as  stations,  Anawan,  Atkinson  and  Geneseo; 
another  line  accommodates  southern,  southwestern  and  western  districts,  and 
numbers  Galva,  Bishop  Hill,  Cambridge  and  Orion.  The  Chicago,  Burlington 
&  Quincy  cuts  across  the  southeast  corner  of  the  county  through  Kewanee  to 
Galva,  where  is  its  junction  with  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific ;  another 
section  of  the  road  runs  west  from  Galva,  near  the  southern  limits  of  the  county, 
and  passes  through  Woodhull  to  Alpha,  where  it  meets  another  line  of  the 
same  road  going  north  through  Ophiem  and  other  smaller  stations  to  its  junc- 
tion with  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  at  Orion.  In  the  northeastern 
corner  of  the  county  is  the  little  settlement  of  Hooppole,  of  between  300  and 
400  people.  It  is  on  a  spur  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy,  which  meets 
the  main  line  at  Tampico,  Whiteside  County.  The  spur,  of  which  Hooppole 
is  the  present  terminus,  is  known  among  Illinois  railroads  as  the  Galesburg, 
Roekf ord  &  Northern ;  which  title  indicates  its  southwestern  direction. 

Possibly,  the  presence  of  either  a  newspaper  or  a  bank  in  any  town  or 
village  is  not  an  infallible  index  of  its  substantial  standing;  but  when  they 
are  both  planted  it  is  pretty  certain  that  a  certain  amount  of  trade  and  some 
ambition  have  found  a  foothold.  For  instance,  Atkinson  is  fourth  of  the  cities 
or  villages  in  population,  and  its  people  number  800.  The  first  Atkinson  bank, 
the  Trust  &  Savings,  was  established  as  early  as  1881 ;  the  second,  the  Farmers 
State,  was  not  founded  until  1913.  The  Woodhull  Dispatch  was  established 
in  1879,  and  is  still  keen  in  the  work  of  advertising  the  good  points  of  the 
village  of  700  people.  Orion,  which  is  slightly  smaller  than  Woodhull,  has 
had  its  "Times"  since  1877.  Its  two  banks  came  on  at  a  much  later  date — 
the  State  Bank,  in  1890,  and  the  Farmers  State  in  1908.  Hooppole,  a  com- 
paratively young  town,  has  a  population  of  nearly  400 ;  it  has  not  been  honored 
with  a  newspaper,  but  its  Farmers  State  Bank  was  established  in  1917.  Old 
Andover,  away  from  all  railway  connections,  is  a  sleepy  settlement  of  less  than 
300  people,  with  neither  bank  nor  newspaper,  while  Alpha,  a  few  miles  to 
the  southwest  and  at  the  juncture  of  two  lines  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy,  has  both — the  Advance,  established  in  1902  and  the  Farmers  State 
Bank,  started  in  1910.  Galva,  a  junction  of  several  lines  of  the  Chicago,  Rock 
Island  &  Pacific  and  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy,  near  the  southern 
county  line,  is  growing  more  rapidly  than  Bishop  Hill,  its  mother.  It  has 
now  a  population  of  over  300,  and  three  banks  to  meet  its  shipping  demands 
as  well  as  its  local  trade.  L.  M.  Yocum  &  Company,  the  oldest,  was  founded 
in  1865;  the  First  National  was  established  in  1882,  and  the  Farmers  Co- 
operative State,  in  1911.  The  three  banks  at  Galva  have  a  combined  capital 
of  $260,000,  surplus  of  $178,000  and  deposits  of  $2,372,000.  The  Galva  News 
has  been  in  operation  since  1879.  Bishop  Hill  is  considerably  less  in  popula- 
tion than  Galva,  and  one  small  bank,  founded  in  1921,  attends  to  all  its  local 
or  controlled  business. 

The  foregoing  are  the  main  points  in  Henry  County,  which  are  historically 
interesting  or  substantially  promising. 


THE  HOCK  RIVER  VALLEY  679 

AS   AN    AGRICULTURAL    COUNTY 

Unequivocal  statements  have  been  made  in  this  sketch  of  Henry  County 
that,  in  many  respects,  this  section  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  is  unexcelled 
for  its  agricultural  productions,  embracing  both  the  standard  crops  and  live- 
stock. The  only  reliable  source  of  comparison  between  the  different  counties 
of  the  valley  in  Wisconsin  and  Illinois  is  found  in  the  Federal  census  figures 
for  1920.  From  this  authority,  which  is  accessible  to  all,  it  is  seen  that  Henry 
county  stands  second  among  the  twelve  counties  covered  by  this  work  in  the 
total  value  of  her  agricultural  property,  which  includes  land,  buildings,  im- 
plements and  live  stock.  Dane  County,  Wisconsin,  comes  first,  with  a  total 
of  $128,789,000;  Henry  second,  with  $127,092,000.  In  the  value  of  her  land, 
Henry  is  first,  $96,623,000;   Dane,  second,  $83,042,000. 

The  chief  crops  of  the  seven  Illinois  counties  in  the  Rock  River  Valley 
are  corn,  winter  and  spring  wheat,  oats,  rye,  barley,  white  and  sweet  potatoes 
and  tame  and  wild  hay.  Measured  by  the  value  of  all  these  crops  produced 
in  the  Illinois  Valley  of  the  Rock  River,  Lee  County  comes  first  with  its  yield 
which  realized  a  trifle  over  $8,000,000  and  Henry  second,  with  $7,757,000.  Henry 
County  led  the  Illinois  counties  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  in  the  production 
of  hay;  more  than  68,000  acres  of  her  lands  were  devoted  to  that  crop,  and 
130,000  tons  were  gathered  from  that  area.  Henry  had  no  real  competitor  in 
the  extent  of  her  corn  crop  anywhere  in  the  rich  Valley  of  the  Rock  River. 
Her  nearest  rival  was  Lee  County,  which  cultivated  a  slightly  greater  acreage 
to  that  cereal,  but  produced  1,000,000  bushels  less.  The  comparative  figures 
were  6,587,000  bushels  of  corn  raised  in  Henry  County  against  5,412,000  bushels 
in  Lee.  When  it  comes  to  live  stock,  Henry  is  the  foremost  of  the  counties  in 
the  Rock  River  Valley  of  either  Illinois  or  Wisconsin  in  the  number  and  value 
of  her  beef  cattle;  Ogle  County  is  her  only  close  competitor.  At  that,  the 
assessors  valued  the  55,637  beef  cattle  in  Henry  County  at  $3,593,000,  as  com- 
pared with  the  39,656  cattle  enumerated  in  Ogle  County  and  assessed  at  $2,- 
362,000.  Henry  is  also  a  close  second  to  Dane  County,  Wisconsin,  as  a  raiser 
of  horses.  The  figures  are  for  Dane  County — 27,711  horses  valued  at  $2,294,000, 
as  compared  with  22,155  horses  valued  at  $2,193,000  for  Henry. 

In  this  comparative  exhibit  of  the  prominence  of  Henry  County  as  an  agri- 
cultural and  live  stock  region  unexcelled,  as  a  whole,  in  the  Rock  River  Valley, 
the  only  facts  and  figures  adduced  are  those  which  show  her  rank  as  first  or 
second  in  a  group  of  counties  which  are  among  the  richest  and  most  developed 
in  the  Northwest.  The  picture  of  Henry  County  thus  ends  in  a  burst  of 
agricultural  glory. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 
ROCK  ISLAND  COUNTY,  ILLINOIS 

ROCK     ISLAND     COUNTY     ESTABLISHED     POLITICALLY STEPHENSON     BECOMES     ROCK 

ISLAND DEVELOPMENT   OF    PRESENT    CITY ROCK    INLAND    SCHOOLS — AUGUSTANA 

COLLEGE  AND  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  INSTITUTION — 

JENNY    LIND    ASSISTS ILLINOIS     STATE    UNIVERSITY     ESTABLISHED AUGUSTANA 

SYNOD    ORGANIZED INSTITUTION    OPENED    IN    CHICAGO THE    PAXTON    PERIOD — 

STRUCTURAL  EXPANSION  AT  ROCK  ISLAND THE  MUSEUM THE  DENKMANN  ME- 
MORIAL   LIBRARY THE   WORLD   WAR   PERIOD THE   NEW   SEMINARY    BUILDINGS 

SCHOLASTIC     EXPANSION SCOPE     OF    THE     INSTITUTION — PRESENT     STATUS    AND 

MOLDING  FORCES PARKS CHURCHES — SOCIETIES,  ASSOCIATIONS  AND  BENEVOLENT 

ORDERS THE  ROCK  ISLAND  ARSENAL NEW  STRONGHOLD  IN  THE  MISSISSIPPI  VAL- 
LEY  THE  BUILDING  OF  FORT  ARMSTRONG A  NUCLEUS  OF  SETTLEMENT — STUM- 
BLING  BLOCKS   IN    THE   WAY   OF    THE    ORIGINAL    PLAN — ARSENAL    COMMANDANTS 

PRIOR    TO    THE   WORLD    WAR THE    MILITARY    PRISON     (1863-65) — CONSTRUCTION 

BASIS  LAID  BY  GENERALS  RODMAN  AND  FLAGLER. — THE  NEW  BRIDGE  BETWEEN  ROCK 

ISLAND    AND    DAVENPORT DEMANDS    OF    THE    SPANISH-AMERICAN     WAR WORLD 

WAR  EXPANSION — THE  SAVANNA  PROVING  GROUND WAR  SUBSCRIPTIONS — MILI- 
TARY  PERSONNEL CIVILIAN   AND   MILITARY   GUARD— BRIGADIER   GENERAL  GEORGE 

W.  BURR COLONEL  HARRY  B.  JORDAN COLONEL  D.  M.  KING POST-WAR  ACTIVI- 
TIES AND  PRESENT  STATUS WATER  POWER,  THE  DECISIVE  FACTOR — PEN  PICTURE 

OF    PRESENT-DAY    ARSENAL — NEWSPAPERS    AND    BANKS — THE    CITY   OF    MOLINE 

MOLINE  AS  A  CORPORATION THE  CITY  OF  THE  PRESENT — MOLINE  's  NEWSPAPERS 

PUBLIC      DEPARTMENTS      AND      INSTITUTIONS THE     PUBLIC      PARKS BANKS 

CHURCHES    AND   SOCIETIES EAST   MOLINE MINOR   POINTS TOWNSHIPS   OF   THE 

COUNTY. 

Rock  Island  County,  with  its  area  of  424  square  miles  and  population  of  more 
than  92,000  people,  stretches  in  a  long,  semi-circular  sweep  along  the  Mississippi 
River  and  embraces  the  extreme  lower  reaches  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  as  it 
merges  into  the  parent  stream.  It  was  the  seat  of  the  white  man's  civilization 
and  dominion  of  the  noble  valley  and  was  already  occupied  when  he  came,  as 
the  keynote  of  the  red  man's  dominion  along  the  Mississippi  and  the  interior  of. 
the  country  for  hundreds  of  miles.  From  the  time  the  races  commenced  to  clash 
the  Rock  Island  region  was  the  keenest  and  their  most  vital  object  of  conten- 
tion. As  an  offset  to  the  historic  Indian  village  on  the  mainland,  was  erected 
Fort  Armstrong  on  the  opposite  island.  Black  Hawk's  Watch  Tower  was  sym- 
bolic of  the  entire  region  from  the  standpoint  of  the  red  man.  It  was  fore- 
ordained from  geographical  influences  that  the  first  battles  for  the  control  of 
the  Rock  River  Valley  should  be  fought  at  and  near  the  present  sites  of  Rock 
Island  and  Moline.     All  these  matters  have  been  fully  traced  in  the  chapters 

680 


THE  MUNICIPAL  BUILDING,  MOLINE 


THIRD  AVENUE  AND  1DTII  STREET,  ROCK  ISLAND 


682  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

devoted  to  the  pioneer  settlers  and  settlements  of  the  Valley,  the  Indian  treaties 
and  the  culmination  of  the  disagreements  and  minor  physical  clashes,  in  the 
Black  Hawk  war. 

ROCK   ISLAND    COUNTY   ESTABLISHED   POLITICALLY 

The  Legislature  created  Rock  Island  County  by  name  on  February  9,  1831, 
but  it  was  not  organized  for  civil  functioning  until  July  15,  1833.  By  that  time 
Black  Hawk  and  his  hostile  band  had  been  crushed,  and  the  conclusive  treaty 
concluded  at  Fort  Armstrong.  Its  boundaries  were  thus  defined :  Beginning  in 
the  channel  of  the  Mississippi  River  on  the  north  line  of  township  15,  north,  and 
west  of  the  fourth  principal  meridian ;  thence  up  the  middle  of  said  channel  to 
the  Marais  d 'Osier  slough,  thence  along  the  middle  of  said  slough  to  the  middle 
of  the  channel,  and  thence  down  the  middle  to  the  place  of  beginning.  The  sixty- 
five  voters  of  the  county  met  at  the  house  of  John  Barrel,  in  the  settlement  on 
the  mainland  known  as  Farnhamsburg,  and  elected  George  W.  Harlan,  John  W. 
Spencer  and  George  Davenport,  commissioners;  Benjamin  F.  Pike,  sheriff;  Levi 
Wells,  coroner;  George  W.  Harlan,  J.  B.  Patterson  and  Joel  Wells,  Jr.,  jus- 
tices of  the  peace ;  George  V.  Miller,  Huntington  Wells  and  Edward  Corbin, 
constables.  Barrel 's  house,  where  this  first  county  election  was  held,  was  located 
about  500  feet  west  of  the  residence  so  long  occupied  by  Ben.  T.  Cable,  on  Fifth 
Avenue,  Rock  Island.  It  was  the  temporary  seat  of  the  county  government.  In 
the  spring  of  1834,  the  only  post  office  in  the  county  was  that  on  the  island, 
which  was  reached  by  the  ferry  across  the  slough,  but  on  March  4th  a  petition 
was  presented  that  one  be  established  on  the  mainland.  The  commissioners  there- 
fore recommended  to  the  postmaster  general  that  such  post  office  be  opened  at 
"Rock  Island  courthouse";  in  other  words,  John  Barrel's  house — with  Joseph 
Conway,  postmaster. 

COUNTY   SEAT   AND    COURTHOUSE  AT   STEPHENSON 

John  Barrel's  house  did  not  long  satisfy  the  people  of  Rock  Island  County 
as  a  worthy  symbol  of  their  political  dignity.  In  June,  1835,  commissioners 
appointed  to  locate  the  county  seat  fixed  it  upon  the  northwestern  fractional 
quarter  of  section  25,  township  18,  north  of  range  5  and  west  of  the  principal 
meridian,  and  named  it  the  town  of  Stephenson.  The  land  selected  for  the  loca- 
tion of  the  town  was  subsequently  entered  by  the  county  commissioners.  In 
November,  1835,  the  records  and  court  of  the  county  were  moved  from  Farn- 
hamsburg to  Stephenson,  and  in  June  of  the  following  year  a  contract  was  let 
to  Samuel  Smith  for  the  building  of  a  brick  courthouse  at  the  determined  county 
seat  to  cost  $10,500.  It  was  two  stories  in  height  and  was  completed  in  June, 
1838.    Stephenson,  the  new  county  seat,  was  incorporated  in  October,  1837. 

STEPHENSON    BECOMES    ROCK    ISLAND 

By  act  of  the  Legislature  February  27, 1841,  the  name  of  the  town  of  Stephen- 
son, including  all  the  additions  thereto,  was  changed  to  that  of  Rock  Island 
and  under  that  name  was  incorporated  as  a  city  in  1849.     In  1844,  the  dam 


THE   ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  683 

across  the  south  channel  of  the  Mississippi  River  from  the  island  to  the  Illinois 
shore  had  been  constructed  by  David  B.  Sears  and  his  associates  and  he  and 
others  had  erected  a  flour  and  grist  mill,  a  foundry  and  machine  shop  and  an 
implement,  factory  at  the  seat  of  the  water  power.  The  first  of  the  municipal 
departments  to  be  organized  was  that  of  the  police,  the  first  chief  of  whom  was 
William  T.  Morris.  The  volunteer  fire  department  was  founded  in  1855  by  the 
organization  of  a  company,  of  which  George  E.  Biddison  was  president,  and  by 
the  purchase  of  an  engine,  Western  No.  1.  The  first  steam  engines  were  not 
bought  until  1869  and  1871. 

DEVELOPMENT   OF    PRESENT    CITY 

In  February,  1857,  a  more  comprehensive  city  charter  was  provided  under 
which  Rock  Island  operated  until  November,  1879,  when,  by  popular  election 
the  incorporation  was  changed  to  an  organization  under  the  general  laws  of 
the  State.  The  city  continued  to  operate  under  the  general  law  until  January 
4,  1911,  when  by  a  vote  of  1,922  to  1,055  the  commission  form  of  government 
was  adopted.  It  was  put  in  operation  April  6,  1911,  the  first  commissioners 
being  Henry  Schrivcr,  mayor ;  Robert  Reynolds,  Archy  Hat,  Jonas  Bear  and  Mar- 
tin Rudgren. 

The  foundation  of  the  pure  and  adequate  water  supply  of  Rock  Island  was 
laid  in  August,  1871,  when  its  first  pumping  station  and  mains  wrere  projected. 
In  1878  additions  were  made  to  the  system  and  a  mechanical  filter  installed.  In 
1897  Reservoir  park  was  purchased  by  the  city,  and  this  elevated  tract  on  the 
Mississippi  River  bluffs  has  since  been  the  center  and  the  foundation  of  the  water 
system.  The  water  is  pumped  directly  from  the  river,  filtered  and  distributed 
through  the  mains  by  force  of  gravity. 

With  the  increase  of  population,  the  extension  and  modernization  of  her 
municipal  departments  and  the  general  expansion  of  a  metropolitan  spirit,  Rock 
Island  came  to  realize  that  the  old  county  courthouse  did  not  do  her  justice. 
In  1893,  the  first  step  toward  erecting  a  structure  more  expressive  of  such  a 
spirit  was  taken  by  Joseph  Fitzpatrick,  a  supervisor  of  Black  Hawk  township, 
and  in  July  of  that  year  a  committee  reported  in  favor  of  building  a  new  court- 
house to  cost  $125,000.  Its  corner-stone  was  laid  October  1,  1896,  with  imposing 
public  ceremonies. 

rock  island's  schools 

The  Rock  Island  of  the  present  is  a  bustling  little  city  of  about  36,000  peo- 
ple, with  an  industrial  standing  and  well  organized  municipal  departments  for 
the  conservation  of  the  public  health  and  the  protection  of  life,  limb  and  prop- 
erty. Prior  to  1857,  there  were  five  separate  school  districts  in  Rock  Island, 
each  controlled  by  a  different  Board  of  Directors;  but  when  the  city  obtained  a 
special  charter  in  February  of  that  year,  the  Legislature  created  a  local  Board 
of  Education.  In  April,  1858,  the  first  members  of  that  body  were  elected.  The 
board  was  organized  on  the  14th,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  B.  M.  Reynolds, 
first  superintendent  of  schools,  and  a  select  corps  of  eighteen  teachers,  worked 
out  a  course  of  study,  from  which  has  developed  the  intricate  and  thorough 


684  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

curriculum  of  today.  Rock  Island  includes  in  her  present  public  system  of 
education  a  modern  high  school,  as  well  as  a  high  school  of  Manual  Arts,  and 
fifteen  graded  schools.  Outside  of  the  public  system  are  five  parochial  schools 
and  a  Hebrew  free  school  and  an  old  and  established  business  college. 

The  Augustana  College  and  Theological  Seminary  is  of  such  a  remarkable 
character  and  such  a  noteworthy  evidence  of  the  Swedish-American  vitality  in 
the  Rock  River  Valley  that  it  is  given  special  prominence  at  this  place. 

AUGUSTANA   COLLEGE   AND   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY 

The  most  substantial  and  most  imposing  evidence  of  Swedish- American  power 
and  progress  in  the  Rock  River  Valley,  if  not  in  Illinois,  is  the  Augustana  Col- 
lege and  Theological  Seminary  at  Rock  Island.  The  stalwart  influence  and 
virility  of  that  racial  spirit  of  the  north  permeated  the  Middle  West  and  the 
great  Northwest,  but  the  intellectual  and  moral  force  of  the  typical  Swedish- 
American  is  evident  in  no  more  striking  illustration  than  in  the  continued 
growth  and  present  standing  of  that  institution. 

THE    BEGINNINGS    OF    THE    INSTITUTION 

The  Augustana  College  and  Theological  Seminary,  which  is  educational  in 
both  an  intellectual  and  moral  and  spiritual  sense,  had  their  beginnings  in  the 
activities  of  the  pioneers  from  the  North  as  far  back  as  1851.  The  Rev.  Lars 
Paul  Esbjorn,  who  had  come  to  America  in  1849  to  be  a  missionary  pastor  among 
the  Swedish  settlers  in  the  Middle  West,  soon  felt  the  need  of  an  institution  of 
higher  learning  to  secure  a  supply  of  pastors  for  the  Swedish  churches.  But 
as  the  settlers  were  still  too  poor  to  establish  such  an  institution  he  concluded 
that  it  would  be  best  for  them  to  cooperate  with  some  other  Lutheran  body  for 
the  time  being.  He  therefore  arranged  to  have  the  Swedish  students  admitted 
to  Capital  University,  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  which  belonged  to  the  Joint  Synod  of 
Ohio. 

In  the  spring  of  1851,  Rev.  Esbjorn  took  the  first  student  to  Capital  Uni- 
versity. He  had  selected  a  promising  candidate  named  Eric  Norelius  from  the 
congregation  at  Andover,  111.  This  young  man  more  than  fulfilled  the  promise 
of  his  early  days  and  in  his  later  life  became  the  leading  figure  in  the  Augustana 
Synod. 

JENNY   LIND   ASSISTS 

After  leaving  his  student  at  Columbus,  Rev.  Esbjorn  continued  his  journey 
eastward  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  funds  for  the  erection  of  churches  in  the 
new  Swedish  settlements.  In  Boston,  Mass.,  he  met  the  great  Swedish  singer, 
Jenny  Lind,  who  was  making  her  American  tour.  She  graciously  donated  $1,500 
to  the  fund  for  building  churches,  and  a  few  months  later  (November  5,  1851), 
while  visiting  Columbus  and  learning  from  Dr.  M.  W.  Reynolds,  the  president 
of  Capital  University,  that  the  school  was  serving  the  Swedish  Lutherans,  she 
also  donated  $1,500  to  that  institution.  The  money  was  designed  to  be  the  be- 
ginning of  an  endowment  fund  for  the  support  of  a  Swedish  professor  and  for 
aiding  poor  Swedish  students. 


DR.  T.  N.  HASSELQUIST 

First  President  of  Augustana  College  after  being  located  at 
Rock    Island. 


686  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

ILLINOIS   STATE   UNIVERSITY   ESTABLISHED 

Only  a  few  Swedish  students  came  to  Capital  University  as  it  was  situated 
too  far  east  of  the  Swedish  settlements.  In  the  same  year  (1851).  Rev.  Esbjorn 
united  with  the  Synod  of  Northern  Illinois,  which,  cooperating  with  the  Synod 
of  Central  Illinois,  established  a  school  known  as  the  Illinois  State  University  at 
Springfield,  111.  In  1854,  the  Swedes  and  Norwegians  belonging  to  the  Missis- 
sippi Conference  of  the  Synod  of  Northern  Illinois,  resolved  to  send  their  stu- 
dents to  the  Illinois  State  University.  Rev.  Esbjorn  was  made  a  director  of  the 
school,  and  the  congregations  began  to  contribute  to  a  fund  for  the  support  of 
poor  students  at  this  institution.  The  Jenny  Lind  fund  could  not  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  Illinois  institution  and  so  proved  to  be  of  slight  benefit  to  the 
Swedes. 

In  1855,  the  Mississippi  Conference  took  another  step  forward  by  resolving 
to  found  a  Scandinavian  professorship  at  Springfield.  Rev.  Esbjorn  was  author- 
ized to  collect  money  among  the  churches  for  this  purpose.  He  took  up  this  work 
in  1856  and  collected  over  $2,000  that  year.  In  1857,  he  was  called  as  Scan- 
dinavian professor  and  assumed  his  duties  as  such  in  the  fall  of  1858.  Among 
his  students  at  that  time  was  numbered  Abraham  Lincoln's  son,  Robert,  who 
at  the  time  was  taking  up  the  special  study  of  mathematics,  in  which  subject 
Prof.  Esbjorn  was  very  proficient. 

In  the  spring  of  1860,  Professor  Esbjorn  resigned  his  chair.  Differences 
with  regard  to  the  doctrinal  basis  of  the  synod  had  always  existed  between  the 
Scandinavian  and  American  members,  and  Professor  Esbjorn 's  resignation 
brought  matters  to  a  crisis.  At  Easter  time,  1860,  therefore,  Professor  Esbjorn, 
and  all  but  two  of  the  Scandinavian  pupils,  established  themselves  in  Chicago. 
At  a  meeting  held  in  that  city,  on  the  27th  of  April,  of  that  year,  the  Scandi- 
navians resolved  to  organize  a  separate  synod  and  to  found  their  own  institution 
of  learning;  hence  that  day  has  since  been  observed  by  Augustana  College  . 
Theological  Seminary  as  Founders'  Day. 

AUGUSTANA  SYNOD  ORGANIZED 

The  organization  of  the  synod,  which  was  to  be  known  as  the  Scandinavian 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Augustana  Synod,  was  completed  at  a  convention  held 
at  Jefferson  Prairie,  near  Clinton,  Wis.,  on  June  5-11,  the  same  year.  The  name 
Augustana  was  chosen  for  the  synod  and  the  seminary  because  this  would  give 
expression  to  the  faith  of  the  founders — Augustana  being  the  Latin  name  for 
the  Augsburg  Confession. 

INSTITUTION   OPENED  IN   CHICAGO 

The  new  institution  of  learning  was  opened  in  Chicago  in  September,  1860 
with  one  professor  (the  ever  faithful  Rev.  L.  P.  Esbjorn)  and  twenty-one  stu- 
dents. The  buildings  used  during  this  formative  period  consisted  of  a  school 
house  belonging  to  the  Immanuel  Swedish  Lutheran  Church,  on  Superior  Street 
between  Wells  and  La  Salle,  Chicago,  and  later,  the  basement  of  the  first  Nor- 
wegian Lutheran  Church.    With  the  help  of  some  of  the  city  pastors  and  a  few 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  687 

of  the  older  students  as  instructors,  a  fairly  complete  academic  and  theological 
course  was  furnished. 

The  firsl  of  the  collegiate  societies  to  be  formed  was  organized  in  1860  during 
the  first  year  of  tin'  Chicago  period.  It  was  called  the  Phrenokosmian  Society, 
and  its  objed  was  (and  is)  to  further  the  literary  and  intellectual  development 
of  its  members.  A  weekly  paper  was  formerly  issued  by  the  society.  Students 
from  any  department  of  the  institution  may  become  members,  and,  upon  leav- 
ing school,  may  be  enrolled  as  honorary  members. 

The  Chicago  location  was  never  considered  as  permanent,  and  its  affairs 
were  also  greatly  unsettled  by  the  disturbances  of  the  Civil  War.  In  1861-62 
only  fourteen  students  attended  and  the  same  number  in  1862-63.  Among  the 
young  men  who  had  left  their  studies  to  enlist  in  the  army  were  two  of  Professor 
Esbjorn 's  own  sons.  In  1863,  the  institution  was  incorporated  under  the  name 
Augustana  College  and  Seminary. 

In  the  meantime,  Rev.  0.  C.  T.  Andren  was  soliciting  funds  for  the  support 
of  the  enterprise  in  Sweden  and  Professor  Esbjorn  canvassed  the  home  churches. 
Later,  Rev.  Esbjorn  went  to  Sweden  on  the  same  mission,  but  returned  to  his 
duties  as  professor  in  the  fall  of  1862  and  resigned  in  the  spring  of  the  follow- 
ing year  to  accept  a  call  as  pastor  of  a  church  in  his  fatherland.  His  departure 
was  witnessed  with  the  deepest  regret. 

THE    PAXTON    PERIOD 

The  efforts  to  find  a  permanent  home  for  the  institution  resulted,  in  1863,  in 
the  purchase  of  a  tract  of  land  at  Paxton,  111.,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  the 
college  was  moved  from  Chicago  to  that  place.  The  local  pastor  of  the  Swedish 
Lutheran  Church  there,  Rev.  T.  N.  Hasselquist,  known  as  the  Patriarch  of  the 
Augustana  Synod,  was  called  to  fill  the  position  vacated  by  Rev.  Esbjorn.  Dr. 
Hasselquist  thus  became  president  of  the  college  and  seminary — a  position  which 
he  held  until  his  death,  February  4,  1891. 

In  1864,  the  institution  received  a  gift  of  twenty  acres  of  land  on  the  out- 
skirts of  Paxton  from  Mr.  Pells  of  New  York.  On  this  tract  were  erected  foyr 
additional  frame  buildings  which  were  used  as  quarters  for  students  and  pro- 
fessors, for  dining  hall  and  recitation  rooms.  The  means  for  the  erection  of 
these  buildings  came  from  commissions  granted  to  the  institution  for  selling  rail- 
road lands  to  new  settlers.  Additional  land  was  also  purchased  for  the  college, 
and  this  brought  in  considerable  revenue,  as  it  was  later  sold  in  small  lots  at 
higher  prices. 

The  Augustana  College  and  Seminary  was  chartered  by  legislative  act  ap- 
proved February  16,  1865,  and  amended  March  10,  1869.  By  the  amendment 
the  title  of  the  institution  became  Augustana  College  and  Theological  Seminary, 
as  at  present.  The  basis  of  the  institution  was  therefore  laid  in  the  original 
constitution  adopted  at  the  Synodical  meeting  held  al  Clinton,  Wis.,  in  1860,  and 
the  legislative  act  of  1865,  as  amended  in  1869.  Under  its  amended  charter, 
Krland  Carlsson,  T.  N.  Hasselquist,  Carl  Johan  P.  Peterson,  Iver  Lawson,  John 
Amondson,  Carl  Stromberg  and  John  Field,  were  constituted  the  first  Board 
of  Trustees  or  Directors  of  the  corporation,  which  should  "have  power  to  estab- 
lish and  maintain  in  or  near  the  town  of  Paxton,  Ford  County.  Illinois,  or  any 


688  THE  KOCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

other  suitable  place  within  the  State  of  Illinois,  a  college  and  theological  sem- 
inary under  the  patronage  and  control  of  the  Scandinavian  Evangelical  Luth- 
eran Augustana  Synod  of  North  America,"  The  members  of  this  board  of 
control  must  be  connected  with  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  the  property  of  the 
corporation,  not  to  exceed  $100,000,  was  forever  to  remain  free  from  taxation. 
The  doctrinal  tenets  of  the  institution  were  thus  defined  :  ' '  The  doctrines  taught 
in  the  seminary  department  of  said  institution  shall  conform  to  and  be  in  har- 
mony with  the  doctrines  held  and  maintained  by  the  Augustana  Synod  as  defined 
in  Article  two  of  the  constitution  of  said  synod,  in  the  following  words,  to-wit : 
'As  a  Christian  body  in  general,  particularly  as  an  Evangelical  Lutheran,  this 
synod  acknowledges  that  the  Holy  Scriptures,  the  revealed  word  of  God,  are 
the  only  sufficient  and  infallible  rule  and  standard  of  faith  and  practice,  and 
also  retains  and  confesses  not  only  the  three  oldest  symbols  (the  Apostolic,  the 
Nicene  and  the  Athanasian),  but  also  the  unaltered  Augsberg  Confession,  as  a 
short  and  correct  summary  of  the  principal  Christian  doctrines  as  understood 
and  explained  in  the  other  symbolic  books  of  the  Lutheran  Church.' 

The  period  during  which  the  site  of  the  institution  was  at  Paxton  covered 
twelve  years,  from  1863  to  1875,  and  one  who  had  a  vital  part  in  its  upbuilding 
writes  of  it  thus :  "It  was  a  period  of  struggle  and  poverty,  but  also  of  con- 
secration and  lofty  ideals.  It  was  during  this  time  that  the  men  who  are  noAv 
the  leaders  in  the  synod  received  their  education  in  the  peaceful  seclusion  and 
pious  atmosphere  of  the  Paxton  class  rooms." 

Until  1866  there  were  no  special  college  classes — most  of  the  emphasis  being 
laid  on  the  seminary  work.  Year  by  year  the  course  was  lengthened  both  in  col- 
lege and  seminary  until  in  1876  the  goal  of  a  full-fledged  collegiate  and  theolog- 
ical institution  was  reached. 

In  1870,  the  Norwegians  organized  a  synod  of  their  own,  and  consequently 
also  established  a  college  and  seminary  for  their  exclusive  use.  This  institution 
was  called  Augustana  College  and  is  now  located  in  Canton,  South  Dakota. 

Within  a  short  time  after  the  school  had  been  opened  at  Paxton,  it  became 
evident  that  the  location  was  not  the  best  that  could  have  been  selected.  The 
Scandinavians  had  settled  in  the  north  and  west  rather  than  the  south  and 
east,  and  the  synod's  center  of  population  moved  rapidly  northwestward.  In 
1868  the  synod  discussed  the  question  of  a  more  central  location  for  its  educa- 
tional institution,  but  not  until  1871  was  any  definite  action  taken.  In  the  lat- 
ter year  it  was  decided  to  look  for  a  suitable  location  in  northern  or  western 
Illinois.  In  1873  it  was  decided  to  purchase  land  and  erect  buildings  for  the 
school  in  Rock  Island.  In  the  spring  of  1875,  the  last  commencement  was  held 
at  Paxton,  and  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year  the  school  was  opened  at  Rock  Island. 

STRUCTURAL  EXPANSION  AT  ROCK  ISLAND 

The  first  building  at  Rock  Island  was  begun  in  1874  and  was  not  entirely 
completed  in  the  fall  of  1875  when  the  professors  and  students  arrived  from 
Paxton,  but  this  caused  only  slight  inconvenience  and  the  work  went  on  as  usual. 
In  the  plant  as  it  now  stands,  the  Old  College  Building  (so-called)  serves  as  the 
main  dormitory  and  contains  the  household  department  and  class  rooms  of  the 
commercial  department. 


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690  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

At  the  time  the  college  and  seminary  were  moved  from  Paxton  to  Rock 
Island,  the  campus  contained  about  nineteen  acres  situated  on  the  bluff  over- 
looking the  Mississippi  and  the  Rock  Island  Arsenal.  Since  then  more  ground 
below  the  bluff  has  been  added,  so  that  today  the  site  includes  thirty-six  acres. 
No  better  location  could  be  conceived  combining  healthfulness  with  beauty  and 
grandeur  of  outlook. 

THE  MUSEUM 

In  the  Augustana  College  and  Seminary  at  Paxton  was  a  little  curio  cabinet. 
It  was  moved  into  the  Old  College  Building  and  became  the  ancestor  of  the 
Augustana  Museum  of  Natural  History,  which  expanded  into  one  of  the  most 
striking  features  of  the  institution  and  was  finally  installed  in  the  Boys'  Dormi- 
tory. The  museum  owes  its  real  foundation  and  decisive  expansion  to  Dr. 
Joshua  Lindahl,  a  native  of  Sweden  and  an  eminent  zoologist  of  his  native  land 
before  he  came  to  America  as  secretary  of  the  Royal  Swedish  Commission  to  the 
Centennial  Exposition,  at  Philadelphia.  In  1878,  he  was  elected  to  fill  the  newly 
created  chair  of  natural  history  at  Augustana,  and  in  the  following  year  re- 
ceived the  added  title  of  "curator  of  the  museum."  Under  his  skilled  and 
learned  development,  the  museum  continually  increased  in  interest  and  educa- 
tional importance.  Toward  the  last  of  his  incumbency,  in  1887,  Dr.  Lindahl 
spent  some  time  on  the  Pacific  coast  making  and  classifying  original  collections. 

The  year  1888,  momentous  in  the  development  of  Augustana,  brought  im- 
portant changes  to  the  museum.  In  February  of  that  year  the  New  College 
Building  (now  Old  Main),  begun  four  years  earlier,  was  opened  for  use.  The 
massive  structure  was  then  regarded  as  "the  finest  and  most  imposing  building 
in  the  Three  Cities,"  and  even  as  "one  of  the  finest  college  buildings  in  the  coun- 
try." Ever  since  the  building  project  had  been  launched,  there  had  been  an 
understanding  to  the  effect  that  the  museum  and  library  should  at  last  be  given 
ample  quarters  of  their  own.  Consequently,  the  third  floor  of  the  New  College 
Building  was  reserved  for  the  museum,  the  library  and  the  conservatory 
music.    The  museum  was  lodged  in  the  large  room  in  the  northwest  corner. 

In  the  summer  of  1888,  Dr.  Lindahl  was  elected  curator  of  the  State  Museum 
of  Natural  History  at  Springfield,  and  his  connection  with  Augustana  thereby 
ceased.     The  good  work  he  inaugurated  and  so  well  continued  was  taken  up  1> 
Dr.   J.   A.   Udden,  and   since    the   latter 's  retirement   in   1911,   the   successive 
librarians  have  served  as  curators. 

THE    DENKMANN    MEMORIAL    LIBRARY 

Within  the  past  fourteen  years,  have  occurred  the  most  noteworthy  events 
in  connection  with  the  structural  expansion  of  Augustana  College  and  Theolog- 
ical Seminary.  The  largest  gift  ever  received  by  the  institution  was  the  Denk- 
maiin  Memorial  Library.  This  imposing  and  graceful  building  surmounting  the 
highest  eminence  of  the  grounds  was  completed  in  the  spring  of  1911  at  a  cost 
of  over  $200,000.  It  is  a  gift  to  the  institution  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
the  late  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frederick  C.  A.  Denkmann.  The  wealthy  lumber  manu- 
facturer and  his  faithful  wife  had  thoughts  far  above  mere  monev-makins}:.    "While 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  691 

they  lived,  their  benevolences  were  many,  though  modestly  bestowed.  Mr.  Denk- 
iiiiinii  died  in  1905  and  his  wife  two  years  later,  and,  holding  the  wealth  with 
which  they  had  been  blessed  as  stewards  of  the  Lord,  they  had  often  discussed 
with  their  sons  and  daughters  how  a  goodly  portion  of  it  should  be  best  be- 
stowed. Iu  all  these  conferences  the  objects  and  needs  of  Augustana  most  fre- 
quently and  deeply  appealed  to  them.    Mrs.  Denkmann  passed  away  in  1907. 

In  January.  1909,  the  Deiiknianns  were  gathered  at  a  family  reunion  in  the 
old  homestead  built  by  the  parents  at  the  foot  of  Fourth  Avenue  in  Rock  Island. 
At  this  gathering,  the  final  plans  were  laid  for  a  donation  to  Augustana  College 
in  the  form  of  a  library  building  to  be  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  the  parents. 
The  president  of  Augustana  was  called  in  to  receive  the  formal  announcement 
that  the  proposed  building  was  to  be  erected  at  a  cost  of  not  less  than  $100,000. 
In  the  evening  of  the  day  when  Dr.  Andrew  made  the  announcement,  the  stu- 
dent body,  ''delirious  with  joy,"  as  the  press  stated  it,  with  an  ardor  which 
the  heavy  downpour  of  rain  could  not  quench,  formed  a  torchlight  procession 
and  visited  the  homes  of  the  donors  to  express  their  overflowing  gratitude. 

The  location  selected  for  the  library  was  on  the  college  grounds  at  the  corner 
of  Thirty-fifth  Street  and  Seventh  Avenue,  now  made  into  a  beautiful  boulevard 
connecting  the  cities  of  Rock  Island  and  Moline.  From  this  point  the  spectator 
has  a  splendid  view  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  the  Rock  Island  Arsenal 
directly  in  front  of  him,  and  he  looks  dowm  upon  a  scene  of  rare  beauty  and 
one  instinct  with  the  life  of  industry,  in  which  Mr.  Denkmann  moved  and  lived, 
but  in  which  he  did  not  have  his  entire  being. 

In  September,  1909,  ground  was  broken,  and  the  concrete  foundation  and 
massive  walls  of  grey  Missouri  limestone,  with  tiled  roof,  ornamental  pillars, 
frieze  and  other  elements  of  the  Italian  renaissance,  arose  and  were  welded 
together  to  form  an  architectural  thing  of  beauty  and  utility.  The  corner-stone 
of  the  building  was  laid  on  January  21st  and  the  exercises  which  marked  the 
formal  dedication  of  the  library  occurred  on  May  31,  1911. 

As  completed,  the  building  is  120  feet  long  and  96  feet  deep,  and  its  major 
portion  has  three  floors.  The  first  floor  contains  the  Memorial  Hall,  with  mosaic 
floors  and  walls  lined  with  huge  slabs  of  Italian  marble.  The  bronze  memorial 
tablet,  the  central  feature  of  the  hall,  briefly  tells  the  story  of  the  munificent 
gift  in  these  words:  "This  library  is  erected  to  the  memory  of  Frederick  C.  A. 
Denkmann  (1822-1905)  and  his  wife  Anna  Catherine  Denkmann  (1831-1907) 
by  their  children,  Marie  A.  Reimers,  Apollonia  D.  Davis,  Elise  D.  Marshall, 
Catherine  D.  Wentworth,  Susanne  C.  Denkmann  and  Frederick  C.  Denkmann, 
and  by  them  presented  to  Augustana  College  and  Theological  Seminary.  This 
tablet  is  here  placed  by  the  directors  of  the  institution  as  a  token  of  gratitude 
for  this  munificent  gift  to  the  cause  of  Christian  learning,  and  of  admiration  for 
the  filial  love  which  reared  this  noble  memorial.    A.  D.  1910." 

On  the  first  floor  of  the  building,  with  Memorial  Hall,  arc  a  lecture  room 
equipped  with  modern  appliances  for  illustrated  scientific  lectures,  and  the  ad- 
ministration offices  of  the  institution.  From  either  side  of  Memorial  Hall  wide 
marble  staircases  lead  to  the  second  floor,  on  which  are  the  reading  room  and 
the  librarian's  offices.  The  reading  room,  extending  the  full  length  of  the  build- 
ing, is  elegant  and  comfortable,  and  the  shelving  about  the  walls  accommodates 
about  ")00  current  periodicals  and  3.000  reference  volumes.     Directly  above  the 

Vol.  11—44 


692  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

reading  room  is  the  museum,  lighted  from  above.  In  the  rear  of  the  building  is 
a  basement  containing  a  packing  room  and  rest  rooms  for  ladies  and  men.  Above 
the  basement  is  the  stack  shaft  for  the  circulating  library,  and  above  this,  store 
rooms  for  newspaper  and  magazine  collections.  The  library  now  contains  more 
than  38,000  bound  volumes  and  34,000  pamphlets,  the  latter  being  chiefly  scien- 
tific publications  received  in  exchange  for  the  Augustana  Library  Publications. 
There  are  large  special  collections  on  missions  and  files  of  Swedish-American 
newspapers  and  periodicals;  the  latter  is  said  to  be  the  largest  collection  of  its 
kind  in  the  world.  The  largest  single  addition  to  the  library  within  recent  years 
was  made  in  1920  and  consisted  of  2,600  volumes  and  2,700  pamphlets  compris- 
ing the  private  library  of  Bishop  von  Scheele  of  Sweden.  But,  as  a  whole,  the 
library  had  its  nucleus  in  a  few  hundred  volumes  donated  to  the  college  by  King 
Charles  XV  of  Sweden  in  1861.  From  such  tiny  acorns  sturdy  oaks  come  forth, 
such  as  the  collections  now  housed  by  the  massive  and  beautiful  Denkmann 
Memorial  Library. 

THE  WORLD  WAR  PERIOD 

Augustana,  as  a  patriotic  institution,  acquitted  herself  during  the  World  war 
as  everybody  knew  she  would.  Swedish- Americans  can  always  be  relied  upon 
to  support  a  good  cause,  whether  an  educational  institution  in  which  they  be- 
lieve, or  their  beloved  country  which  has  spelt  progress  and  happiness  to  them 
for  many  generations.  It  is  estimated  that  the  Augustana  Synod  enrolled  within 
its  jurisdiction  upward  of  15,000  representatives  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the 
United  States  during  the  period  of  hostilities.  During  1917  and  1918,  the  col- 
lege and  seminary  alone  sent  forth  250  of  its  students  into  Uncle  Sam 's  service, 
and  many  of  them  went  overseas.  At  the  first  call  of  President  Wilson,  in  April, 
1917,  the  entire  band  and  a  number  of  others  enlisted,  placing  Augustana  at 
once  among  the  foremost  colleges  who  sent  their  students  into  military  service. 
Military  instruction  was  given  on  the  college  campus  and  in  the  splendid  gym- 
nasium which  had  recently  been  completed.  The  latter,  with  its  swimming  pool, 
facilities  for  athletic  training  and  handsome  auditorium,  stage  and  pipe  organ, 
became  an  active  center  of  war  movements,  the  inspiring  influences  of  which 
were  manifest  beyond  the  radius  of  the  institution  itself. 

THE    NEW    SEMINARY    BUILDINGS 

The  short  period  from  November  4th  to  the  6th,  1923,  will  always  stand  out 
as  days  of  more  than  ordinary  significance  in  the  history  of  Augustana  College 
and  Theological  Seminary.  The  Theological  Seminary,  the  only  complete  and 
fully  equipped  post-graduate  department  of  the  school,  had  always  been  housed 
under  the  same  roof  with  the  college.  But  from  the  time  of  the  completion  of 
the  seminary  buildings  on  Zion  Hill,  that  distinct  division  of  the  institution 
stood  forth  with  its  own  buildings  and  organized  bodies.  The  dedication  of 
these  buildings,  the  installation  of  G.  A.  Brandelle  as  president  of  the  synod  and 
the  active  participation  of  Archbishop  Nathan  Soderblom  in  the  exercises,  were 
the  outstanding  features  of  the  festivities  of  those  days. 

This  enlightening  and  true  statement  was  made  at  the  time  the  Theological 


NEW  SEMINARY  BUILDINGS,  AUGUSTANA  COLLEGE  AND 
THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,   ROCK   ISLAND 


694  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Seminary  became  a  distinct  entity:  "Three  men  are  especially  gratified  at  the 
completion  of  the  seminary  buildings,  the  indefatigable  president,  Dr.  Gustav 
Andreen,  who  more  than  anyone  has  worked  for  the  realization  of  this  idea 
and  who  never  felt  at  ease  before  it  was  accomplished;  Professor  Emeritus  Dr. 
N.  Forsander,  who  first  became  connected  with  the  seminary  in  1889,  and  was 
elected  regular  professor  of  theology  in  the  following  year,  together  with  Dr. 
C.  E.  Lindberg,  the  present  dean." 

During  the  impressive  exercises  attending  the  formal  dedication  of  the  sem- 
inary buildings  official  greetings  from  Gustav  V,  the  king  of  Sweden,  were  read 
by  the  Swedish  consul,  Carl  0.  de  Dardell.  Archbishop  Soderblom  also  brought 
greetings  from  the  theological  Chapter  and  University  of  Uppsala  to  Augustana 
College,  and  delivered  the  dedicatory  greetings  to,  and  the  prayer  for  the  daugh- 
ter church  in  America  from  the  mother  church  in  Sweden.  The  exercises  were 
brought  to  a  fitting  close  when  he,  as  head  and  representative  of  the  Swedish 
Lutheran  Church,  called  down  from  above  the  richest  blessings  upon  the  work 
to  be  done  and  upon  those  who  are  to  perform  it. 

The  new  seminary  buildings  on  Zion  Hill  comprise  two  structures  connected 
by  a  cloister.  The  one  building  is  devoted  to  instruction,  administration,  library 
purposes  and  worship ;  the  other  is  a  residence  hall  with  rooms  for  students,  and 
social,  dining,  guest  and  janitor's  rooms.  The  cloister  connecting  the  two  build- 
ings is  a  Gothic  arcade  about  eleven  feet  inside  width,  with  seven  arches  on  the 
north  side.  This  feature  gives  the  group  a  scholastic  impression.  The  chapel 
is  in  the  second  story  directly  above  the  library. 

SCHOLASTIC  EXPANSION 

Under  the  foregoing  head  will  be  noted  the  establishment  of  the  various  de- 
partments now  embraced  in  the  curriculum  of  the  college  proper,  as  well  as  the 
formation  of  the  several  schools  included  in  the  institution.  Prom  four  profes- 
sors on  the  teaching  staff  in  1875  when  the  college  and  seminary  first  opened 
their  doors  at  Rock  Island,  the  force  of  instruction  has  increased  to  more  than 
sixty  professors  and  instructors.  A  dozen  departments  have  gradually  been 
established  in  the  college,  viz. :  English  and  Philosophy,  Swedish,  Latin,  Greek, 
Modern  Languages,  Christianity,  History  and  Political  Science,  Biology  and 
Geology,  Physics  and  Chemistry,  Mathematics,  Astronomy  and  Education. 

The  first  class  to  be  graduated  in  the  full  collegiate  course  was  that  of  1877. 
The  graduates  of  Augustana  College  are  received  at  all  American  Universities, 
and  in  1879,  royal  permission  was  granted  to  Augustana  graduates  to  enter  Upp- 
sala University  in  Sweden  without  further  examination.  Ladies  were  admitted  to 
the  classes  in  1880,  but  were  not  permitted  to  matriculate  until  1886. 

In  1885,  a  conservatory  of  music  was  opened,  although  the  study  of  music 
had  been  a  part  of  the  course  since  1873.  The  development  of  the  conservatory 
idea  is  due  to  Dr.  0.  Olsson,  who  organized  the  first  Messiah  chorus  ever  trained 
in  Illinois.  He  became  president  of  the  Institution  in  1891  and  served  until  his 
death  in  1900.  Handel's  Messiah  was  first  rendered  at  Augustana  College 
in  1891.  To  the  conservatory  were  added  a  school  of  expression  in  1897 
and  a  school  of  art  in  the  same  year. 

A  school  of  commerce  was  added  to  the  departments  of  instruction  in  1898. 


THE  ROCK!  RIVER  VALLEY  695 

All  students  who  enroll  themselves  in  cither  the  conservatory  of  music  or  the 
school  of  commerce  also  receive  instruction  in  certain  academy  subjects. 

A  separate  normal  department  was  maintained  until  the  State  passed  a  law 
granting  teachers1  certificates  to  all  college  graduates. 

All  departments  of  the  institution,  except  the  Theological  Seminary,  are  open 
to  students  of  both  sexes. 

SCOPE   OF   THE   INSTITUTION 

Augustana  College  and  Theological  Seminary  is  owned  and  supported  by  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Augustana  Synod  of  North  America.  While,  therefore,  a 
denominational  institution,  and,  as  such,  aiming  to  serve  primarily  the  interests 
of  the  Lutheran  Church,  it  is  not  sectarian  in  any  narrow  sense  of  the  word. 
It  throws  its  doors  open  to  all  who  desire  a  liberal  education  based  on  the  Chris- 
tian religion  and  permeated  by  the  Christian  spirit.  Its  original  scope,  which 
was  that  of  a  school  for  the  education  of  ministers  of  the  gospel  has,  from  time 
to  time,  been  broadened,  so  that  at  the  present  time  the  institution,  while  retain- 
ing the  Theological  Seminary  as  a  university  department,  aims  to  prepare  its 
students  for  all  occupations  and  professions  by  laying  the  groundwork  for  the 
general  culture  or  the  special  training  which  modern  conditions  require. 

Although  the  English  language  is  used  as  the  medium  of  instruction  in  all 
subjects  except  the  Swedish  language  and  literature  and  some  of  theological 
branches,  a  prominent  position  in  the  curriculum  is  accorded  to  the  exposition 
of  the  history  and  world-influence  of  the  Northland.  This  is  not  only  because 
the  institution  is  mindful  both  of  its  origin  and  its  mission  as  an  exponent  of 
Swedish-American  culture,  but  because  it  studies  to  supply  the  present-day, 
practical  needs  of  its  students. 

For  graduation  in  the  College  Department  120  credits  are  required.  These 
credits  must  be  acquired  in  one  of  ten  parallel  courses  or  "groups"  as  follows: 
Classical  Languages,  Modern  Languages,  Latin  and  Science,  Physical  Science, 
Biological  Science,  Mathematics,  English,  History,  Education,  Economics  and 
Commerce. 

PRESENT  STATUS  AND   MOLDING  FORCES 

The  location  of  the  institution  is  such  as  to  leave  little  to  be  desired  on  the 
score  of  accessibility,  healthfulness  and  beauty  of  surroundings.  It  is  the  object 
of  the  management  to  throw  about  the  student  all  the  influences  which  favor  a 
healthy  and  harmonious  physical,  mental  and  moral  development.  All  these 
advantages  and  influences,  so  emphasized  by  an  earnest,  faithful  and  able  fac- 
ulty, and  hundreds  of  unwavering  friends,  who  have  supported  and  developed 
the  institution  by  their  sacrifices  of  time,  energy  and  money,  have  built  up  an 
efficient  college  and  seminary  attended  by  more  than  1,100  students,  the  ma- 
jority of  whom  are  Swedish-Americans.  It  is  instructive  also  to  know  that  in 
the  student  body  the  women  equal  the  men  in  number.  During  the  school  year 
1923-24,  the  Theological  Seminary  had  an  enrollment  of  99  males;  the  collegiate 
department,  of  239  males  and  181  females;  the  academic  department  (including 
the  school  of  commerce),  54  males  and  52  females;  the  conservatory  of  music. 


696  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

190  males  and  317  females;  the  school*  of  art  and  elocution,  5  males  and  24 
females,  and  the  summer  schools,  58  males  and  175  females. 

In  the  course  of  this  narrative,  credit  has  been  given  to  many  strong  and 
earnest  men  who  have  spent  years  in  planting  and  nourishing  the  institution 
from  infancy  to  a  stalwart  maturity.  Limited  space  makes  it  necessary  to  omit 
many  names  and  personalities  from  this  roll  of  honor.  In  this  summary  of  the 
forces  which  have  molded  Augustana  College  and  Theological  Seminary  to  its 
present  form,  which  radiates  strength  and  vitality,  should  be  mentioned  together 
the  names  of  its  presidents,  viz :  Rev.  L.  P.  Esbjorn,  1860-63 ;  Rev.  T.  N.  Has- 
selquist,  D.  D.,  1863-91 ;  Rev.  0.  Olsson,  Ph.  D.,  D.  D.  1891-1900 ;  Rev.  Gustav 
Andreen,  Ph.  D.,  D.  D.,  the  present  incumbent.  At  the  death  of  President 
Olsson  in  1900,  the  synod  extended  a  call  to  Dr.  C.  A.  Swensson,  of  Lindsborg, 
Kansas,  who  failed  to  accept.  The  following  year  Dr.  Andreen  was  called  to 
the  presidency,  and  has  served  the  institution  faithfully  and  creditably  since  1901. 

Since  the  institution  was  established  at  Rock  Island,  its  vice  presidents  have 
been  as  follows:  Rev.  H.  Reck,  A.  M.,  1875-81;  Rev.  C.  O.  Granere,  Ph.  D., 
1883-86;  A.  W.  Williamson,  Ph.  D.,  1886-89;  C.  W.  Foss,  Ph.  D.,  1889-1901; 
Rev.  C.  E.  Lindberg,  D.  D.,  1901-10 ;  C.  L.  E.  Esbjorn,  A.  M.,  1910-1911 ;  Rev. 
E.  F.  Bartholomew,  D.  D.,  1911-1919;  Prof.  I.  M.  Anderson,  1919;  Dr.  S.  G. 
Youngert,  1920  to  date.  Dr.  C.  E.  Lindberg  is  dean  of  the  Theological  Sem- 
inary, Prof.  J.  Mountzon  dean  of  the  College  Department,  Dr.  A.  W.  Kjellotard 
principal  of  the  Academy,  and  Prof.  A.  Cyril  Graham  director  of  the  Con- 
servatory. 

At  Augustana  Seminary  1,036  students  have  studied,  of  which  almost  700 
have  also  studied  at  Augustana  College.  About  40  of  these  pastors  have  gone 
out  as  missionaries  in  heathen  lands. 

In  1875  the  College  Department  had  26  members.  This  year,  1925,  the  Col- 
lege Department  has  a  membership  of  over  500  with  a  Freshman  class  of  220. 
The  first  class  which  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  was  the  one  of  1877. 
The  number  of  those  who  during  the  past  48  years  have  been  graduated  from 
the  college  amounts  to  937.  The  total  number  of  those  who  have  attended 
Augustana  College  and  Theological  Seminar}^  during  the  last  fifty  years  is 
about  12,000  individuals. 

Previous  to  the  year  1888,  there  was  no  evidence  of  any  park  system  in  the 
city  of  Rock  Island,  but  in  that  year  William  Jackson  was  appointed  by  Mayor 
William  McConochie  as  park  commissioner.  Spencer  Square,  on  Second  Ave- 
nue, had  been  taking  shape  as  a  public  park  since  1836,  and  in  1888  Mr.  Jack- 
son commenced  to  improve  and  beautify  the  grounds  which,  for  all  these  years, 
had  been  reserved  for  public  purposes.  Ben  T.  Cable  and  Mrs.  Lucy  Castleman 
presented  the  beautiful  fountain  and  Otis  J.  Dimick,  the  granite  statue  of  Black 
Hawk  which  adorned  the  square,  first  known  as  Union. 

Longview  Park,  of  about  forty  acres,  overlooks  the  Mississippi  River,  and 
was  mainly  donated  b}-  Frederick  Weyerhaeuser,  Morris  Rosenfield,  Charles  H. 
Deer'e  and  Captain  T.  J.  Robinson.  Of  a  later  date  is  the  Watch  Tower  park 
of  twenty-three  acres  at  the  east  end  of  the  Mississippi  overlooking  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley,  with  the  mouth  of  the  Rock  River  in  the  dim  distance.  It  was 
named  in  memory  of  the  historic  Black  Hawk  and  his  outlook,  the  latter  being 
embraced  in  its  grounds. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  697 

It  has  been  a  Long  and  struggling  period  since  those  days  of  the  '20s  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  when  the  first  missionaries  held  services  at  Fort  Armstrong, 
and  the  Presbyterians  organized  at  Rock  Island  in  1837,  and  the  Methodists  and 
Catholics  in  1850  and  1851,  the  general  result  has  been  to  found  about  thirty 
churches  of  various  denominations  in  the  city  of  Rock  Island.  There  are  seven 
organizations  of  Presbyterians,  tive  of  Evangelical  Lutheran,  four  each  of  Ro- 
man Catholics  and  Methodists,  three  each  of  Baptists  and  Christians,  two  of 
Hebrews,  and  one  each  of  Free  Methodists,  Episcopalians  and  Christian  Scien- 
tists. The  Reorganized  Church  of  Latter  Day  Saints,  Salvation  Army,  West  End 
Settlement  and  Volunteer  Rescue  Army  are  also  organized.  In  connection  with 
church  and  charitable  work  there  are  also  six  asylums,  convents  and  homes  and 
two  hospitals  (Catholic  and  the  Detention  Hospital  of  Rock  Island). 

SOCIETIES,  ASSOCIATIONS  AND  SOCIAL  AND  BENEVOLENT  ORDERS 

The  cities  of  Rock  Island,  Moline  and  Davenport  are  so  closely  affiliated  that 
their  trade  unions  are  in  close  cooperation.  Numbering  more  than  eighty,  they 
are  organized  into  a  central  body  known  as  the  Tri-City  Federation  of  Labor, 
which  meets  at  the  Industrial  Home  in  Rock  Island. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was  organized  April  20,  1884,  and 
first  held  its  meetings  in  rooms  on  Second  Avenue.  On  January  30,  1887,  a 
little  girl  named  Anna  Stewart  gave  fifty  cents  to  the  Workers'  Bible  Training 
class  with  which  to  start  a  building  fund  for  a  young  men's  home  in  Rock 
Island;  this  particular  meeting  was  being  held  at  Reynolds,  Rock  Island  County. 
Through  other  organizations,  chiefly  of  women,  the  building  fund  grew,  and  the 
corner  stone  of  a  $41,000  building  was  finally  laid  in  June,  1890,  and  dedicated 
in  January,  1894.  That  home  was  outgrown,  and  in  1912  the  prominent  busi- 
ness men  of  the  city  got  together  and  in  a  week  raised  $127,000  for  a  new 
V.  M.  C.  A.  Its  corner-stone  was  laid  December  8,  1912,  and  in  the  following 
year  the  structure  was  occupied.  The  home  stands  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  Ave- 
nue and  Twentieth  Street,  and  presents  all  the  comforts,  conveniences  and 
amusements  usually  to  be  found  in  such  establishments.  There  is  also  a  well 
organized  and  managed  Y.  W.  C.  A.  near  Fifteenth  Street  and  Third  Avenue. 
Among  the  most  flourishing  social  organizations  of  Rock  Island  are  the  Woman's 
Club  and  the  Rotary  and  Kiwanis  clubs. 

The  patriotic  societies  are  represented  by  the  D.  A.  R.  and  the  G.  A.  R. — 
the  latter  with  its  post  and  Ladies'  Relief  Corps,  each  thinning  perceptibly,  year 
by  year — as  well  as  the  United  Spanish  War  Veterans  (camp  and  Women's 
Auxiliary). 

All  the  secret  and  benevolent  orders,  whether  of  early  or  late  origin,  are 
active  in  Rock  Island.  Odd  Fellowship  and  Masonry  came  to  Rock  Island  in 
the  late  '40s.  The  I.  O.  O.  P.  was  organized  August  25,  1846,  with  Rock  Island 
Lodge  No.  18,  and  is  represented  locally  by  five  bodies.  The  eleven  bodies,  or 
degrees  of  Masons,  had  their  origin  in  Trio  Lodge  No.  ">7.  It  grew  from  a  lodge 
formed  in  Cambridge,  Henry  County,  in  the  fall  of  1847,  and  whose  members 
met  alternately  there  and  at  Rock  Island.  As  these  places  are  thirty  miles  apart, 
on  .May  18,  1848,  the  Rock  Island  members  formed  an  independent  lodge.  Trio 
Lodge   No.   57   was  adopted   as   its    name,   in   honor  of  Rock  Island.   .Moline   and 


698  THE  KOCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Camden  Mills,  which  were  to  be  included  in  its  jurisdiction.  As  the  dispensa- 
tion for  its  organization  was  granted  by  the  Grand  Lodge  on  June  1,  1848, 
Masonry  in  Rock  Island  County  dates  from  that  time.  The  first  Knights  of 
Pythias  Lodge  in  the  county  was  organized  in  Moline,  in  1872,  and  it  was  not 
until  July  10,  1882,  that  St.  Paul  Lodge  107  was  formed  in  Rock  Island.  The 
five  camps  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America  all  sprung  from  the  parent 
organization  founded  at  Lyons,  Clinton  County,  Iowa,  in  January,  1883.  In 
1899,  the  society  moved  its  national  headquarters  from  Fulton  to  Rock  Island, 
111.,  where  it  occupies  a  handsome  steel  and  pressed  brick  building  owned  by 
the  order.  The  Elks,  Eagles,  Moose  and  Knights  of  Columbus  (Catholic)  were 
established  at  a  later  day. 

THE  ROCK  ISLAND  ARSENAL 

This  great  national  institution,  one  of  the  largest  and  most  remarkable  war 
shops  of  the  world,  is  a  historical  link  connecting  Rock  Island,  Moline  and  the 
region  round-about,  and  the  story  of  its  development  is  here  given. 

Both  the  geographical  position  and  the  geological  construction  of  the  Rocky 
Island  which  split  the  channel  of  the  Mississippi  River  a  short  distance  south  of 
the  juncture  of  the  parent  stream  with  the  Rock  River  predestined  that  island 
as  a  military  key  to  the  control  of  the  great  valley  and  its  tributary  waterways 
coursing  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  southwest.  The  people  which  should  seize 
the  key  would  place  no  weak  bar  against  the  oncoming  of  the  Sioux  and  other 
tribes  from  the  north  and  west,  as  well  as  against  the  incursions  of  hostile 
Indians  from  the  northeast,  whose  natural  highways  of  travel  were  through 
the  valleys  of  the  Wisconsin,  the  Rock  and  the  Illinois  rivers. 

NEW  STRONGHOLD  IN  THE  MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY 

As  the  War  of  1812  progressed,  it  became  evident  that  the  final  struggle 
for  the  control,  ownership  and  settlement  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  was  solely  be- 
tween the  British  and  the  Americans,  and  that  the  power  which  should  be  firmly 
planted  at  the  chief  strategic  points  therein  would  eventually  come  into  posses- 
sion of  that  wonderful  region.  Before  the  whites  of  any  race  could  be  induced 
to  settle,  they  must  be  assured  of  centers  of  refuge  from  the  attacks  of  the  pow- 
erful Indian  tribes  crowding  down  the  valley  from  the  north  and  following  the 
interior  waterways  joining  the  Mississippi  from  the  northeast.  St.  Louis  was 
the  great  military  center  of  the  Southwest  and  was  the  watch-tower  for  not  only 
the  mouth  of  the  Missouri  but  for  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  a  short  distance  to 
the  north  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  valley.  In  1814,  the  Americans  had  built 
and  were  endeavoring  to  hold  Fort  Selby  (Prairie  du  Chien),  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Wisconsin  River,  the  defeat  of  Lieutenant  Campbell  and  Zachary  Taylor, 
in  the  Moline-Rock  Island  region  being  discouraging,  but  by  no  means,  crushing 
features  in  this  general  plan  of  temporary  occupancy  and  permanent  posses- 
sion. A  strong  military  center  between  St.  Louis  and  Prairie  du  Chien,  which 
should  overlook  the  Indian  country  to  the  west,  the  east  and  the  north,  was  nec- 
essary in  order  that  the  Americans  should  retain  the  western  country  which 
they  had  wrested  from  the  British.     It  was  also  necessary  that  such  a  center 


(Through    the    courtesy    of    the    Rock    Island    Arsenal) 

1.  INSERT:  FIRST  PERMANENT  ARSENAL  BUILDING.  ERECTED  IN  1863  AT 
WEST  END  OF  ISLAND.  KNOWN  AS  OLD  STONE  WAREHOUSE.  2.  REAR  VIEW 
OF  ORIGINAL  ARSENAL  SHOPS. 


700  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

should  be  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  the  Rock  River,  that  the  troops  might  keep 
an  eye  on  Black  Hawk's  Village,  which  had  already  been  marked  by  red  and 
white  alike  as  the  hotbed  of  race  conflict.  The  attack  and  siege  of  Fort  Madison, 
between  the  Big  Cedar  and  the  Des  Moines,  on  the  western  shores  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, had  proven  that  although  that  locality  might  be  favorable  for  a  trad- 
ing post  its  isolated  position  made  it  useless  for  military  purposes. 

While  the  site  for  Fort  Madison  was  being  selected,  Pike  described  the  Rocky 
Island  in  the  eastern  waters  of  the  Mississippi  as  well  adapted  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  military  stronghold,  if  objection  should  be  made  to  the  site  chosen 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  Unfortunately,  objection  was  not  made,  and  Fort 
Madison  was  built. 

After  the  fierce  Indian  attack  upon  the  western  fort,  in  the  fall  of  1812,  had 
thoroughly  demonstrated  its  weakness,  the  authorities  of  Illinois  Territory  de- 
manded protection  from  the  Indians  who  might  have  an  almost  unimpeded 
sweep  to  what  we  now  call  southern  Illinois.  The  only  considerable  white  settle- 
ments were  south  of  the  present  Alton  area.  At  the  beginning  of  the  War  of 
1812,  Governor  Ninian  Edwards  wrote:  "I  believe  there  is  a  universal  com- 
bination among  the  Indians.  Independent  of  the  Indians  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi and  300  lodges  of  Sioux  on  the  Wisconsin,  we  may  certainly  count  on  4,400 
who  can  reach  the  settlements  on  the  Mississippi  in  six  or  eight  days,  and  come 
all  the  way  by  water.  Our  danger,  therefore,  is  very  evident."  The  disasters 
to  American  expeditions  in  1814,  designed  both  to  reestablish  Fort  Selby  and  to 
crush  Black  Hawk  and  his  village,  seemed  at  first  to  confirm  the  British  and 
their  Indian  allies  in  the  possession  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  from  the  St.  Louis- 
Alton  area  to  Prairie  du  Chien.  Fortunately,  the  War  of  1812  was  not  decided 
in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  but  although  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  was  not  fully  rati- 
fied until  February,  1815,  Black  Hawk  and  his  followers  continued  their  attacks 
upon  settlers  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi. 

In  the  summer  and  fall  of  1815,  notwithstanding  the  counter  efforts  of  Brit- 
ish agents,  the  hostile  tribes  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi,  with  the  exception 
of  Black  Hawk's  band,  had  made  peace  with  the  United  States.  The  Sauk  of 
the  Missouri  River  had  also  formally  separated  themselves  from  the  enemy  Sauk 
of  the  Rock  River.  It  was  not  until  the  13th  of  May,  1816,  that  the  fierce  and 
rugged  Sauk  warrior  and  his  head  men  accepted  the  proffered  friendship  of  the 
United  States,  and  confirmed  the  treaty  of  1804  ceding  their  lands  in  eastern 
Missouri,  southern  Wisconsin  and  northern  and  western  Illinois  to  the  United 
States,  with  the  expressed  proviso  that  they  should  be  permitted  to  live  and 
hunt  on  them  as  long  as  they  were  within  the  territory  of  that  nation.  But 
even  this  treaty  failed  to  bring  either  peace  or  protection;  for  the  military  au- 
thorities were  still  intent  on  the  establishment  of  a  military  post  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Rock  River,  which  should  counteract  the  menace  of  Black  Hawk's  village 
of  Saukenuk. 

THE   BUILDING    OP    FORT    ARMSTRONG 

About  a  year  after  Zachary  Taylor's  weak  expedition  was  turned  back 
from  the  Rock  Island  region  by  an  overwhelming  force  of  Sauk  and  by  British 
cannon,  the  Eighth  United  States  Infantry,  under  command  of  Colonel  R  C. 


TIIK  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  701 

Nichols,  left  Fort  Independence,  St.  Louis,  to  establish  a  fori  Dear  the  mouth 
of  the  Rock  River.  The  troops  started  in  September  and  in  November  had 
only  reached  the  Des  Moines  River,  when  it  went  into  winter  quarters.  There, 
for  some  unexplained  reason,  Colonel  Nichols  was  placed  under  arrest  and 
Brevet  Lieutenant  Colonel  William  Lawrence  was  placed  in  charge.  In  April, 
1811).  Brevet  Brigadier  General  Thomas  A.  Smith,  colonel  of  the  rifle  regi- 
ment, arrived  with  his  command  and  prepared  to  lead  the  entire  expedition 
on  its  mission  northward.  Up  to  this  time,  all  efforts  to  make  peace  with 
Black  Hawk  and  his  warriors  had  failed,  and  the  troops  proceeded  up  the 
.Mississippi,  arriving  at  the  mouth  of  Rock  River  early  in  May,  1816.  On  the 
north  bank  of  the  Rock  River,  near  its  entrance  to  the  Mississippi,  was  Black 
Hawk's  great  village. 

In  the  Mississippi  River,  nearly  opposite  the  Sauk  Indian  village,  was  the 
wooded  and  rocky  island,  nearly  three  miles  long  and  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
wide,  so  well  known  by  military  authorities,  and  at  least  designated  by  Pike, 
as  a  likely  site  for  a  government  fort.  It  had  a  base  of  hard  limestone,  which 
outcropped  at  the  western  or  lower  end  as  a  high,  almost  perpendicular  wall. 
The  main  channel  of  the  Mississippi  swept  along  its  northern  banks  and  its 
southern  shores,  for  several  miles  above  were  scoured  by  a  series  of  rapids 
which  prevented  any  but  the  smaller  boats  from  navigating  its  waters  in  that 
direction.  They  also  passed  along  Campbell's  Island,  the  scene  of  the  Amer- 
ican disaster,  several  miles  above.  In  the  main  channel  of  the  Mississippi, 
opposite  the  upper  end  of  the  Rocky  Island,  was  a  small  island  known  as 
Credit,  which  marked  the  scene  of  Taylor's  defeat.  All  of  these  islands  were 
favorite  haunts  of  the  Indians  and  the  larger  one  was  so  massive,  picturesque, 
striking  and  weird  that  it  was  credited  with  being  the  abiding  place  of  a 
guardian  spirit  of  the  Sauk  tribe. 

After  a  thorough  examination  of  the  locality  near  the  mouth  of  the  Rock- 
River,  General  Smith  and  his  fellow  officers  selected  the  foot  of  the  larger 
island,  with  its  imposing  natural  rampart,  as  the  site  of  the  projected  fort, 
and  on  May  10th  the  troops  were  landed  and  set  to  work  cutting  trees  and 
quarrying  stone.  General  Smith  remained  on  the  island  only  long  enough  to 
see  that  the  troops  were  provided  with  proper  shelter  and  protection,  and 
then  with  his  rifle  regiment  went  up  the  river  to  Prairie  du  Chien.  Before 
leaving  he  sent  a  messenger  to  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  at  their  village  of  Saukenuk 
inviting  them  to  a  treaty  council,  but  they  refused  his  proffer  of  concilia- 
tion, and  the  construction  of  the  fort  proceeded  under  the  superintendency 
of  Colonel  Lawrence.  The  work  had  been  going  on  but  a  few  days  before 
the  Sauk  concluded  their  treaty  of  peace.  Whether  the  commencement  of 
its  construction  had  any  bearing  on  their  peaceful  attitude  is  a  matter  only 
of  speculation.  The  negotiation  of  the  treaty  did  not  halt  the  building  of 
the  fort,  which  was  named  Armstrong,  in  honor  of  General  John  Armstrong, 
the  former  secretary  of  war. 

As  the  work  on  Fort  Armstrong  progressed,  the  Indians  began  crossing 
from  the  mainland  to  the  island,  watching  the  soldiers  at  their  labors  and 
sometimes  singing  and  dancing  for  them.  There  are  stories  told,  however,  that 
the  red   men   \\i-rr  not    as   friendly  as  they  sometimes  appeared.      In   one  of   his 


702  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

reminiscences  Bailey  Davenport  says :  ' '  One  day  a  small  party  came  over  to 
dance,  and  after  the  dance  the  colonel  in  command  gave  them  presents.  A 
few  days  afterward  and  while  a  large  number  of  soldiers  were  out  cutting 
timber,  a  large  party  of  warriors,  headed  by  Nekalequat,  came  over  in  canoes 
and  landed  on  the  north  side  of  the  island,  danced  up  to  the  entrance  of  the 
encampment  and  wanted  to  enter  and  dance  in  front  of  the  commander's  tent. 
About  the  same  time  a  large  party  of  warriors  was  discovered  approaching 
over  the  ridge  from  the  south  side  of  the  island,  headed  by  Keokuk.  The  Colonel 
immediately  ordered  the  bugle  sounded  to  recall  the  soldiers  from  the  woods, 
and  had  all  under  arms  (about  600)  and  the  cannon  run  out  in  front  of  the 
entrance  ready  to  fire.  The  Indians  were  ordered  not  to  approach  any  nearer. 
The  colonel,  taking  the  alarm  before  Keokuk's  party  got  near  enough  to  rush 
in,  saved  the  encampment  from  surprise  and  massacre." 

Black  Hawk,  in  his  Autobiography,  does  not  mention  this.  But  he  does 
mention  the  building  of  the  fort  thus :  ' '  We  did  not  try  to  prevent  their 
building  the  fort  on  the  island,  but  we  were  very  sorry,  as  this  was  the  best 
island  on  the  Mississippi,  and  had  long  been  the  resort  of  our  young  people 
during  the  summer.  It  was  our  garden  (like  the  white  people  have  near  their 
big  villages)  which  supplied  us  with  strawberries,  blackberries,  plums,  apples 
and  nuts  of  various  kinds;  and  its  waters  supplied  us  with  pure  fish,  being 
situated  in  the  rapids  of  the  river.  In  my  early  days  I  spent  many  happy 
days  on  this  island."  Whether  Black  Hawk  really  believed  that  the  noises 
of  axes,  hammers  and  saws,  and  the  rasping  of  iron  bars  and  steel  chisels 
as  the  limestone  of  the  island  was  built  into  the  stockade,  the  magazine  and 
the  fort,  frightened  away  the  great  white  Swan,  or  Good  Spirit,  from  her 
shadowy  cave  in  the  fastnesses  of  Rocky  Island,  or  whether  he  used  the  image 
to  arouse  opposition  against  the  soldiers  who  were  occupying  this  gem  of  his 
old  home-land,  may  be  food  for  speculation,  but  not  for  useful  thought. 

Fort  Armstrong  was  completed  in  1817,  and  two  years  afterward  an  army 
officer  on  a  tour  of  inspection  describes  it  as  follows :  ' '  This  fort  is  about  270 
feet  square,  with  three  block  houses  mounting  three  six-pounders.  The  bar- 
racks are  well  constructed  of  hewed  timber  and  are  sufficiently  extensive  to 
quarter  three  companies.  The  magazine  is  of  stone  and  well  built.  The  com- 
manding officers'  quarters  consists  of  a  center  two-story  building,  28  feet  in 
length  and  a  piazza  built  in  front  and  rear.  The  fort  is  built  on  the  lower 
point  of  Rock  Island  and  upon  a  perpendicular  bank  of  limestone  about  twenty- 
five  feet  in  height.     It  completely  commands  both  channels  of  the  river." 

Governor  Ford's  description  of  the  fort,  which  follows,  is  a  little  more  pic- 
turesque :  ' '  The  river  here  is  a  beautiful  sheet  of  clear,  swift-running  water, 
about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  wide.  Its  banks  on  both  sides  were  uninhabited 
except  by  Indians  from  the  lower  rapids  to  the  fort,  and  the  voyagers  up- 
stream, after  several  days'  solitary  progress  through  a  wilderness  country  on 
its  borders,  came  suddenly  in  sight  of  the  whitewashed  walls  and  towers  of 
the  fort  perched  upon  a  rock,  surrounded  by  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of 
nature,  which  at  a  distance  gave  it  the  appearance  of  one  of  those  enchanted 
castles  in  an  uninhabited  desert  so  well  described  in  the  Arabian  Nights  Enter- 
tainment." 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  703 

A    NUCLEUS  OP   SETTLEMENT 

Fori  Armstrong  was  the  natural  nucleus  of  settlement  for  the  neighboring 
country  mi  both  si. lis  of  the  Mississippi,  as  well  as  on  the  island  itself,  which 
looked  to  its  garrison  for  protection.  George  Davenport,  the  English  soldier 
and  contractor  for  army  supplies,  who  had  fought  with  the  Americans  and 
accompanied  the  Eighth  Regiment  which  had  been  assigned  to  Fort  Armstrong, 
had  much  to  do  with  locating  the  site  of  the  military  post  at  the  lower  end 
of  the  island.  He  built  a  double  log  house  a  short  distance  from  the  fort, 
near  the  northern  shore  of  the  island  and  looking  across  the  main  channel 
of  the  Mississippi.  He  finished  the  house,  a  combined  family  home  and  store, 
about  the  time  the  fort  was  completed  and  occupied  it  for  sixteen  years.  In 
1824,  Russell  Farnham  came  from  Warsaw,  a  river  settlement  to  the  south, 
and  entered  into  a  partnership  with  Davenport  in  the  business  of  trading 
with  the  Indians  and  supplying  the  garrison  with  provisions.  Two  years 
afterward,  under  the  firm  name  of  Davenport  &  Farnham,  they  built  a  house 
on  the  mainland  afterward  occupied  by  John  Barrel.  The  building  was  used  for 
many  years  as  the  seat  of  justice  for  Rock  Island  County  and  the  official  records 
refer  to  it  as  "the  house  of  John  Barrel."  The  large  two-story  frame  house 
which  replaced  the  log  cabin  was  completed  by  Colonel  Davenport  in  1833, 
and  it  is  here  that  he  was  robbed  and  murdered  on  July  4,  1845.  Until  1906, 
the  house  was  left  as  it  stood  at  the  time  of  the  tragedy.  It  was  gradually 
falling  into  decay,  but  in  the  year  named  the  Old  Settlers  Association  of  Rock 
Island  County  secured  permission  from  the  government  to  restore  it  as  it  was 
in  the  life  of  Colonel  Davenport.  This  was  done,  and  as  the  building  stands 
it  represents  by  far  the  oldest  structure  on  the  island. 

Although  the  country  along  Rock  River  had  not  been  surveyed  in  1828, 
and  was  therefore  not  open  to  entry,  settlers  commenced  to  arrive  in  the  Valley 
during  that  year  relying  upon  the  protection  of  Fort  Armstrong  to  main- 
tain their  homesteads.  Eight  settlers  arrived  in  1828,  five  of  them  locating 
at  the  site  of  Rapids  City,  fourteen  miles  above  the  fort.  More  came  in  1829, 
some  settling  on  the  Rock  River  and  others  in  the  Rock  Island-Moline  region. 

These  squatters  all  located  outside  the  limits  of  Rocky  Island,  as  in  1825 
the  "War  Department  had  formally  asserted  its  claim  to  the  entire  tract.  It 
was  not  until  the  garrison  at  Fort  Armstrong  was  withdrawn  in  1836  that 
the  Government  commenced  to  have  trouble  with  settlers  on  the  fertile  and 
beautiful  island. 

THE  FORT  EVACUATED  AND  PLACED  IN  CUSTODY 

On  the  4th  of  May,  1836,  Fort  Armstrong  was  evacuated  and  the  troops 
sent  to  Fort  Snelling.  Lieutenant  Colonel  William  Davenport  was  in  com- 
mand at  that  time  and  he  left  Lieutenant  John  Beach,  of  the  infantry,  in 
charge  of  a  few  men  to  care  for  the  property.  The  fort  was  never  re-garrisoned. 
In  November,  1836,  Lieutenant  Beach  was  ordered  elsewhere  and  all  the  property 
was  moved. 

From  1836  to  1838,  General  Street,  Indian  agent,  had  charge  of  the  island, 


704  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

and  he  was  succeeded  by  Colonel  George  Davenport  who  had  been  appointed 
to  that  position.  In  1840,  some  of  the  garrison  buildings  were  repaired  and 
an  ordnance  depot  was  established  at  the  fort.  Captain  W.  R.  Shoemaker  had 
charge  until  1845,  when  the  depot  was  discontinued  and  the  goods  moved  to 
St.  Louis.  Thomas  L.  Drum,  of  Rock  Island,  was  custodian  from  1845  to  1853 ; 
Ordnance  Sergeant  Cummings  for  a  short  time,  in  1853-54;  J.  B.  Danforth, 
1854-57,  and  H.  Y.  Slaymaker,  1857-63.  In  1855,  part  of  the  fort  was  burned, 
and  the  last  vestige  of  the  historic  structure  at  the  foot  of  Rocky  Island  dis- 
appeared in  1863,  when  the  first  building  of  the  National  or  Rock  Island 
Arsenal  commenced  to  arise. 

A  reminder,  if  not  a  relic  of  old  Fort  Armstrong,  has  been  placed  on  the 
arsenal  grounds.  In  1916,  the  one-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  building  of 
the  fort  was  observed  by  an  imposing  and  enthusiastic  celebration,  in  which 
not  only  the  Tri-Cities  joined,  but  numerous  visitors  from  far  away.  Among 
the  noted  guests  were  Jesse  Ka-ka-que,  of  Kansas,  a  great-grandson  of  Black 
Hawk,  and  Push-e-ton-e-que,  chief  of  the  Fox,  together  with  about  twenty- 
five  other  Indians  from  Tama,  Iowa.  As  a  part  of  this  celebration  one  of  the 
blockhouses  was  restored.  It  is  a  replica  of  those  which  were  placed  there 
more  than  a  century  ago,  and  which,  with  their  six  pounders,  tended  to  im- 
plant a  feeling  of  assurance,  if  not  security,  in  the  minds  of  the  scattered 
settlers  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  before  and  during  the  period  of  the  Black 
Hawk  war. 

STUMBLING  BLOCKS  IN  THE  WAY  OP  THE  ORIGINAL  PLAN 

As  early  as  1825,  the  War  Department  withdrew  the  lands  of  Rocky  Island 
from  public  sale,  in  order  to  set  it  aside  for  military  purposes,  but,  for  nearly 
forty  years,  although  army  officers  were  substantially  unanimous  in  their  recom- 
mendations to  establish  an  armory,  an  arsenal  and  other  military  units  of  a 
great  plant  thereon,  there  were  several  critical  times  when  it  looked  as  if  the 
people  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  might  be  thwarted  in  their  ambition.  It  al- 
ways happened,  however,  that  some  strong  champion  was  raised  up  to  hold 
the  original  plan  in  line,  and  among  these  supporters  none  was  more  stanch 
than  Jefferson  Davis. 

After  the  removal  of  the  garrison  in  1836,  the  squatters  were  the  first 
stumbling  blocks  which  the  government  sought  to  remove  from  the  island. 
They  boldly  took  possession  of  all  the  choicest  tracts,  hoping  that  in  time  their 
claims  would  be  recognized  and  they  would  be  able  to  acquire  full  ownership. 
The  squatters  cleared  and  cultivated  some  of  the  land,  used  much  of  the 
timber,  and  sold  logs  and  wood  so  recklessly  that  most  of  the  original  growth 
was  destroyed.  Finally,  David  J.  Baker,  a  United  States  attorney  located  at 
Kaskaskia,  111.,  notified  J.  R.  Poinsett,  secretary  of  war,  of  the  conditions 
existing  on  the  island  and  asked  permission  to  eject  the  squatters.  The  matter 
was  submitted  to  President  Van  Buren,  who  issued  orders  for  their  removal. 
The  order,  however,  did  not  prove  effectual  either  in  removing  the  squatters, 
or  in  stopping  their  depredations. 

The  various  local  and  national  measures  which  centered  in  the  little  island 


THE  ROCK   RIVER  VALLEY  705 

which  held  the  key  to  the  military  and  industrial  control  of  such  an  important 
stretch  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  arc  thus  narrated  in  the  official  history  of 
the  Hock  Island  Arsenal,  issued  in  1922  with  the  approval  of  the  War  De- 
partment: "In  18:17.  the  Illinois  Legislature  gave  permission,  by  special  act, 
empowering  David  B.  Sears  and  John  W.  Spencer  to  construct  a  water  power 
dam  across  Rock  Island  Slough,  connecting  the  island  with  the  mainland  at 
Moline.  In  1842  the  dam  was  completed,  and  in  a  short  time  a  number  of 
small  manufacturing  plants  made  their  appearance  at  the  head  of  the  island, 
operating  with  the  power  generated  there.  In  1846,  Mr.  Sears  built  another 
dam  connecting  the  mainland  with  Benham's  Island,  on  the  north  and  just 
below  the  head  of  the  former. 

"In  1848,  for  some  reason  not  clear  at  this  date,  the  secretary  of  war  wrrote 
to  the  secretary  of  the  interior  formally  relinquishing  the  island  for  military 
purposes.  In  doing  so,  however,  the  former  exceeded  his  powers,  as  court 
decisions  and  subsequent  acts  of  the  War  Department  indicated,  and  so  a 
great  many  persons  who  claimed  interests  in  the  property  were  disappointed. 

"Most  of  the  litigation  with  respect  to  the  ownership  of  the  premises  re- 
sulted from  the  building  of  the  Chicago  &  Rock  Island  Railroad,  which  crossed 
the  island  a  quarter  of  a  mile  east  of  the  present  line,  the  company  claiming 
a  tract  300  feet  in  width  by  virtue  of  its  charter  from  the  State  of  Illinois. 
That  was  in  1854.  The  War  Department  resisted  the  intrusion  and  the  matter 
was  thrown  into  the  courts,  which  eventually  upheld  the  company,  apparently 
more  on  the  grounds  of  public  need  of  transportation  by  rail  than  upon  proof 
of  technical  rights  submitted  by  the  defendant.  Subsequently  the  railroad 
was  induced  to  remove  its  tracks  to  the  extreme  western  end  of  the  island, 
where  they  are  now  located. 

"In  1850,  when  General  Zachary  Taylor  was  president,  he  issued  an  order 
for  the  sale  of  the  island.  Advertisements  were  not  printed  in  local  news- 
papers, and  it  was  charged  that  the  move  had  been  instigated  by  outside  cap- 
italists who  wished,  for  obvious  reasons,  to  avoid  publicity.  Two  weeks  prior 
to  the  date  of  sale,  however,  the  people  of  the  community  awoke  to  what  was 
going  on,  and  immediately  such  a  protest  arose  that  the  War  Department  felt 
compelled  to  postpone  the  date.  Word  to  this  effect  did  not  reach  Rock  Island 
until  the  afternoon  of  the  day  on  which  the  sale  was  to  have  taken  place  and 
an  officer  was  on  the  ground  prepared  to  receive  bids.  Most  active  in  opposing 
the  sale  were  those  who  had  settled  or  made  improvements  on  the  island,  for 
they  felt  that  their  alleged  rights  were  being  placed  in  jeopardy.  They  banded 
together  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  post  notices  in  the  vicinity  warning  pros- 
pective purchasers  that  those  appearing  to  submit  bids  would  be  in  serious 
physical  danger.     The  sale  was  finally   called  off. 

"Many  bills  were  offered  in  Congress  for  the  sale  of  all  or  part  of  the 
land,  but  most  of  them  were  defeated  through  the  vigilance  of  local  interests 
which,  from  the  first,  ardently  upheld  the  effort  to  maintain  the  island  as  a 
site  for  an  arsenal.  In  1858  the  War  Department  again  was  induced  to  con- 
sent to  public  sale,  and  bids  were  advertised  for,  and  received,  but  never  opened. 
About  this  time,  Congress  began  to  manifest  a  real  interest  in  the  utilization 
of  the  island   for  military   purposes,   and  so  in   1859,  when  the  last   bill   ever 


706  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

offered  for  sale  of  the  premises  came  up,  it  was  promptly  voted  down ;  and 
that  ended  the  controversy. 

"In  the  meantime,  part  of  the  island  had  been  disposed  of  by  act  of  Con- 
gress. Colonel  George  Davenport,  the  original  settler  in  the  community,  was 
permitted  to  purchase  at  the  prevailing  price  of  $1.25  per  acre  the  quarter 
section  he  had  claimed  and  improved  at  the  time  the  first  army  post  was 
established,  and  D.  B.  Sears  was  given  a  similar  privilege  with  respect  to  the 
fractional  tract  adjacent  to  his  flour  mill  at  the  head  of  the  island.  The  Daven- 
port interests  subsequently  were  repurchased  by  the  War  Department  for 
$40,700  and  the  Sears  interests  for  $145,175. 

"An  organized  effort  to  get  the  greater  part  of  the  island  by  preemption 
was  made  in  1856,  when  one  Thales  Lindsley,  said  to  have  been  a  clerk  in 
the  Patent  Office  at  Washington,  appeared  and  located  a  party  of  squatters 
as  'dummies'  upon  unoccupied  parts  of  the  island.  About  the  same  time  a 
number  of  Rock  Island  men  conceived  the  same  idea,  namely,  that  of  estab- 
lishing rights  preliminary  to  purchase  from  the  government.  The  result  was 
that  the  population  of  the  island  was  materially  increased,  there  being  two 
or  more  claimants  for  each  of  the  more  desirable  portions.  Some  violence 
resulted  from  the  clash  of  interests.  Eventually,  the  Lindsley  party  was  worsted. 
Lindsley,  however,  was  not  daunted.  He  remained  on  the  ground  and  inter- 
ested a  number  of  local  men  in  a  plan  to  get  the  island  by  grant  from  Con- 
gress as  a  site  for  a  great  state  and  national  university.  He  drew  up  a 
prospectus  for  an  institution  of  learning,  offering  more  than  one  hundred  courses 
of  study,  some  of  which  never  had  been,  and  perhaps  never  will  be,  taught 
in  any  school.  A  bill  to  carry  out  the  scheme  was  actually  presented  to  Con- 
gress. When  Lindsley  appealed  to  Senator  Stephen  A.  Douglas  for  aid,  that 
statesman,  evidently  apprised  of  the  many  devices  already  employed  with  a 
similar  purpose,  is  quoted  as  having  exclaimed:  'For  heaven's  sake,  sir,  draw 
something  thicker  than  a  lace  veil  over  your  scheme!' 

"Apparently,  that  sealed  the  doom  of  the  project,  for  it  did  not  get  much 
further.  Lindsley  made  6ne  other  attempt  to  improve  his  fortunes  through 
an  application  to  the  Illinois  Legislature  for  a  water  power  grant  involving 
rights  in  the  south  channel,  already  claimed  by  the  Moline  AVater  Power  Com- 
pany, but  met  with  defeat. 

"Private  claim  to  water  power  rights  in  the  Rock  Island  slough  never  was 
seriously  contested  by  the  War  Department.  The  original  dam,  built  in  1842 
by  Sears  and  Spencer,  was  taken  over  a  few  years  later  by  Pitts,  Gilbert  & 
Pitts,  an  eastern  firm.  Power  was  supplied  to  a  number  of  factories  from  the 
first,  but  the  project  was  not  placed  on  a  permanently  paying  basis  until  after 
1865,  when  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  newly  formed  Moline  Water  Power 
Company.  This  concern  entered  into  an  agreement  by  which  it  surrendered 
all  rights  to  the  government,  obtaining  in  return  a  perpetual  grant  of  the 
use  of  one-fourth  of  the  power  developed,  with  the  option  of  use  of  surplus 
power  above  the  requirements  of  the  arsenal  at  a  specified  rental.  The  gov- 
ernment agreed  to  bear  all  expense  of  development  and  maintenance.  This 
agreement  stands  to  this  day,  and  the  Moline  Water  Power  Company  is  still 
in  existence,  selling  power  to  the  Peoples'  Power  Company,  which  provides 
for  distribution  to  the  community." 


Vol.  1—45 


708  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

ARSENAL  COMMANDANTS  PRIOR  TO  THE  WORLD  WAR 

By  act  of  Congress,  approved  July  11,  1862,  a  national  arsenal  was  located 
on  Rock  Island  and  $100,000  was  appropriated  for  buildings.  The  original  in- 
tention was  to  use  the  establishment  for  storage  and  repairs  only.  Major 
C.  P.  Kingsbury  was  assigned  as  the  first  commandant,  his  administration 
commencing  in  July,  1863.  In  that  year  was  begun  the  first  permanent  build- 
ing of  the  arsenal,  on  the  site  of  Fort  Armstrong  at  the  west  end  of  the  island. 
This  massive  limestone  structure,  with  its  clock  tower  facing  in  four  direc- 
tions, was  designed  as  a  storehouse.  For  years,  it  has  been  used  only  in- 
cidentally and  has  been  condemned,  but  public  and  historic  sentiment  has 
kept  it  standing,  as  one  of  the  most  interesting  landmarks  of  the  Rock  Island 
Arsenal. 

THE  MILITARY   PRISON    (1863-65) 

It  was  during  the  early  portion  of  Major  Kingsbury's  administration  that 
the  Military  Prison  for  captured  confederates  was  established  on  the  north 
side  of  the  island  near  the  river  front  and  about  midway  between  the  east 
and  west  ends.  The  buildings  were  intended  to  accommodate  13,000,  but  the 
prison  was  never  filled  to  its  capacity.  It  took  the  form  of  a  rectangle,  the 
northeast  corner  being  opposite  the  lower  end  of  Papoose  island.  The  four- 
teen rows  of  one-story  buildings,  each  100  feet  in  length,  showed  unpainted 
exteriors  and  unplastered  interiors.  A  kitchen  was  located  in  one  end  of  each 
building.  Double-decked  bunks  were  provided  for  sleeping  purposes,  each  build- 
ing housing  120  men.  The  death  rate  was  high,  more  than  1,900  men  expiring 
of  disease  in  the  two  years  that  the  prison  was  maintained.  A  few  prisoners 
escaped  and  several  were  killed  in  an  attempt  to  do  so. 

East  of  the  main  shop  buildings  and  south  of  Main  Avenue  is  the  cemetery 
in  which  the  confederate  dead  lie  buried.  At  the  head  of  each  of  the  two 
thousand  graves  is  a  permanent  marker,  giving  name,  regiment  and  state  of 
deceased.  Farther  east  is  the  cemetery  in  which  lie  five  hundred  Union  soldiers, 
many  of  whom  served  at  the  Rock  Island  post.  The  Union  burial  grounds 
are  open  to  receive  the  remains  of  any  American  soldier,  and  it  is  the  custom 
to  hold  Memorial  Day  services  at  this  locality.  Both  burial  grounds  are  sur- 
rounded by  trees  and  guarded  by  old  cannon,  and  the  premises  are  carefully 
maintained. 

CONSTRUCTION  BASIS  LAID  BY  GENERALS  RODMAN  AND  FLAGLER 

General  Thomas  J.  Rodman  succeeded  Major  Kingsbury  in  command  in 
August,  1865,  and  remained  in  charge  until  his  death  June  7,  1871.  His  re- 
mains were  buried  on  the  island.  Under  General  Rodman,  who  designed  some 
of  the  best  heavy  guns  used  in  the  Civil  war,  those  with  which  the  monitors 
were  armed  being  among  them,  comprehensive  plans  for  the  arsenal  were  elab- 
orated. In  accordance  with  these,  the  institution  was  constructed  and  remained 
with  only  minor  additions  up  to  the  commencement  of  the  World  war. 

Two  rows  of  great  shops,  one  on  either  side  of  the  main  avenue  extending 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  709 

cast  and  west  and  located  on  the  highest  ground  the  island  afforded,  con- 
stituted the  main  features  of  the  ground  plan.  The  shops  on  the  south  side 
of  the  avenue  were  designed  for  an  arsenal  and  those  on  the  north  side,  for 
an  armory.  There  were  five  mammoth  structures  on  each  side  of  the  main 
thoroughfare.  The  center  shop  on  the  south  side  was  a  combined  foundry  and 
machine  shop  and  that  on  the  north  side,  a  rolling  mill  and  forge  shop,  both 
being  one  story  buildings  with  monitor  roofs.  The  other  eight  buildings  were 
two  stories  in  height,  with  massive  basements,  the  walls  of  Joliet  limestone 
being  from  two  to  over  three  feet  in  thickness.  All  the  shops  were  U-shaped, 
with  parallel  wings  and  large  courts,  the  closed  ends  facing  the  avenue. 

These  shop  buildings,  supplemented  by  three  fire-proof  storehouses,  bar- 
racks, commanding  officers'  quarters,  subaltern  officers'  quarters,  general  offices 
and  fire  engine  house,  all  of  durable  construction  and  commodious  character, 
provided  facilities  for  housing  the  largest  and  most  effective  arsenal  and  armory 
in  America.  So  much  room  was  there,  in  fact,  that  only  a  part  of  the  space 
afforded  was  utilized  for  manufacturing  purposes  and  fitted  out  with  machinery- 
until  after  the  breaking  of  the  World  war.  The  basis  of  this  splendid  military 
plant  was  laid  under  the  administrations  of  General  Rodman  and  his  successor, 
General  D.  W.  Flagler.  The  latter  assumed  his  duties  as  commandant  at  the 
death  of  General  Rodman,  in  June,  1871,  and  continued  in  charge  until  May, 
1886. 

Under  General  (then  Captain)  Flagler,  most  of  the  other  buildings  were 
constructed  as  originally  planned.  At  the  commencement  of  his  administra- 
tion the  question  of  adequate  bridges  connecting  the  island  with  the  neigh- 
boring cities  had  become  a  pressing  problem.  The  old  wooden  railroad  bridge 
of  1856,  the  first  to  span  the  Mississippi,  was,  at  best,  but  a  makeshift  affair, 
a  menace  to  navigation,  a  plaything  for  drifting  ice  and  windstorms,  and  a 
constant  source  of  litigation  between  the  bridge  company  and  navigators. 

Prior  to  the  recognition  by  the  government  of  the  desirability  of  the  Island 
of  Rock  Island  as  the  proper  site  for  the  location  of  an  arsenal  and  an  armory, 
a  portion  of  the  land  had  been  sold  by  special  act  of  Congress  to  the  Chicago 
&  Rock  Island  Railroad.  This  road  had  placed  its  tracks  across  the  island 
and  built  upon  its  banks  the  abutments  for  its  bridges.  In  order  to  buy  the 
interests  of  private  parties,  a  commission  composed  of  General  J.  M.  Scofield, 
Selden  M.  Church  and  James  Barnes  was  appointed  to  appraise  the  lands  thus 
involved,  and  they  were  finally  purchased  at  a  total  cost  of  $221,000.  In  June. 
1866,  Congress  approved  an  appropriation  bill  fixing  the  sum  necessary  to 
purchase  these  rights,  and  authorizing  the  relocation  of  the  railroad  bridge, 
at  the  same  time  providing  for  compensating  the  railroad  company  for  chang- 
ing its  route  across  the  island.  Included  also  in  this  act  was  provision  for 
an  appropriation  sufficient  to  begin  developing  the  water  power  on  the  south 
side  of  the  island. 

"Work  on  the  second  bridge,  a  substantial  iron  structure  spanning  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  binding  the  city  and  island  of  Rock  Island  with  Davenport,  Iowa, 
was  completed  in  February,  1872,  and  it  was  turned  over  to  the  "War  Depart- 
ment and  Captain  Flagler  four  months  later.  Originally,  the  bridge  was  in- 
tended for  use  in  the  transaction  of  government  business  only,  and  not  a 
thoroughfare  between  the  Illinois  and  Iowa  shores.     This  proposed  policy  met 


710  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

with  such  severe  local  criticism  that  the  commandant,  who  had  just  opened 
Fort  Armstrong  Avenue,  threw  the  main  bridge  open  to  the  public  shortly 
after  it  was  placed  in  his  hands.  This  second  bridge  was  1,550  feet  in  length 
and  cost  about  $1,000,000.  It  included  five  spans  and  draw,  had  a  double 
deck  and  two  tracks  and  footpaths  on  the  sides  below. 

Moline  owned  the  original  bridge  connecting  that  city  with  the  island.  The 
government  bought  this  in  1868  and  replaced  it  with  the  present  steel  bridge 
in  1873. 

So  that  the  first  two  years  of  Captain  Flagler's  long  and  notable  service 
as  commandant  of  the  Rock  Island  Arsenal  were  marked  by  a  more  perfect 
union  of  the  Tri-Cities,  via  the  Island,  than  they  had  previously  enjoyed.  At 
the  conclusion  of  his  term  in  May,  1886,  more  than  $4,000,000  had  been  ex- 
pended in  the  construction  of  buildings,  the  installation  of  a  sewer  system 
for  the  arsenal,  the  survey  of  miles  of  driveways  on  the  island  and  the  im- 
provement of  the  main  avenues.  Most  of  the  trees,  other  than  those  of  the 
natural  forest,  were  planted  during  this  period  of  uninterrupted  activity. 

THE    NEW    BRIDGE   BETWEEN    ROCK    ISLAND    AND    DAVENPORT 

Colonel  T.  Gr.  Baylor  served  as  commandant  in  1886-89,  Colonel  J.  M.  Whitte- 
more,  1889-92,  and  Colonel  A.  R.  Buffington,  1892-97.  The  only  noticeable 
public  improvement  covering  the  period  from  1886  to  1897,  inclusive,  was  the 
building  of  the  great  steel  bridge  in  1894-95  which  replaced  the  second  structure 
of  1872.  This  was  made  necessary  because  of  the  wear  and  strain  of  the  heavier 
traffic,  especially  the  use  of  larger  locomotives  and  railway  cars,  between  Rock 
Island  and  Davenport.  The  engineer  in  charge  of  the  work  was  Ralph  Mod- 
jeska,  son  of  the  famous  actress,  and  in  the  construction  of  the  second  and 
present  bridge  he  used  the  old  piers  of  the  1872  bridge. 

The  trusses  of  the  new  bridge,  which  provides  for  street  railway,  as  well 
as  railroad,  vehicle  and  foot  traffic,  are  designed  to  meet  the  heavier  demands 
of  modern  requirements.  The  bridge  now  in  use  is  about  the  same  length  as 
the  one  it  displaced,  about  1,550  feet,  and  the  railroad  approach  spans  on 
the  Iowa  and  Illinois  sides  would  add  300  feet  to  the  length  of  the  bridge 
proper.  The  draw  span,  which  touches  the  island  shore,  is  368  feet  in  length, 
with  an  opening  on  either  side  for  river  traffic  of  over  160  feet.  At  the  time 
it  was  built  it  was  one  of  the  heaviest  draw  spans  in  existence,  weighing 
2,500,000  pounds. 

DEMANDS   OF    THE   SPANISH-AMERICAN    WAR 

Colonel  S.  E.  Blunt,  as  commandant,  served  from  March,  1897,  to  August, 
1907,  and  therefore  carried  on  his  shoulders  the  responsibilities  of  assisting 
the  ill-prepared  American  troops  to  conduct  the  war  against  the  soldiers  of 
Spain,  seasoned  in  the  hardships  of  tropical  campaigns.  To  Colonel  Blunt 
and  the  Rock  Island  Arsenal  are  due  no  small  share  of  the  creditable  outcome 
of  the  Spanish-American  war,  notwithstanding  the  unpreparedness  of  the 
United  States. 

The  situation  was  well  described  in  the  official  history  of  the  Rock  Island 


THE  ROCK  BIVEB  VALLEY  711 

Arsenal,  as  follows:  "At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  with  Spain,  this  country 
was  far  behind  the  times  in  much  of  its  military  equipment.  The  old  45-calibre 
single  shot  Springfield  rifle,  firing  with  black  powder,  but  little  better  than 
the  weapons  used  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  was  the  only  small  arm  avail- 
able for  use  by  many  of  the  troops.  About  the  only  improvement  made  in 
the  army  uniform  since  the  '60s  consisted  in  the  addition  of  the  campaign 
hat  and  leggings.  Our  forces  invaded  the  tropics  clad  in  the  regulation  blue 
wool  garments,  ill-fitting  and  as  uncomfortable  as  they  were  conspicuous  to 
enemy  marksmen.  No  canteens  had  been  made  since  the  Civil  war,  the  surplus 
left  after  that  conflict  being  repaired  and  recovered  as  needed.  In  many  other 
ways,  the  equipment  was  far  out  of  date. 

"The  Spanish  war  not  only  stimulated  manufacture,  but  brought  about  a 
marked  change  in  type  of  most  army  goods,  which  led  to  a  permanent  expan- 
sion of  the  Rock  Island  Arsenal's  facilities  and  shop  forces.  Though  the  war 
of  1898  did  not  last  long,  it  brought  realization  of  the  advanced  needs  of  the 
nation  in  the  way  of  defences  and  was  followed  by  an  increase  in  the  size  of 
the  standing  army,  which  helped  to  insure  continued  activity  at  this  arsenal 
on  a  scale  greater  than  that  which  had  prevailed  up  to  that  time. 

"Among  the  permanent  improvements  brought  about  at  once  were  the  mod- 
ernizing of  the  water  power  plant  (the  substitution  of  electricity  for  cable 
transmission  of  power)  and  the  taking  of  steps  for  the  manufacture  of  small 
arms.  During  the  Spanish  war,  rifles  wrere  cleaned,  repaired  and  issued  but 
none  were  made  here." 

Under  the  stimulus  of  the  war,  the  employees  of  the  Rock  Island  Arsenal 
quickly  increased  from  about  300  to  3,000.  Large  quantities  of  raw  material 
were  purchased  for  the  manufacture  of  blanket  bags  and  straps,  canteens,  gun 
slings,  haversacks  and  straps,  meat  cans  and  tin  cups,  and  thousands  of  the 
finished  articles  were  purchased  from  contractors.  The  most  important  item, 
in  the  nature  of  equipment,  was  the  manufacture  of  canteens,  235,500  of  whi  h 
were  turned  out  of  the  arsenal  from  April  to  August,  1898.  During  the  same 
period,  208,000  meat  cans  were  manufactured  and  231,000  tin  cups.  In  the 
four  months  specified,  there  were  either  made  at  the  arsenal  wholly  or  in  part, 
or  purchased  from  contractors,  many  breech-loading  rifles  and  other  field  guns, 
carriages,  limbers  and  caissons,  a  large  quantity  of  artillery  harness  and  saddles, 
and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  miscellaneous  articles.  During  the  Spanish- 
American  war,  the  arsenal  was  the  largest  depot  of  issue  in  the  country. 

In  1899,  Congress  voted  money  for  the  manufacture  of  army  rifles,  and 
three  of  the  shop  buildings  in  armory  row  were  set  aside  for  that  purpose. 
Eventually,  the  armory  attained  a  capacity  of  250  rifles  daily,  but  after  the 
immediate  needs  of  the  army  were  met  the  output  was  cut  down  to  about  half 
that  amount.  For  some  years  before  the  World  war  little  was  done  at  the 
small  arms  plant,  but  it  sprang  into  new  life  with  the  entrance  of  the  coun- 
try into  the  great  struggle,  the  number  of  employees  being  brought  up  to 
3,000  in  this  department  alone. 

WORLD    WAR    EXPANSION 

The  vast  additions  to  shops  and  storehouses,  with  the  many  other  improve- 
ments brought  about  by    the   late    war.    were   made    under   Colonel   George   W. 


712  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Burr,  Colonel  L.  T.  Hillman  and  Colonel  Harry  B.  Jordan.  Lieutenant  Colonel 
F.  E.  Hobbs  succeeded  Colonel  Blunt,  in  August,  1907,  and  served  until  April 
1911. 

A  description  of  the  new  structures  erected  as  a  result  of  the  unprecedented 
demands  of  the  World  war  upon  the  resources  of  the  United  States  would  far 
transcend  the  limits  of  this  paper.  An  authoritative  condensed  statement  of 
this  marvelous  expansion  is  thus  given:  "Rock  Island  Arsenal  was  literally 
transformed  by  construction  projects  undertaken  immediately  prior  to,  dur- 
ing and  just  following  the  period  in  which  this  country  was  involved  in  the 
"World  war.  One  familiar  with  the  premises  before  that  conflict  would  scarcely 
recognize  them  after  the  work  was  completed.  All  construction  was  done  under 
high  pressure,  but  most  of  it  was  of  a  permanent  character  and  detracts  nothing 
from  the  impression  of  durability,  as  well  as  of  architectural  beauty  and  prac- 
tical utility,  which  the  institution  has  always  given  the  visitor. 

"Several  months  before  this  country  actually  declared  war,  Congress,  yield- 
ing to  the  urgent  recommendations  of  the  War  Department,  provided  for 
some  minor  extensions  of  the  arsenal  plant.  This  work  was  only  fairly  started 
when  the  country  entered  the  struggle,  and  from  that  time  until  after  the 
close  of  hostilities  the  arsenal  grounds  were  literally  alive  with  construction 
forces  of  every  description  and  new  structures  sprang  up  as  if  by  magic.  Work 
was  done  under  contract,  some  on  a  lump  sum  and  some  on  a  cost  plus  basis, 
with  the  exception  of  a  number  of  storehouses  built  by  the  arsenal  organiza- 
tion after  the  close  of  hostilities  and  needed  to  shelter  the  immense  quantity 
of  war  material  returning  from  the  armies  in  France  and  from  the  training 
camps  in  this  country. 

"Much  additional  shop  room  was  needed  and,  all  told,  the  additions  to 
the  plant  amounted  to  more  than  1,500,000  feet  of  floor  space,  costing  more 
than  $7,000,000.  Chief  among  the  new  structures  built  for  manufacturing 
purposes  were  the  artillery  vehicle  plant  and  the  artillery  ammunition  as- 
sembling plant.  The  former  consists  of  a  main  erection  shop,  120  by  605  feet, 
with  three  wings,  each  80  by  200  feet,  and  all  four  stories  high.  The  latter 
is  360  by  400  feet,  in  three  sections,  one  three  stories,  one  two  and  the  other, 
one  story  in  height.  The  ammunition  assembling  plant  cost  $2,093,000,  and 
the  artillery  vehicle  plant  $2,225,000.  Both  are  of  reinforced  concrete  con- 
struction. 

"As  output  increased,  storage  space,  both  for  raw  material  and  completed 
goods,  became  totally  inadequate,  and  steps  were  taken  at  once  to  supply  the 
deficiency.  All  told,  nearly  1,500,000  feet  of  additional  floor  space  were  pro- 
vided at  a  cost  of  more  than  $3,000,000.  Chief  among  these  projects  were 
thirty  ammunition  storehouses,  each  50  by  200  feet,  costing  together  $490,000; 
eight  vehicle  storage  buildings  aggregating  452,500  feet  of  space  and  costing 
$865,000,  and  what  is  designated  as  Storage  Building  W-l,  which  is  140  by 
540  feet,  six  stories  high  and  cost  $1,560,000. 

"Of  course,  much  miscellaneous  construction  was  necessary.  A  central 
steam  heating  plant  was  built  at  a  cost  of  $610,000.  The  hydro-electric  plant 
was  enlarged  and  modernized  at  a  cost  of  $748,000.  Additional  barracks,  offices, 
a  cafeteria,  hospital  and  other  buildings,  mostly  of  a  temporary  character,  were 
provided." 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  713 

For  some  time  prior  to  the  outbreak  of  the  "World  war  in  1914,  the  em- 
ployees at  Rock  Island  Arsenal  totaled  approximately  1,800  men  and  175  women, 
the  latter  all  office  workers,  typists  and  stenographers.  From  that  time  until 
the  spring  of  1916  there  was  little  tendency  to  increase  the  number  of  workers, 
but  the  disturbances  on  the  Mexican  border  started  increased  activities  at 
the  arsenal,  and  by  July,  1916,  there  had  been  added  to  the  force  about  100 
men  and  25  women,  the  latter  still  being  confined  to  clerical  positions.  From 
that  time  until  the  United  States  entered  the  war,  employees  were  added  at 
the  rate  of  about  200  per  month,  and  on  April  6,  1917,  there  were  employed  at 
the  arsenal  3,600  men  and  300  women  office  workers. 

High  speed  and  maximum  production  then  became  the  watchword  and  em- 
ployees were  added  at  a  rate  of  nearly  300  monthly.  On  December  31,  1917, 
the  total  was  6,100  men  and  375  women;  on  May  31,  1918,  8,926  men  and 
450  women  office  workers.  As  a  new  departure,  about  100  women  shop  workers 
had  also  been  employed.  The  first  of  these  were  taken  on  May  20,  1918,  and 
when  the  armistice  was  signed  somewhere  near  1,500  women  were  employed 
in  the  shops,  and  more  than  13,300  men. 

In  striking  contrast  to  the  production  of  the  arsenal  during  the  short  period 
of  the  Spanish-American  war  is  its  output  covering  the  much  longer  period 
of  the  World  war.  The  harness  manufacturing  department  of  the  Rock  Island 
plant  was  the  greatest  and  most  completely  equipped  in  the  world,  and  up  to 
August  1,  1918,  all  the  artillery  harness  supplied  to  the  United  States  forces 
were  manufactured  or  assembled  here.  These  numbered  more  than  98,000 
sets.  With  the  coming  of  motorized  artillery  and  transport,  the  use  of  harness 
and  saddles  has  come  to  play  a  relatively  unimportant  part  in  army  equip- 
ment, and  since  1920  the  department  has  been  discontinued  at  the  Rock  Island 
Arsenal  and  transferred  to  the  depot  at  Jeffersonville,  Ind. 

During  the  World  war,  the  manufacture  of  rifles  was  one  of  the  principal 
industries  at  the  arsenal,  and  3,500  men  and  women  were  employed  in  the 
small  arms  plant  alone.  The  entire  output  as  completed  weapons  or  repair 
parts  approximated  more  than  113,000  rifles,  model  of  1903. 

In  round  numbers,  790,000  complete  sets  of  personal  equipment  for  the 
soldier  were  produced  during  the  period  of  hostilities.  The  largest  single  item 
included  1,500,000  bacon  cans.  Knives,  canteen  covers,  haversacks  and  pack 
carriers  were  minor  items  in  this  equipment. 

The  production  of  the  arsenal  was  large  both  in  heavy  and  light  ordnance 
stores — carriages,  caissons,  limbers,  wagons  and  wheels.  Nearly  10,000  artillery 
wheels  were  manufactured.  There  were  also  manufactured  and  assembled  13,000 
arm  repair  chests,  and  167,000  howitzer  shells  were  loaded. 

Another  most  striking  contrast  is  a  comparison  of  the  expenditures  at  Rock 
Island  Arsenal  during  the  period  from  August,  1914,  to  April,  1917,  when 
the  United  States  was  out  of  the  war  with  the  expenditures  incurred  during 
the  much  shorter  period  of  American  participation  in  it.  While  the  country 
was  a  non-participant,  the  total  expenditures  at  Rook  Island  Arsenal  amounted 
to  $11,759,000,  of  which  purchases  totaled  $7,115,000  and  labor,  $4,644,000. 

The  official  records  show  that  from  the  day  the  United  States  entered  the 
World  war,  April  7,  1917,  until  the  armistice  was  signed,  November  11,  1918, 
the  government  authorized  the  expenditure  at  Rock  Island  Arsenal  of  $108,- 


714  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

955,974.07.  Of  this  amount,  due  to  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  $19,612,133.48 
was  revoked,  leaving  an  actual  expenditure  of  $89,343,840.59.  In  the  total 
expended  during  this  period,  $66,526,540.31  was  devoted  to  the  manufacture 
of  war  materials  and  purchases  for  this  purpose;  $17,120,515.51  to  labor;  $17,- 
341,487.69  to  new  buildings,  alterations  and  machinery;  $3,915,812.59  to  tem- 
porary buildings  and  $1,560,000  to  the  Savanna,  111.,  proving  ground. 

THE   SAVANNA   PROVING   GROUND 

At  the  commencement  of  the  war,  it  was  contemplated  that  an  immense 
tract  of  land,  more  than  13,000  acres,  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  sixty 
miles  above  Rock  Island,  should  be  set  aside  for  proof -firing  gun  carriages 
manufactured  at  the  arsenal;  but,  with  the  signing  of  the  armistice,  immediate 
use  for  the  carriages  having  ceased,  the  Savanna  project  was  used  as  a  storage 
depot  for  the  vast  quantities  of  ordnance  stores  manufactured  at  the  arsenal 
during  the  war.  In  June,  1917,  two  months  after  the  country  entered  the 
war,  Congress  appropriated  $1,500,000  for  the  purchase  of  the  Savanna  Prov- 
ing Ground.  Out  of  the  total  tract  of  more  than  13,000  acres,  costing  over 
$890,000  only  320  acres  were  purchased  direct  by  the  government,  and  con- 
demnation proceedings  were  necessary  in  the  acquirement  of  ten  additional 
acres.  The  balance  of  the  congressional  appropriation,  amounting  approx- 
imately to  $600,000,  was  expended  in  constructing  necessary  quarters,  bar- 
racks, firing  points,  power  house,  storehouses,  roads  and  sewage  system. 

It  will  be  realized  to  what  extent  the  Savanna  site  was  used  for  a  storage 
depot  from  the  statement  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  fiscal  year  1920  artillery 
material  was  being  received  at  the  rate  of  forty  carloads  a  day.  No  covered 
storage  was  available,  and  the  material  was  packed  in  the  open,  there  being 
something  like  fifteen  acres  of  this  on  hand,  July  1,  1920.  To  care  for  the 
material  it  was  necessary  to  construct  forty  storehouses  to  house  artillery  and 
tractors. 

The  Savanna  Ordnance  Reserve  Depot  at  the  present  time  is  the  field  stor- 
age point  for  small  arms  ammunition  for  the  5th,  6th  and  7th  Corp  Areas. 

WAR    SUBSCRIPTIONS 

Aside  from  the  actual  work  in  the  shops  for  the  production  of  war  mate- 
rial, employees  of  Rock  Island  Arsenal  hung  up  a  record  for  service  that  has 
not  been  surpassed  by  any  manufacturing  plant  in  the  country  in  proportion 
to  size.  After  the  declaration  of  war,  they  subscribed  $4,000,000  to  the  various 
war  charities  and  to  the  Liberty  bond  issues.  The  investment  of  the  workers 
in  the  war  bonds  totaled  more  than  $3,000,000.  The  sale  of  war  stamps  and 
thrift  stamps,  of  which  no  record  has  been  kept,  brings  the  total  well  over 
the  $4,000,000  mark. 

MILITARY  PERSONNEL 

At  the  beginning  of  hostilities  in  1917,  the  Rock  Island  post  had  ten  officers, 
with  an  ordnance  detachment  of  89   enlisted  men  and   a  few   in  the  medical 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  715 

department  and  quartermaster's  corps.  At  the  signing  of  the  armistice,  there 
were  76  ordnance  officers  and  169  enlisted  men,  as  well  as  about  100  enlisted 
men  in  the  medical  and  quartermaster's  departments,  with  their  quota  of  offi- 
cers. Colonel  Leroy  T.  Ilillnian.  ordnance  department,  had  been  in  command 
.since  March,  1918,  and  continued  as  military  head  of  the  arsenal  and  post 
until  his  death  in  service  on  December  29th,  the  month  following  the  cessa- 
tion of  hostilities. 

CIVILIAN    AND    MILITARY    GUARD 

One  of  the  most  striking  features  at  Rock  Island  Arsenal  during  the  period 
of  the  war  was  the  efficient  manner  of  guarding  the  government  property 
by  means  of  both  civil  and  military  organizations.  Immediately  after  war 
was  declared,  a  high  wire  enclosure  was  built  around  the  shops,  the  main  store- 
houses and  the  oil  houses,  and  both  civilian  and  military  guards  were  increased 
at  the  main  gates  and  in  and  around  the  shops.  At  various  times  during  the 
war  period,  detachments  from  the  Sixth  and  Tenth  Illinois  Infantry  regiments 
and  the  United  States  Guards  were  ordered  to  the  arsenal  to  guard  govern- 
ment property  outside  the  enclosure.  Thirty-two  posts  were  established  where 
sentries  were  on  duty  night  and  day.  These  posts  were  designed  to  protect 
the  pump  house,  railroad  bridges,  magazines,  power  dam  and  other  places  of 
importance.  The  fire  department  at  the  arsenal  was  thoroughly  reorganized 
and  expanded  and  all  its  equipment  modernized.  The  fighting  apparatus  was 
motorized,  a  high  pressure  water  system  built  and  an  electric  alarm  system 
installed.  Although  precautions  wrere  taken  to  meet  dangers  from  fire  as  well 
as  from  violence,  fortunately,  neither  the  military  nor  civil  protectors  were 
called  upon  to  meet  any  serious  crisis. 

BRIGADIER   GENERAL  GEORGE  W.   BURR 

When  General  Burr  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  Rock  Island  Arsenal 
he  was  a  lieutenant  colonel  of  ordnance.  That  was  in  July,  1911,  and  as  he 
served  in  that  capacity  until  February,  1918,  he  was  at  the  head  of  its  affairs 
during  about  half  of  the  World  war  period.  While  in  command  of  the  Rock 
Island  post  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  colonel,  and  at  the  conclusion  of 
his  service  there  was  transferred  to  Washington.  He  was  then  assigned  as 
chief  ordnance  officer  on  the  staff  of  Major  General  Biddle  in  England  to 
purchase  heavy  artillery  and  munitions  from  the  British  government.  In  Au- 
gust, 1918,  he  was  appointed  brigadier  general  in  the  National  army  and  as- 
signed as  chief  of  the  engineering  division  of  the  ordnance  department.  In 
December,  1918,  he  was  appointed  assistant  director  of  purchase,  storage  and 
traffic,  and  in  March,  1919,  was  promoted  temporarily  to  the  grade  of  major 
general.  He  held  at  the  time  of  his  demise  March  4,  1923,  the  rank  of  brigadier 
general  and  was  then  serving  as  chief  of  the  field  service  in  the  office  of  the 
chief  of  ordnance. 

COLONEL   HARRY   B.    JORDAN 

Colonel  Harry  B.  Jordan,  who,  at  the  death  of  Colonel  Ilillman,  succeeded 
to  the  command  of  Rock  Island  Arsenal  in  January,  1919,  had  enjoyed  years 


716  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

of  service  both  in  the  cavalry  and  artillery  of  the  regular  army.  In  1901 
he  graduated  from  West  Point  Military  Academy  as  second  lieutenant  of  cav- 
alry, and  in  the  following  eleven  years  served  either  in  the  artillery  or  cavalry. 
In  1908,  he  was  assigned  to  Rock  Island  Arsenal  as  captain  of  ordnance. 
Three  years  later,  he  was  again  detailed  to  the  cavalry,  but  in  1913  returned  to 
the  ordnance  department  and  has  been  in  that  branch  of  the  service  ever  since. 
In  1915,  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major,  and  shortly  after  the  United 
States  entered  the  war  was  made  a  lieutenant  colonel.  When  the  expedi- 
tionary forces  of  the  United  States  went  abroad,  Colonel  Jordan  was  sent  to 
France,  where  he  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  construction  of  arsenals.  He 
returned  to  the  United  States  with  the  rank  of  colonel,  was  placed  in  charge 
of  the  artillery  section  in  the  office  of  the  chief  of  ordnance,  and  served  as 
commandant  of  the  Rock  Island  Arsenal  from  January,  1919,  to  June,  1921. 
He  was  then  relieved  of  his  command  and  assigned  to  duty  as  chief  ordnance 
officer,  American  Forces  in  Germany,  stationed  at  Coblenz.  He  is  now  stationed 
in  Washington,  D.  C,  in  the  office  of  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  War. 

COLONEL  D.    M.   KING 

Colonel  D.  M.  King,  the  successor  of  Colonel  Jordan  as  commandant  of 
Rock  Island  Arsenal  and  still  in  command,  graduated  from  West  Point  in 
1893  and  was  stationed  at  Washington  during  the  following  three  years.  He 
was  instructor  at  the  United  States  Military  Academy  from  1896  until  1899, 
and  in  1898  was  commissioned  first  lieutenant,  ordnance  department.  Upon 
the  entrance  of  the  United  States  into  the  World  war,  he  was  on  the  staff 
of  Colonel  Burr  at  the  Rock  Island  Arsenal,  and  was  designated  by  the  chief 
of  ordnance  to  design,  equip,  construct  and  obtain  the  necessary  personnel 
for  the  maintenance  of  all  ordnance  material  in  France.  This  was  a  $20,000,000 
project,  and  required  approximately  275  officers  and  20,000  skilled  enlisted 
men  for  the  operation  of  the  shops  and  repair  facilities.  The  main  shops  were 
located  at  Mehun,  France,  and  about  9,000  people  were  employed  there  at  the 
date  of  the  armistice.  Some  twenty  smaller  plants  were  established,  main- 
tained and  operated  at  artillery  training  camps  and  elsewhere  in  France.  For 
his  efficiency  in  the  superintendency  of  this  important  work  overseas,  Colonel 
King  received  the  Distinguished  Service  Medal,  and  the  Legion  of  Honor  was 
conferred  upon  him  by  the  French  Government. 

POST-WAR   ACTIVITIES   AND   PRESENT    STATUS 

The  notable  post-war  activities  brought  about  by  the  adjustment  of  the 
vastly  expanded  facilities  of  the  arsenal  to  the  moderate  demands  of  peace 
were  chiefly  directed  by  the  commandants,  Colonel  Harry  B.  Jordan  and  Colonel 
D.  M.  King.  The  buildings  and  machinery  adapted  to  the  manufacture  of 
innumerable  articles  were  ready  for  use  on  a  comparatively  modest  scale  and 
in  the  summer  of  1919  Congress  and  the  War  Department  commenced  to  bring 
the  great  plant  into  contracted  industrial  operation.  An  Orders  Branch  of 
the  service  was  established  and  orders  were  received  for  the  manufacture  of 
articles  at  the  arsenal  which  would  not  require  additional  machinery  in  their 


(Thronsh    the    courtesy    of    the    Rock    Island    Arsenal) 

NEW  AND  OLD  TYPES  OF  BUILDINGS  AT  ROCK  ISLAND  ABSENAL 


718  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

production  and  which  could  be  produced  cheaper  than  they  could  be  procured 
through  private  sources.  The  demand  came  chiefly  from  the  various  govern- 
ment departments,  notably  the  ordnance.  The  diversified  nature  of  the  work 
required  will  be  realized  when  it  is  stated  that  the  orders  covered  torpedo 
parts  and  forgings,  weirs  for  Ohio  River  dams,  emergency  gates,  bombs  and 
racks  for  the  air  service,  and  mail  bags  for  the  post  office.  The  most  important 
single  order  received,  however,  and  the  largest  and  most  involved  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  arsenal,  was  the  construction  of  one  hundred  huge  fighting  tanks, 
weighing  about  forty  tons  each  when  fully  equipped  and  manned.  Practically, 
all  the  components  of  the  tank  were  shipped  to  the  arsenal  and  assembled 
there.  The  principal  parts  consisted  of  heavy  armor  plate,  and  angle  iron 
and  steel  girders,  with  such  equipment  as  tools,  Hotchkiss  guns,  camouflage 
nets,  water  cans,  bird  cages,  food  cans,  telescopes,  periscopes,  festoon  lamps, 
semaphores  and  various  other  sundries  purchased  from  the  British  govern- 
ment. The  balance  of  the  required  material  was  manufactured  by  various 
outside  contractors  in  the  United  States,  and  included  Liberty  motors,  trans- 
missions, compound  clutches,  petrol  tanks,  radiators,  electrical  equipment  and 
front  control  units.  The  construction  on  the  first  of  these  tanks  was  started 
July  1,  1919,  and  the  last  tank  was  ready  for  road  test  on  June  5,  1920,  mak- 
ing a  total  of  286  days  to  complete  the  100  tanks. 

During  the  period  of  the  war  only  such  repairs  to  the  roads  had  been  made, 
and  labor  in  the  upkeep  of  the  grounds  expended,  as  were  found  to  be  abso- 
lutely necessary.  The  activities  carried  on  in  connection  with  the  arsenal 
construction  projects  had  left  the  grounds  adjacent  to  many  of  the  new  build- 
ings in  an  unsightly  condition.  The  vast  quantities  of  war  material  turned 
in  from  the  field  and  from  abandoned  plants  had,  because  of  lack  of  covered 
storage  space,  to  be  piled  in  the  open  in  scattered  areas  about  the  arsenal. 

The  clearing  of  these  sites;  the  disposing  of  the  serviceable  and  unservice- 
able material ;  the  construction  of  new  roads  and  drives ;  the  repairing  and 
resurfacing  of  many  of  the  permanent  roads  (the  most  notable  of  which  was 
Main  Avenue  from  the  main  gate  to  West  Avenue)  ;  the  removal  of  the  flag- 
staff, formerly  occupying  the  center  of  Main  Avenue  at  its  juncture  with  West 
Avenue,  to  its  present  location  in  front  of  the  administration  building,  but 
out  of  the  line  of  traffic;  the  replacing  by  monolithic  walks  of  many  of  the 
earlier  flagstone  walks,  which  had  become  broken  and  sunken;  the  planting 
of  trees  and  shrubs;  the  laying  out  of  a  park  for  the  recreation  of  arsenal 
employees;  the  extension  of  the  exterior  lighting  of  roads  and  buildings,  in- 
cluding the  placing  of  lights  on  the  clock  tower  of  the  old  arsenal  building 
at  the  lower  extremity  of  the  island,  and  many  other  improvements  have  since 
been  completed  to  restore  the  island  to  its  former  beauty. 

WATER   POWER,    THE   DECISIVE   FACTOR 

The  unprecedented  demand  for  motive  power  caused  by  the  requirements 
of  the  World  war  upon  the  facilities  of  the  arsenal  plant  brought  a  keen 
realization  of  the  wonderful  advantages  possessed  by  Rock  Island  and  its  sur- 
roundings as  a  military  center  capable  of  immeasurable  expansion.  Since 
1854,  when  Jefferson  Davis,  as  secretary  of  war,  called  emphatic  attention  to 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALL  E  Y  719 

the  available  water  power  of  the  Locality,  thai  feature  had  been  steadily  pro- 
truding itself  as  the  decisive  factor  In  the  decision  and  the  development.  More 
than  twenty  years  before  the  government  came  to  a  full  realization  of  the 
military  site  which  had  been  fashioned  by  nature  to  its  hands,  private  wisdom 
and  enterprise  had  harnessed  the  rapids  to  industrial  uses.  It  was  not  until 
two  years  alter  the  close  of  the  Civil  war  that  the  government  made  an  ar- 
rangement with  the  Moline  Water  Power  Company  by  which  it  granted  to 
that  corporation  the  free  use  of  one-fourth  of  the  water  power  developed  on 
the  premises  and  the  privilege  of  renting  all  the  surplus  power  above  the  needs 
of  the  arsenal.  Thereupon,  the  War  Department  commenced  its  improvements. 
First,  it  built  dams  parallel  to  the  Illinois  shore.  In  1895,  the  government. 
engineers  closed  up  the  openings  in  the  first,  or  upper  dam,  and  erected  a  new- 
one  at  the  west  of  the  first  structure.  Other  improvements  followed.  The 
demands  of  the  Spanish-American  war.  especially  the  increased  facilities  re- 
quired for  the  manufacture  of  small  arms,  made  it  necessary  to  supplement 
the  water  power  with  steam  power.  As  the  distance  from  source  of  power 
at  the  dam  to  its  place  of  application  in  the  shops  was  about  two  thousand 
feet,  transmission  of  power  was  one  of  the  earlier  problems  of  the  arsenals. 
Compressed  air,  a  continuous  shaft  and  a  wire  cable  were  all  used,  but  im- 
mediately after  the  Spanish-American  war  the  cable  transmission  line  was  re- 
placed by  electricity. 

The  sundry  civil  appropriation  act,  approved  July  1,  1916,  contained  a 
provision  setting  aside  $500,000  "toward  providing  facilities  for  manufactur- 
ing field  artillery  ammunition  at  a  total  cost  not  exceeding  $1,250,000."  The 
estimate  forming  the  basis  for  this  appropriation  included  the  project  for  in- 
creasing the  water  power  at  Rock  Island  Arsenal.  It  was  found  that  the  most 
economical  and  satisfactory  method  of  doing  so  was  to  construct  a  new  con- 
crete dam  in  the  rear  of  and  at  an  angle  with  the  existing  dam,  and  to  in- 
stall therein  eight  large  generator  units  and  two  exciter  units  of  modern  type, 
giving,  with  an  eleven  foot  operating  head,  approximately  3,760  horsepower. 
This  was  done,  the  improvement  being  ready  for  use  June  1,   1919. 

In  the  development  and  maintenance  of  the  arsenal  water  power  since  1866, 
Congress  has  appropriated  approximately  $2,000,000,  and  the  improvement  of 
the  rapids  for  purposes  of  navigation,  covering  the  fourteen  miles  from  Le- 
Claire  to  Rock  Island,  has  been  fairly  continuous  since  1867.  Practically  all 
the  improvements  have  been  made  by  use  of  government-owned  equipment 
operated  by  day  labor  and  directed  by  War  Department  engineers.  The  power 
pool  at  Moline  was  originally  created  by  building  a  rock  dam  about  half  a 
mile  up  the  river,  parallel  with  the  shore,  from  Benham's  island,  north  of 
and  just  below  the  head  of  Rock  Island.  This  was  extended  three  miles  farther 
upstream  in  1898.  Another  dam  connected  the  two  islands  named.  These 
dams  virtually  cut  off  the  City  of  Moline  from  the  benefits  of  river  trans- 
portation, since  boats  entering  the  pool  were  forced  to  round  the  head  of  the 
longitudinal  dam.  The  river  and  harbor  act  of  1905  remedied  this  situation 
by  appropriating  money  to  build  a  lock  and  dam  at  the  foot  of  Benham's 
island.  The  improvement  was  completed  in  1907  at  a  cost  of  $386,000,  and 
later  the  longitudinal  dam  was  reconstructed.  With  the  completion  of  this 
work,  practically  all  river  traffic  was  diverted  through  the  pool  and  lock,  thus 


720  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

avoiding  the  worst  part  of  the  rapids.  In  1914,  work  was  begun  on  what  has 
become  known  as  the  LeClaire  canal,  designed  to  connect  the  head  of  the  rapids 
with  Hampton  pool,  three  miles  belowT,  and  the  work  is  still  unfinished. 

Thus,  for  nearly  sixty  years,  the  development  of  the  water  power  and  the 
manipulation  of  the  rapids  as  menaces  to  navigation  have  gone  hand  in  hand, 
the  former  being  largely  determined  by  the  exigencies  of  war  which  have 
affected  the  demands  upon  arsenal  production. 

Since  1863,  when  work  commenced  on  the  first  arsenal  building,  more  than 
$19,926,000  have  been  expended  on  the  construction,  repair  and  preservation 
of  buildings,  roads,  sewers,  etc. ;  $1,323,868,  on  bridges ;  $2,840,558  on  water 
power  improvements,  dikes  and  dams;  $8,501,227  on  machinery  and  shop  fix- 
tures. Total,  $32,591,920.  The  total  valuation  placed  on  the  arsenal  plant, 
with  all  its  contents  is  $347,343,147. 

PEN  PICTURE  OF  PRESENT-DAY  ARSENAL 

With  its  activities  so  circumscribed  in  comparison  with  those  which  pre- 
vailed in  the  World  war  period,  the  Rock  Island  Arsenal  is  an  impressive 
object  lesson  illustrating  the  return  of  a  great  industry  to  the  ways  of  peace. 
Many  of  the  great  shops  of  the  war  period  are  abandoned,  but  unsightly  moun- 
tains of  material  to  be  used  in  the  slaughter  of  humankind  have  disappeared, 
and  the  old-time  beauties  of  the  island  have  returned.  Walks  and  roads  have 
been  laid  out  in  all  directions,  and  golf  and  tennis  courses  are  woven  into  long 
and  wide  stretches  of  green.  Autos  and  other  vehicles  glide  everywhere  over 
substantial  and  well-kept  avenues  and  highways. 

In  the  midst  of  these  charms  of  nature  directed  by  the  industry  and  art 
of  man,  are  historic,  memorials  identified  with  the  development  and  notable 
record  of  the  region  and  the  annals  of  the  Rocky  Island.  The  site  of  old  Fort 
Armstrong,  with  a  replica  of  one  of  its  blockhouses,  as  well  as  the  clock-tower 
building  standing  for  the  first  permanent  structure  of  the  arsenal,  are  all 
located  at  the  western  or  lower  end  of  the  island.  In  this  locality  are  also 
the  remains  of  the  island  pier  of  the  first  bridge  to  span  the  Mississippi,  in 
1856.  Farther  north  is  the  Davenport  house.  To  the  east  and  along  the  north- 
ern shore  of  the  island  are  the  confederate  and  union  cemeteries  and  the  grave 
of  General  Rodman.  The  dams,  buildings  and  apparatus  through  which  the 
power  is  generated  that  makes  vital  with  ponderous  life  the  vast  structural 
shells  of  the  arsenal  are  stretched  along  the  southern  shores  of  the  island  and 
mainland,  as  well  as  across  to  the  Illinois  shore. 

The  most  interesting  feature  of  the  arsenal  to  the  general  visitor,  not  in- 
clined to  things  mechanical  or  engineering,  and  only  superficially  posted  on 
the  history  of  the  locality,  is  the  military,  or  the  war  museum.  It  occupies 
a  large  area  on  the  first  floor  of  Shop  A,  and  prior  to  the  World  war  was 
relatively  small.  Since  that  period,  the  collection  has  so  expanded  that  there 
are  few  larger  or  more  complete  museums  of  the  kind  in  the  country.  One 
can  trace  the  development  of  the  art  of  war  and  its  implements,  from  the  spear, 
bow  and  arrow  of  the  North  American  Indian,  the  machete  of  the  Cuban  and 
the  bolo  of  the  Filipino,  to  the  rifle  and  machine  gun  of  the  warriors  of  modern 
Europe  and  the  United  States.     The  old  brass  and  swivel  guns  that  could  be 


(ThrouKh    the    courtesy    of    the    Rock    Island   Arsenal) 

GRAVE  OF  GENERAL  THOMAS  J.  RODMAN 
Inventor    of   large   smooth-bore   guns   and   method    of   hollow-easting 


(Through   the   courtesy    of   the    Hock    Island   Arsenal) 

ARSENAL   EMPLOYES  CELEBRATING  ARMISTICE  DAY,  NOVEMBER   11,   1918 


722  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

carried  around  by  hand  stand  in  the  shadow  of  mortars,  howitzers  and  huge 
naval  monsters.  Old  flintlocks  lay  side  by  side  with  deadly  automatic  rifles 
and  sawed-off  shotguns.  In  the  museum  is  afforded  the  opportunity  to  com- 
pare not  only  the  small  arms  of  this  country  with  those  of  France,  Germany 
and  Great  Britain,  but  as  well,  the  artillery  of  the  modern  nations.  The 
machine  gun  exhibit  is  one  of  much  interest.  Anti-aircraft  guns,  armor,  gas 
masks,  bombs  used  by  aircraft,  torpedoes,  and  most  of  the  devices  employed 
in  trench  warfare  are  also  on  view. 

Included  in  the  artillery  is  a  duplicate  of  the  French  gun  which  fired  the 
first  shot  at  the  advancing  Germans,  and  there  are  several  guns  in  camouflage. 
Of  leather  goods  and  personal  equipment  sets,  the  variety  is  great,  as  these 
were  the  great  specialties  among  the  manufactures  of  the  arsenal. 

It  is  through  the  military  museum  that  the  visitor  may  make  a  fitting  exit 
from  the  interesting  and  instructive  establishments  included  under  the  general 
title,  Rock  Island  Arsenal. 

NEWSPAPERS    AND   BANKS 

Rock  Island  has  always  published  newspapers  to  boost  it  along — in  fact, 
the  first  newspapers  published  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  were  hers.  In  1839, 
Henry  C.  McGrew,  a  young  Irish  printer  from  Paoli,  Ind.,  unfurled  his  Banner 
from  a  little  office  near  the  ferry  landing,  but  as  its  editor  could  be  nothing 
but  a  democrat  in  a  strong  whig  community  his  paper  did  not  survive  beyond 
the  fall  of  1841. 

The  democrats  of  the  Rock  Island  region  were  without  a  newspaper  from 
1847  until  1851,  but  in  the  fall  of  the  latter  year  came  Fred  S.  Nichols  and 
John  W.  Dunham  from  the  St.  Louis  Intelligencer  and  established  the  Re- 
publican (democratic).  J.  B.  Danforth,  Jr.,  afterward  bought  a  half  interest 
in  the  establishment,  and  on  July  13,  1854,  issued  a  daily — the  first  in  the 
Rock  River  Valley.  Soon  afterward,  its  name  was  changed  to  the  Argus.  In 
1862,  J.  A.  Huck  moved  his  paper  from  Moline  to  Rock  Island  and  commenced 
the  publication  of  the  Weekly  and  Daily  Union.  The  Argus  and  the  Union 
were  afterward  consolidated  into  one  of  the  leading  publications  in  the  lower 
Rock  River  Valley. 

The  funds  for  the  operation  of  the  industries  and  business  of  Rock  Island, 
as  well  as  for  its  other  financial  transactions,  are  supplied  by  five  substantial 
banks.  The  State  Bank  was  founded  in  1852,  the  Peoples  National  in  1874,  the 
Rock  Island  Savings  in  1890,  the  Central  Trust  and  Savings,  1899 ;  the  Amer- 
ican Trust  and  Savings,  1912,  and  the  First  Trust  and  Savings,  1920.  They 
are  capitalized  at  nearly  $1,200,000,  and  their  deposits  average  more  than 
$16,000,000. 

THE   CITY   OF   MOLINE 

The  local  writer  has  given  the  following  graphic  description  of  the  location 
of  Moline:  "The  City  of  Moline  is  situated  on  the  Illinois  shore  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi River,  the  Father  of  Waters,  1,570  miles  from  its  mouth,  and  opposite 


THE   ROCK   RIVER  VALLEY  723 

tin1  upper  part  of  the  government  island  known  as  the  Island  of  Bock  Island. 
between    which    and    Moline   flows   a   part   of  the    .Mississippi.      This   branch   lias 

1 n  harnessed  for  water  power  and  is  called  the  Sylvan  Waters,  or  the  Pool. 

This  pool  holds  the  water  for  the  power  plants  of  Moline  and  the  Island  of 
Rock    Island. 

■".Moline  is  beautifully  located  and  has  its  practical  side  as  well.  Factories 
line  the  shore  of  the  Sylvan  Waters.  Some  of  thein,  especially  the  plow  works, 
are  among  the  largesl  of  their  kind  in  the  world.  The  business  section  of  the 
city  is  situated  on  a  plain  which  rises  gradually  toward  the  south  until  it 
reaches  picturesque  blurt's  on  whose  brow  are  many  fine  residences  that  bear 
testimony  to  the  refinement,  taste  and  wealth  of  the  people.  From  these  bluffs 
a  magnificent  view  is  presented,  for  the  Mississippi  can  be  seen  for  many  miles 
both  ways,  and  the  landscape  includes  the  cities  of  Rock  Island,  111.,  and 
Davenport,  la.,  as  well  as  the  Island  of  Rock  Island  with  its  stone  work  shops 
erected  by  the  government  for  the  manufacture  of  accoutrements  for  the  army. 
Across  the  river  and  opposite  to  Moline,  the  enormous  shops  of  Bettendorf, 
la.,  are  seen,  and  the  beautiful  hillsides  of  the  Iowa  shore  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  with  their  fields,  groves,  orchards  and  farm  houses,  add  to  the  attrac- 
tiveness of  the  scene.  Up  the  river  is  the  historical  Campbell's  Island  and 
opposite  is  the  Illinois  Western  Hospital  for  the  Insane. 

"On  the  top  of  the  Moline  bluffs  is  a  plateau  that  stretches  south  towards 
Rock  River.  This  is  about  one  and  a  half  miles  in  width,  carefully  platted  and 
well  built  up  with  handsome  residences  which  are  types  of  the  homes  of  pros- 
perous people.  It  may  be  said  that  Moline  has  at  its  front  door  the  mighty 
Mississippi,  and  at  its  back,  beautiful  Rock  River." 

THE   PLOW    CITY 

With  this  general  picture  of  Moline  in  mind,  it  is  evident  that  Moline  still 
reverts  to  her  original  type  of  the  Plow  City.  Although  the  solid  blocks  of 
river  front  covered  by  the  Deere,  Moline  Plow  and  Oliver  Chilled  Plow  works 
are  unsightly,  these  industries  remain  at  the  bottom  of  her  prosperity  and 
advancement,  and  her  30,000  people  depend  primarily  upon  them  for  their 
comfortable  existence. 

When  John  Deere  moved  his  tiny  plow  works  from  Grand  Detour  to  Moline 
in  1844,  there  was  little  besides  the  water  power  to  recommend  it  to  him,  but 
that  had  aroused  the  admiration  of  engineers  and  public  and  business  men 
for  years.  Fifteen  years  before,  Joel  Wells  and  his  sons,  Levi  and  Hunting- 
ton, came  to  the  site  of  Moline,  but  it  was  not  until  1841  that  it  was  laid  out 
as  Rock  Island  Mills  by  John  W.  Spencer,  David  B.  Sears,  Spencer  H.  White 
and  George  W.  Lynde.  The  plat  of  the  town  was  never  recorded,  and  in 
1843  David  B.  Sears,  Spencer  H.  White,  Joel  and  Huntington  Wells,  Charles 
Atkinson  and  Xathan  W.  Bass  laid  out  a  town  on  section  32,  township  18 
north,  range  1  west.  The  surveyor  wrote  on  one  of  the  two  plats  which  were 
prepared  for  record  the  name  Hesperia  and  on  the  other.  Moline.  Tn  line 
with  the  old-time  idea  that  at  the  water  power  was  to  be  founded  an  indus- 
trial town,   Charles  Atkinson  urged  that   it  be   called  Moline,  or,  as  the  sur- 

Vol.  1—46 


724  THE  EOCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

veyor  explained,  the  equivalent  of  Mill  Town.  The  plat  labeled  Moline  was 
therefore  filed  before  a  justice  of  the  peace,  Nathaniel  Belcher,  and  approved 
June  6,  1843,  by  the  commissioners,  John  R.  Taylor,  Adolphus  Dunlap  and 
George  S.  Moore,  and  early  the  following  year  John  Deere  stamped  the  town 
with  its  first  permanent  and  important  industry. 

To  describe  the  expansion  of  John  Deere 's  plow  works  from  the  establish- 
ment of  the  1844  plant  until  the  industry  obtained  its  present  gigantic  pro- 
portions, would  require  a  book  in  itself.  It  is  remarkable,  also,  that  during 
this  long  period  of  growth  but  three  presidents  have  been  at  the  head  of 
affairs.  The  founder  continued  to  direct  them  until  his  death  in  1886 ;  the 
son,  Charles  H.  Deere,  succeeded  his  father  as  president  at  that  time,  and  at 
the  time  of  his  own  death,  October  29,  1907,  "William  Butterworth,  a  lawyer, 
who  had  managed  its  legal  affairs  since  1892,  assumed  the  presidency. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  two  of  the  leading  officials  connected  with  the 
Moline  Plow  Company  were  very  prominent  in  the  activities  of  the  World 
war.  George  N.  Peck,  its  president,  had  been  a  leading  factor  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Deere  interests  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  before  he 
became  president  and  general  manager  of  the  Moline  Plow  Company  in  1919. 
He  was  vice-president  of  Deere  &  Company  in  1911-19  and  during  the  last 
two  years  of  that  service  was  a  member  of  the  War  Industries  Board  and 
chairman  of  the  Industrial  Board,  of  the  Department  of  Commerce,  Wash- 
ington. Mr.  Peck  was  decorated  for  his  war  services,  and  upon  his  return  to 
his  home  city  was  elected  president  and  general  manager  of  the  Moline  Plow 
Company. 

The  general  counsel  and  assistant  general  manager  of  the  Moline  Plow 
Company,  General  Hugh  S.  Johnson,  is  a  West  Point  man,  and  had  attained 
the  rank  of  captain  in  the  regular  service  and  during  the  World  war  was  several 
times  promoted  until  he  resigned  as  brigadier  general.  Since  1919  he  has  held 
the  position  mentioned  with  the  Moline  Plow  Company. 

MOLINE   AS   A    CORPORATION 

As  early  as  1843 — the  year  before  the  coming  of  John  Deere — Moline  was 
organized  as  a  town,  and  in  1848  was  incorporated  as  such  under  the  State 
laws.  In  1855,  its  powers  were  extended,  and  in  July,  1872,  a  petition  was 
presented  to  the  Town  Board  asking  that  the  question  as  to  the  adoption  of 
a  city  government  be  submitted  to  popular  decision.  In  August  the  people 
voted  almost  unanimously  for  a  municipal  government  and  on  the  29th  of 
that  month  elected  the  following:  Mayor,  Daniel  L.  Wheel ockj  city  clerk, 
Orrin  K.  Ferguson;  city  attorney,  John  T.  Browning;  aldermen,  George  W. 
Vinton,  Luke  E.  Hemenway,  Herman  S.  Keater,  Marvel  H.  White,  and  Charles 
F.  Hemenway.  John  Deere  was  a  candidate  for  mayor  at  this  election,  and  the 
following  year  was  chosen  to  the  position. 

On  January  30,  1911,  Moline  voted  to  adopt  the  commission  form  of  govern- 
ment, and  on  April  4th  following,  held  its  first  election,  at  which  Martin  Carlson 
was  chosen  mayor,  and  Clark  G.  Anderson,  Charles  V.  Johnson,  Louis  0.  Jahns 
and  Ezra  L.  Eastman,  commissioners. 


THE  ROCK  RIVEB  VALLEY  725 

mm:  city  of  the  present 

Public  education  found  a  foothold  in  Moline  almost  with  the  platting  of  the 

old  town.  What  was  long  known  as  the  Old  Brick  Schoolhouse  was  built  on  the 
site  of  llif  City  Hall  in  1843.  Its  grounds  were  donated  by  the  proprietors  of 
the  town  site,  and  the  first  teacher,  Joseph  Jackman,  was  an  old  friend  and 
schoolmate  of  Charles  Atkinson.  The  first  suggestion  of  graded  schools  came 
tii  in  Mr.  Jackman,  but  his  ideas  were  then  considered  too  advanced.  The  old 
schoolhouse  was  all  that  the  boys  and  girls  of  Moline  required  until  1855;  then 
other  accommodations  commenced  to  be  provided  for  them.  The  first  high  school 
class  did  not  graduate  until  1876.  Music  was  added  to  the  curriculum  of  the 
public  schools  in  1882,  and  manual  training  in  1886.  In  1908,  a  new  building 
was  erected  devoted  exclusively  to  the  manual  arts,  which  feature  has  since  been 
a  prominent  one  of  the  local  system  of  public  education.  Including  the  Manual 
Arts  and  High  schools,  and  the  Central  Grammar,  Moline  has  nineteen  buildings 
devoted  to  the  advancement  of  free  education.  It  also  has  several  large  parochial 
schools  conducted  by  the  Catholics,  Lutherans  and  Hebrews,  and  one  business 
college. 

The  Moline  Public  Library,  which  has  always  closely  cooperated  with  the 
schools  to  be  in  active  work  as  a  public  educator,  was  first  opened  on  January 
6,  1873,  and  reestablished  in  1904  by  cooperation  between  Andrew  Carnegie  and 
the   city  of  Moline. 

MOLINE   NEWSPAPERS 

For  more  than  seventy  years,  the  newspapers  of  Moline  have  labored  earnestly 
for  the  good  of  the  community,  according  to  the  best  of  their  lights.  The  Mo- 
line Dispatch  of  the  present  day  had  its  origin  in  the  Review,  established  in 
November,  1870.  It  labored  along  under  changing  management  until  B.  F. 
Tillinghast  obtained  possession  of  it  in  May,  1872.  In  July,  1878,  it  was  con- 
solidated with  the  Dispatch,  which  had  been  established  in  July  of  that  year  as 
a  daily.  The  Keview  -Dispatch  was  the  weekly  edition  of  the  Dispatch  until  1912, 
when  it  was  discontinued.  In  July,  1885,  Dean  Brothers,  proprietors  of  the 
Dispatch,  sold  the  newspaper  to  P.  S.  McGlynn  and  John  K.  Groom.  Mr.  Groom 
sold  his  interests  to  W.  F.  Eastman,  who,  at  his  death  in  1909,  had  been  serving 
for  three  years  as  postmaster  of  Moline.  Mr.  Eastman's  interest  in  the  Dispatch 
was  purchased  from  the  estate  in  1912  by  John  Sundine,  who  became  business 
manager  of  the  Moline  Dispatch  Publishing  Company.  Of  late  years  Mr.  Mc- 
Glynn has  been  somewhat  retired  from  the  business  and  editorial  management 
of  the  Dispatch,  but  his  connection  of  forty  years  with  its  progress  has  enrolled 
him  among  the  most  prominent  veterans  of  the  profession  in  the  Rock  River 
Valley. 

The  protection  of  property  was  one  of  the  most  important  considerations 
which  came  before  the  citizens  of  Moline.  Its  first  volunteer  fire  department 
was  formed  in  July,  1856;  the  first  steam  engine  was  bought  by  the  city  in  1872; 
the  original  water  works  were  built  in  1882,  and  in  1896  the  fire  department  was 
placed  on  a  paid  basis.  These  are  the  main  steps  which  have  led  to  a  depart- 
ment, well  organized  and  equipped  to  meet  the  demand  of  owners  of  valuable 
industrial  property,  business  houses  and  handsome  residences.     Moline  had  its 


726  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

village  organization  of  police,  but  the  first  department  to  be  established  along 
municipal  lines  was  that  formed  in  1877,  with  L.  E.  Fish  as  chief  of  police. 

After  considering  what  protection  to  life  and  property  Moline  has  provided 
for  her  people,  one  instinctively  turns  to  the  public  hospital,  which  was  opened 
in  August,  1898,  and  maintained  by  popular  taxation.  It  is  a  benefaction  which 
cannot  be  overestimated,  founded  as  it  was  under  an  ordinance  of  the  City 
Council,  wherein  it  is  provided  that  it  shall  be  "a  nonsectarian  public  hospital 
for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  City  of  Moline,  or  any  person  falling  sick,  or 
injured,  or  maimed  within  its  limits ;  and  that  all  money  collected  shall  be  under 
the  control  of  the  hospital  board  and  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  hospital  fund." 

The  nine  parks  and  squares  which  have  been  donated  to  the  people  of  Mo- 
line, since  1900,  have  well  served  as  recreation  centers  and  promoters  of  public 
hygiene.  In  the  year  named  the  small  tract  in  front  of  the  old  city  hall  was 
Moline 's  only  municipal  park.  In  1900,  Sylvan  Park  was  established  along  the 
river  front  between  Eighteenth  and  Nineteenth  streets.  In  the  western  part  of 
the  city,  G.  A.  Stevens  donated  a  large  tract  as  a  memorial  to  his  father,  in 
1900,  and  the  city  afterward  purchased  eighteen  adjoining  acres,  as  the  com- 
mencement of  Stevens  Park.  In  1911  and  1912,  John  T.  Browning  and  the 
late  Mrs.  C.  H.  Deere  and  her  daughter,  Mrs.  William  Butterworth,  donated 
the  lands  which  have  been  molded  into  Browning  Park,  between  Fifteenth  Street 
and  Twenty-third  Avenue,  and  the  Deere  Park,  between  Seventh  Street  and  Six- 
teenth Avenue.  Prospect  Park,  is  a  wooded  tract  in  South  Moline,  which  was 
deeded  to  the  city  in  1911  by  the  Tri-City  Railway  Company,  and  has  been  im- 
proved so  that  it  is  a  popular  picnic  resort.  In  East  Moline,  is  Riverside  Park 
of  fifty-seven  acres.  Then  there  is  Observatory  Park,  at  the  head  of  Fourteenth 
Street,  a  small  tract  of  land,  but  well  named  because  of  the  splendid  view  of 
the  Mississippi  River  to  be  obtained  from  this  point. 

banks 

Moline 's  six  banks  have  a  combined  capital  of  $1,375,000;  surplus  of  $1,254,- 
000,  and  deposits  of  $19,757,000.  The  dates  of  their  founding  are  as  follows: 
Peoples  Saving  Bank  and  Trust  Company,  1857 ;  State  Savings  Bank  and  Trust 
Company,  and  Trust  and  Savings  Bank,  1869 ;  Mechanics  and  Merchants  Sav- 
ings Bank,  1910;  Commercial  Savings,  1912;  Fifth  Avenue  Trust  and  Savings, 
1920. 

CHURCHES    AND   SOCIETIES 

An  account  of  the  establishment  of  the  first  churches  in  Moline  has  already 
been  given,  but  although  it  is  impossible  to  give  separate  sketches  of  the  thirty 
religious  bodies  within  the  city  limits,  it  can  be  confidently  asserted  that  they 
all  meet  special  demands.  There  are  six  Lutheran  churches,  four  Methodist,  four 
Congregationalist,  three  Roman  Catholic,  three  Baptist  and  two  Episcopalian. 
The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of  Moline  was  started  in  1884  on  the 
second  floor  of  the  Deere  building,  Third  Avenue  and  Seventeenth  Street.  The 
original  association  suspended  for  several  years  before  1901,  but  was  revived 
in  the  following  year,  and  by  September,  1911,  had  completed  one  of  the 
finest  buildings  of  the  kind  in  the  Northwest  outside  of  Chicago. 


THE  ROCK   RIVEB  VALLEY  727 

There  is  not  a  secret  or  benevolent  society  of  any  standing  which  is  not  repre- 
sented in  Moline,  and  its  trade  and  labor  organizations  are  many  and  closely 
bound  to  like  bodies  in  Hock  Island  and  Davenport.  Of  the  social  and  patriotic 
movements  much  good  may  be  said,  but  a  mere  mention  of  some  of  them  tells 
the  story  of  wide  scope  and  varied  activities.  The  American  Red  Cross,  the 
D.  A.  R.,  the  Fortnightly  Club,  Kiwanis,  Rotary,  Women's  Club,  and  Tri-City 
Musical  Society  are  a  few  representative  organizations  in  Moline,  taken  almost 
at  random. 

EAST    MOLINE 

A  manufacturing  city  of  nearly  9,000  people,  East  Moline  was  organized  as 
;i  town  in  December,  1902,  and  on  January  17,  1903,  its  first  trustees  were  elected. 
The  present  city  form  of  government  was  adopted  in  1907.  It  has  a  municipally- 
owned  system  of  water  works,  and  an  excellent  system  of  drainage  and  storm 
sewers,  a  paid  fire  department,  and  many  miles  of  brick-paved  streets. 

East  Moline  is  seven  miles  east  of  Rock  Island  and  four  miles  from  Moline, 
and  many  of  the  large  industrial  concerns  with  headquarters  in  these  cities  have 
established  branches  at  East  Moline.  Among  other  lines  which  are  making  the 
little  city  prosperous  are  those  concerned  in  the  manufacture  of  malleable  iron, 
gasoline  engines,  autos,  scales  and  farm  machinery. 

MINOR   POINTS 

Outside  of  Rock  Island  and  the  two  Molines,  there  are  a  number  of  villages 
of  considerable  importance  in  the  county.  Milan,  less  than  a  thousand  people, 
is  the  western  terminus  of  the  Hennepin  cut-off  and  is  located  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Rock  River,  on  the  line  of  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Railroad. 
Port  Byron  is  one  of  the  oldest  towns  in  the  county  and  was  laid  out  in  August, 
1836,  by  citizens  of  Rock  Island.  In  the  '40s  and  '50s  it  became  a  leading  Mis- 
sissippi River  town  and  manufacturing  point,  and  during  the  Civil  war  period 
was  a  well  known  station  of  the  "underground  railroad";  it  is  now  a  station 
on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad  and  cannot  muster  more  than 
500  people.  Hampton  to  the  south  and  Cordova  to  the  north,  on  the  same  line, 
are  stations  and  trading  points  of  some  standing,  and  Reynolds,  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  county  on  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad,  has  survived  since 
that  line  reached  it  in  1876. 

TOWNSHIPS  of  TIIK  COUNTY 

At  the  general  November  election  of  1856,  a  vote  was  taken  to  decide  upon 
township  organization  in  Rock  Island  County;  the  decision  was  '2, 314  in  favor 
of  it.  and  147  against.  Shortly  afterward,  the  committee  appointed  by  the  Com- 
missioners' Court  reported,  with  their  boundaries,  the  townships  of  Cordova, 
Port  Byron,  Canoe  Creek,  Fremont,  Hampton,  Walker,  Moline,  Coal  Valley, 
Rock  Island,  Camden,  Edgington,  Bowling,  Buffalo  Prairie  and  Drnry.  There 
arc  now  eighteen  townships  in  the  county.  Fremont.  Walker  and  Camden  have 
disappeared  from  the  originals,  and  Andalusia.  Black  Hawk,  Coe,  Rural,  South 
Moline,  South  Rock  Island  and  Zuma  have  been  added. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
CHRONOLOGY  RELATING  TO  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

In  noting  the  facts  bearing  upon  the  development  of  the  Rock  River  Valley 
those  only  of  close  connection  can  have  a  place.  That  wonderful  inlet  to  the 
vast  northern  basin  of  the  Mississippi  system  lies  between  the  Wisconsin  River 
on  the  north  and  the  Illinois  River  on  the  south  and  is  one  of  the  splendid 
waterways  which  the  hand  of  nature  has  providentially  molded  to  join  the 
splendors  and  utilities  of  the  great  lakes  with  those  of  the  great  river.  Like 
the  "Wisconsin  and  the  Illinois  rivers,  it  determined  the  migration  of  the  aborig- 
inal peoples  who  were  to  war  over  its  beautiful  and  fertile  fields  and  hills, 
and  who  were  finally  to  be  expelled  by  a  race  which,  as  a  whole,  was  wedded  to 
family  and  home  institutions,  the  development  of  which  required  uninter- 
rupted stability  and  progress. 

The  bold  colors  and  the  high  lights  of  this  marvelous  development  are  first 
traced  in  the  steady  progress  of  those  Indian  tribes  from  the  upper  regions 
of  Lake  Michigan  and  along  the  valley  of  the  Pox  River  into  that  of  the  Rock. 

1666-67 — Allouez,  the  Jesuit  missionary,  finds  various  bands  of  Sauk  and 
Foxes  near  Chequamegon  Bay,  in  northern  Wisconsin  and  the  upper  waters 
of  Lake  Superior. 

1669 — Allouez  commences  the  establishment  of  missions  on  the  western 
shores  of  Green  Bay.  Discovers  a  village  of  six  hundred  Indians  at  the  site 
of  Oconto.  It  embraced  gathering  of  Sauk,  Foxes,  Winnebago  and  Pottowatomi. 
He  reports  numerous  other  villages  scattered  over  the  surrounding  region  of 
Green  Bay,  whither  these  tribes  had  been  driven  by  the  Ottawa  of  the  north. 

1670 — Allouez  meets  the  Illinois  Indians  at  the  Mascoutin  village  on  the 
upper  Fox,  near  site  of  the  present  Portage  City,  on  their  migration  west- 
ward to  the  Mississippi. 

1718 — The  Sauk  and  Foxes  obtain  a  foothold  in  Rock  River  Valley. 

1722 — The  Foxes  attack  the  Illini  at  present  localities  of  Peoria,  Starved 
Rock  and  other  points  in  the  Illinois  River  Valley.  The  Illini  pressed  west- 
ward and  joined  Indians  of  Mississippi  Valley.  Winnebagoes  and  Potta.watomies 
occupy  portions  of  the  middle  and  upper  Rock  River  Valley. 

1730 — The  allied  Sauk  and  Foxes  move  down  the  Rock  River  Valley,  driving 
the  Kaskaskias  to  the  Mississippi  and  establish  a  village  on  the  point  of  land 
at  the  confluence  of  the  Rock  with  the  Mississippi  River.  The  village -finally 
expanded  along  the  north  bank  of  the  Rock  River  to  what  is  now  south  Rock 
Island,  and  became  one  of  the  largest  Indian  settlements  of  a  permanent  char- 
acter on  the  North  American  continent.     It  was  known  as  Saukenuk. 

1767 — Birth  of  Black  Hawk,  or  Black  Sparrow  Hawk.  Various  localities 
from  the  Rock  River  Valley  to  Kaskaskia  claim  to  have  been  his  birthplace. 

728 


THE  ROCK  RIVKK  VALLEY  729 

lTtiT — loiiatluiii  Carver,  the  English  traveler,  visits  ;i  large  Sauk  village  in 
the  Wisconsin  River  Valley,  at  the  site  of  Prairie  du  Sac,  in  what  is  now  the 
southeastern  part  of  Sank  County,  Wisconsin. 

1804 — Treaty  of  November  3d  of  that  year,  at  St.  Louis,  between  William 
Henry  Harrison,  governor  of  Indiana  territory  and  superintendent  of  Indian 
affairs,  ami  five  chiefs  of  the  Sank  and  Foxes,  by  which  nearly  15,000,000 
acres  of  land  between  the  "Wisconsin  River  on  the  north,  Fox  River  of  Illinois 
on  the  east  and  southeast  and  the  Mississippi  on  the  west,  were  ceded  to  the 
United  States.  The  cession  included  the  Rock  River  Valley.  Article  seven 
of  the  treaty  stipulated  that  as  long  as  the  lands  remained  government  prop- 
erty the  Indians  should  have  the  privilege  of  living  and  hunting  on  them. 

1809 — By  congressional  act  of  February  3d,  Indiana  territory  was  divided, 
the  western  part  becoming  Illinois. 

1812— The  treaty  of  1804  and  the  War  of  1812  severed  the  alliance  of  the 
Sank  and  Foxes.  Black  Hawk  boldly  took  his  stand  as  leader  of  the  British 
hand.     He  denied  the  validity  of  the  treaty. 

1814 — On  July  19th,  Black  Hawk  and  400  of  his  warriors  attack  Lieutenant 
Campbell  and  his  force  of  about  100  regulars  and  rangers,  on  the  island  six 
miles  east  of  Moline.  The  Indians  killed  sixteen  Americans,  including  a  woman 
and  child,  and  wounded  about  as  many  more.  The  engagement,  resulting  in 
the  retreat  of  the  American  force,  is  known  as  the  Battle  of  Campbell's  Island. 
In  the  following  month  occurred  "Major  Taylor's  battle,"  which  also  resulted 
in  a  victory  for  Black  Hawk,  aided  by  a  small  British  force. 

1816 — United  States  troops  arrive  on  Rock  Island,  May  10th,  to  build  Fort 
Armstrong. 

Among  the  arrivals  were  George  Davenport  and  his  wife.  The  latter  was 
the  first  American  woman  to  ascend  the  Mississippi  to  that  point. 

On  May  13th,  the  chiefs  of  the  Sauk  of  Rock  River  met  at  St.  Louis  and 
ratified  the  treaty  of  1804. 

Fort  Crawford,  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  erected  by  General  Thomas  A.  Smith. 
Closely  identified  with  the  history  of  the  upper  Rock  River  Valley. 

1817 — Birth  of  George  L.  Davenport  in  the  family  home,  Rock  Island; 
first  native  white  child  of  the  valley. 

1818 — On  the  13th  of  April  of  this  year  Congress  passed  the  act  enabling 
Illinois  to  become  a  State.  Formally  admitted  December  3d.  Northern  bound- 
ary established  as  the  parallel  of  latitude  42'  30"  from  Lake  Michigan  to  the 
^Mississippi,  taking  from  Wisconsin  what  are  now  the  Illinois  counties  of  Lake, 
McHenry,  Boone,  Winnebago,  Stephenson,  Jo  Daviess,  Carroll,  Ogle,  DuPage, 
Kane,  Cook,  Whiteside,  Lee  and  De  Kalb  and  the  northern  portions  of  Will. 
Kendall,  LaSalle  and  Rock  Island. 

Colonel  George  Davenport,  English  ti'ader  and  American  soldier,  builds 
a  double  log  cabin  on  Rock  Island.  Antoine  Leclaire,  French  trader  and  half- 
breed,  settles  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Rock  River  among  his  Indian  relatives 
at  Saukenuk. 

.May  25th:  Brown,  Crawford  and  Michillimackinac  counties  were  organ- 
ized from  Michigan  Territory,  embracing  the  whole  of  the  present  Wisconsin, 
as  well  as  parts  of  Michigan  and  the  upper  peninsula  of  Michigan. 


730  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

1820 — Explorers  commence  to  move  up  the  Mississippi  Valley  to  the  lead 
mines  of  the  Galena  district. 

1822 — Government  decided  to  lease  lands  in  what  is  now  southwestern 
Wisconsin  for  mining  purposes.  Colonel  James  Johnson,  having  secured  a 
lease  of  the  present  Galena,  began  mining  on  a  large  scale.  There  followed 
an  inrush  of  speculators  and  prospectors  into  that  section. 

1823 — First  session  of  Crawford  County  court  was  held  (May  12th.)  at 
Prairie  du  Chien.  The  United  States  Circuit  Court  held  its  first  session  at 
the  same  place   (October  17th),  James  D.  Doty  presiding  judge. 

First  steamboat  arrives  at  Fort  Armstrong  over  the  Rock  Island  rapids. 

Influx  of  white  squatters  upon  the  fertile  lands  at  the  mouth  of  Rock 
River,  still  occupied  by  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  under  the  terms  of  their  treaties 
with  the  United  States. 

Thibault,  French  Canadian  trader,  settles  at  Turtle  village,  a  Winnebago 
settlement  on  the  present  site  of  Beloit,  Wis. 

1824- — Judge  James  D.  Doty  holds  first  session  of  the  United  States  Cir- 
cuit Court  in  Brown  County,  at  Green  Bay,  on  October  4th. 

1825 — A  treaty  was  concluded  at  Prairie  du  Chien  in  August  by  William 
Clark  and  Lewis  Cass,  government  commissioners,  between  the  Indians  of 
Illinois,  Minnesota  and  Wisconsin,  establishing  tribal  boundaries  and  making 
peace  between  the  tribes. 

Oliver  W.  Kellogg  breaks  overland  trail  from  Peoria,  by  way  of  what  are 
now  the  Dixon  vicinity,  Mount  Morris,  West  Grove,  and  thence  in  a  gen- 
erally northwesterly  direction  to  Galena.  Not  long  afterward  John  Boles 
cut  off  some  of  the  curves  of  the  Kellogg  trail,  crossing  the  Rock  River  where 
Dixon  now  stands,  and  soon  the  ford  at  that  point  became  widely  known  to 
all  those  entering  the  lead  regions  of  northwest  Illinois  and  southwest  Wisconsin. 

Henry  County,  111.,  created  by  legislative  act  of  January  13  (1825).  Takes 
its  name  from  Patrick  Henry,  the  patriot. 

Colonel  George  Davenport  appointed  first  postmaster  at  Rock  Island. 

During  same  year  (1825),  Colonel  Davenport  builds  first  ferry  across  the 
Mississippi  between  Farnhamsburg   (Rock  Island)   and  Davenport,  la. 

April  8th :     The  government  reserves  Rock  Island   for  military   purposes. 

1826 — -Fort  Crawford  was  abandoned  and  the  troops  sent  to  Fort  Snelling 
near  St.  Paul. 

First  religious  services  in  Rock  Island  County  held  at  Fort  Armstrong. 

1827 — The  Winnebago  Indians  murdered  several  half-breeds  and  attacked 
two  keel  boats  on  the  Mississippi.  These  outrages  produced  great  alarm. 
Settlers  fled  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  there  organized  and  manned  the  aban- 
doned fort.  Troops  were,  however,  sent  from  St.  Louis  and  Fort  Snelling. 
Colonel  Henry  Dodge  raised  a  hundred  volunteers  in  the  lead  mines.  Major 
William  Whistler,  in  command  at  Fort  Howard,  moved  up  the  Fox  to  Portage, 
and  the  troops  on  the  Wisconsin  under  General  Henry  Atkinson  pursued  the 
fleeing  Winnebago.  They  were  overtaken  near  Portage  and  gave  up  the  mur- 
derers, one  of  whom  (Red  Bird)  soon  died  in  prison.  His  associates  were 
Iried  and  sentenced,  but  afterward  pardoned  on  condition  that  the  Winne- 
bago cede  their  mining  lands  to  the  United  States. 


> 


a 

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os 


732  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Oliver  W.  Kellogg,  first  permanent  settler  of  Stephenson  County,  located 
at  Burr  Oak  Grove,  111. 

J.  L.  Bogardus,  of  Peoria,  establishes  a  ferry  across  the  Rock  River  at 
the  present  site  of  Dixon. 

1828 — In  September  Fort  Winnebago  was  begun  at  Portage,  Wis.,  by  Major 
David  E.  Twiggs. 

1829 — The  first  settlers  upon  the  present  site  of  Moline  (Milltown),  111., 
were  Joel  Wells  and  sons  who  located  in  January  of  the  year  named. 

Stephen  Mack,  first  permanent  settler  of  Winnebago  County,  111.,  located 
in  Rockton  township  in  1829.     One  of  the  pioneers  of  Rock  River  Valley. 

On  December  7th  of  this  year  Joseph  Ogee,  an  intemperate  adventurer 
with  an  Indian  wife,  obtained  a  license  to  operate  another  ferry  (that  of 
Bogardus  having  been  discontinued)    at  the  Dixon  locality. 

Two  treaties  were  made  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  Wis.,  in  July  and  August, 
1829 ;  the  earlier  one,  with  the  Chippewa,  Ottawa  and  Pottawatomie  tribes, 
conveyed  the  lands  south  and  east  of  Rock  River,  and  that  of  the  following 
month,  with  the  Winnebagoes,  all  tracts  claimed  by  the  latter  south  and  west 
of  Rock  River. 

1830 — In  July  of  this  year  Keokuk,  the  Sauk  chief,  made  a  final  cession 
of  the  tribal  lands  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  agreed  to  move  his  people  to 
its  western  shores.  Black  Hawk,  not  a  chief,  but  a  brave  or  head  warrior, 
opposed  the  measure  and  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  a  rebellious  party, 
as  was  his  custom. 

John  Dixon,  late  of  Peoria  and  a  mail  contractor  between  that  place  and 
Galena,  arrives  with  his  family,  on  April  11th,  to  take  over  the  ferry  from 
Ogee.  It  became  Dixon's  Ferry,  111.,  and  continued  to  be  a  prosperous  venture. 
In  September  the  postofnce  of  Ogee's  Ferry  was  established  there,  with  "Father" 
Dixon  as  postmaster. 

1831 — On  February  9th,  Rock  Island  County  was  created  by  act  of  the 
Legislature  and  attached  to  Jo  Daviess  County  for  judicial  and  political  purposes. 

Buffalo  Grove  precinct  established  by  the  commissioners  of  Jo  Daviess 
County,  111.,  and  John  Dixon,  Isaac  Chambers  and  John  Ankeny  appointed 
judges  of  election. 

When  Black  Hawk's  band  of  Sauk  and  Foxes  returned  from  a  hunt 
west  of  the  Mississippi  to  their  village  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rock  River, 
in  the  winter  of  1831,  they  found  it  occupied  by  white  settlers.  Its  site 
had  been  surveyed  and  purchased  by  a  fur  trader  at  Rock  Island.  Black 
Hawk  ordered  the  settlers  away  and  commenced  to  destroy  their  property. 

On  April  30th  and  May  9th,  petitions  were  sent  to  Governor  Reynolds  by 
the  white  settlers  for  protection. 

On  June  26th,  combined  force  of  regular  troops  under  General  Edward 
P.  Gainos  and  Rock  Island  rangers  under  Brigadier  General  Joseph  Duncan, 
of  the  State  militia,  took  possession  of  Black  Hawk's  deserted  village. 

1832— Notwithstanding  the  treaty  of  June  30,  1831,  on  April  6,  1832,  Black 
Hawk  crosses  the  Mississippi  at  Yellow  Banks  (now  Oquawka,  Henderson 
County,  111.)  and,  with  1,000  Indians,  including  warriors,  women  and  chil- 
dren, marches  up  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rock  River,  opposite  his  old  village. 
Continues  to  Prophet's  village  (Prophetstown,  Whiteside  County,  111.). 


THE   ROCK   RIVEB  VALLEY  733 

Genera]  Henry  Atkinson  arrives  al  Fori  Armstrong',  on  April  12th,  in  gen- 
eral charge  of  the  situation,  and  orders  Black  Hawk  to  recross  the  Mississippi. 
The  head  warrior  continues  his  march  up  the  Rock  River  Valley  and  encamps 
at  Ogee's  Perry,  Bending  bis  women  and  children  under  an  escort  of  Winne- 
bagoes  to  Lake  Koahkonong,  near  the  present  boundary  of  Jefferson  and  Rock 
counties.   Wis. 

Governor  Reynolds  raises  a  force  of  1,800  volunteers  to  repel  Black  Hawk. 
This  army  arrived  at  Ogee's  Ferry,  in  command  of  General  Samuel  White- 
side, on  May  12,  1832.  In  the  meantime  Black  Hawk  had  advanced  thirty 
miles  further  up  the  valley  for  a  conference  with  the  Pottawatomies  at  Syca- 
more Creek,  and  induced  a  portion  of  them  to  join  his  party.  His  force  was 
also  augmented  by  a  war  party  of  WTinnebagoes. 

When  Whiteside  reached  Ogee's  Ferry,  he  found  awaiting  him  two  bat- 
talions of  volunteers  numbering  about  340  men.  The  commanding  officer  was 
requested  by  one  Major  Stillman  to  be  allowed  to  make  a  reconnoissance  on 
Black  Hawk's  camp.  Unfortunately,  two  parties  sent  out  by  the  Sauk  leader 
bearing  flags  of  truce  were  fired  upon  by  Major  Stillman 's  scouts,  which  brought 
on  a  fierce  attack  on  the  part  of  the  Allied  Indians.  In  the  engagement  eleven 
of  the  Illinois  volunteers  were  killed.  The  creek  at  which  the  whites  were 
thus  defeated  has  since  been  called  Stillman 's  Run. 

The  final  engagement  which  ended  the  war  fought  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Bad  Axe,  Wis.,  when  Black  Hawk's  warriors  were  preparing  to  cross  the  Mis- 
sissippi, on  August  2,  1832.  In  the  battle,  150  of  the  Indians  were  killed  and 
many  others  wounded  and  drowned. 

Treacherous  Winnebagoes  captured  Black  Hawk  and  he  was  delivered  to 
the  military  authorities  on  the  27th  of  August. 

On  September  15,  1832,  the  Winnebagoes  ceded  all  their  lands  lying  east 
of  the  Mississippi  River  in  Wisconsin  to  the  general  government. 

1833 — First  permanent  house  in  Stephenson  County,  111.,  built  by  William 
Waddams  at  Waddams  Grove. 

First  election  for  officers  of  Rock  Island  County  held  at  Farnhamsburg, 
July  5th. 

On  September  21,  1833,  treaty  made  by  General  Winfield  Scott  and  Gov- 
ernor John  Reynolds  with  the  Sauk  and  Foxes,  at  Fort  Armstrong,  by  which 
(1)  those  tribes  ceded  to  the  United  States  a  large  tract  of  land  in  Iowa;  (2) 
the  United  States  agreed  to  pay  Farnham  &  Davenport,  Indian  traders  at 
Rock  Island,  $40,000,  to  satisfy  their  claims  against  the  Indians;  (3)  grants 
of  land  to  Antoine  Leclaire,  Indian  interpreter,  comprising  two  sections  op- 
posite Rock  Island  and  at  the  head  of  the  first  rapids  above;  (4)  Black  Hawk 
and  Ins  two  sons,  the  Prophet,  his  brother  and  two  sons,  and  other  head  men 
"to  be  held  as  hostages  for  the  future  good  conduct  of  the  late  hostile  tribes, 
(hiring  the  pleasure  of  the  president  of  the  United  States."'  This  treaty  was 
signed  by  the  marks  of  nine  of  the  Sauk,  including  Keokuk,  and  by  twenty- 
four  of  the  Foxes. 

1834 — Land  offices  were  established  al  .Mineral  Point  and  Green  Bay.  Wis. 
The  first   public   land  sale  was  held   at    .Mineral  Point. 

Leonard  Andrus  makes  claim  to  the  site  of  the  present  village  of  Grand 
Detour,  111. 


734  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Name  of  post  office,  Ogee's  Ferry,  changed  to  Dixon's  Ferry. 

In  June  of  this  year  Hezekiah  Brink  builds  the  first  log  hut  in  what  is 
now  the  First  ward  of  Sterling,  111. 

On  August  24th,  Germanicus  Kent  and  Thatcher  Blake  arrive  from  Galena 
on  the  future  site  of  Rockford,  111. 

1835 — Dr.  Thomas  Baker  settles  in  town  of  Colona,  111.,  April  8th,  being  the 
pioneer  of  Henry  County. 

First  settlers  at  what  afterward  became  Belvidere,  111.,  locate  on  the  banks 
of  the  Kishwaukee  River. 

In  August,  Ebenezer  Peck  and  others,  of  Chicago,  take  up  claims  in  what 
is  now  North  Belvidere.  Town  platted  and  named  after  Mr.  Peck's  native 
place  in  Canada. 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year  Stephen  Mack  founds  Macktown,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Pecatonica,  Winnebago  County,  111.     It  afterward  became  Rockton. 

Caleb  Blodgett  of  Vermont  first  permanent  settler  at  Beloit,  Wis. 

On  June  8th,  Stephenson  (Rock  Island)  selected  as  the  seat  of  justice  of 
Rock  Island  County. 

John  Inman,  of  Lucerne  County,  Pa.,  and  William  Holmes,  of  Ohio,  journey 
from  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  and  (November  18th)  locate  opposite  the  Big  Rock, 
being  the  first  settlers  upon  the  site  of  Janesville  and  the  pioneers  of  Rock 
County,  Wis. 

1836 — The  Territory  of  Wisconsin  was  organized  April  20th,  by  act  of 
Congress.  Henry  Dodge  was  appointed  governor,  and  on  July  4th  territorial 
organization  was  completed  with  John  S.  Horner  of  Virginia  as  secretary. 
The  new  officers  were  sworn  in  at  Mineral  Point,  then  the  largest  town  in 
the  territory.  On  November  24th,  the  embryonic  Madison,  Judge  Doty's  town, 
was  chosen  the  capital.  Dane  County  created  December  7,  1836,  and  Madison 
named  as  its  seat  of  justice. 

1836 — Thomas  Ford,  while  serving  as  circuit  judge  for  the  northern  part 
of  Illinois,  settles  in  Oregon,  111.     Several  years  later  he  became  governor. 

The  legislative  act  of  January  16th  provides  for  the  organization  of  Mc- 
Henry,  Winnebago,  Kane,  Ogle  and  Whiteside  counties  and  the  reorganization 
of  Jo  Daviess  County,  111.  Winnebago  County  derives  its  name  from  the 
Indian  tribe  by  that  name;  Ogle,  from  Captain  Joseph  Ogle,  a  brave  Revolu- 
tionary soldier,  and  Whiteside,  from  General  Whiteside,  a  famous  Indian  fighter 
and  prominent  in  the  Black  Hawk  war. 

Charter  of  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railroad,  January  16,  1836 ;  first 
railroad  in  Rock  River  Valley. 

In  June  of  this  year,  first  steamboat  ascends  the  Rock  River  as  far  as 
Janesville,  Wis, 

Rock  County,  Wis.,  formed  from  Milwaukee  County,  by  territorial  act  of 
December  7th  (1836).  Named  from  the  big  rock  on  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
an  Indian  landmark  formerly  located  within  the  present  limits  of  Janesville. 

1837 — A  treaty  was  made  by  Governor  Dodge  with  the  Menominee  Indians 
by  which  they  ceded  to  the  United  States  about  4,000  acres  in  Michigan  and 
Wisconsin.  After  refusing  to  treat  with  Dodge,  the  Winnebago  chiefs  were 
invited  to  Washington,  where  they  signed  a  treaty  ceding  all  their  Wisconsin 
lands  and  agreeing  to  move  from  the  territory. 


THE  ROCK   RIVEB  GALLEY  735 

Town  site  of  Madison,  Wis.,  was  surveyed  and  platted  and  the  first  capitol 
begun. 

Remnants  of  the  Sauk  and  Poxes  cede  the  last  of  their  lands  in  Eastern 
[owa,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  reservation  in  Davis  County,  and  with- 
draw to  a  reservation  in  Kansas 

One  of  the  first  corporations  to  be  formed  in  the  Roek  River  Valley  was 
the  Dixon  (111.)  Hotel  Company,  which  was  created  by  the  Illinois  General 
Assembly  during  the  year  1837.  The  building  got  as  far  as  the  foundation 
which  occupied  a  part  of  the  site  of  the  Xachusa  House  of  today. 

In  the  spring  (1837)  Henry  T.  and  Edward  Janes,  from  Laporte,  Ind., 
settled  on  the  site  of  Janesville,  Wis. 

About  the  same  time  Geneseo,  Henry  County,  111.,  in  the  lower  Roek  River 
Valley,  was  platted  by  a  colony  from  Genesee  County,  N.  Y.,  of  whom  R.  R. 
IStewart,  of  Geneseo,  that  State,  was  the  leader. 

Creation  of  Boone  and  Stephenson  counties,  111.,  by  act  of  the  General 
Assembly  passed  March  4,  1837.  The  former  was  named  in  honor  of  the  famous 
frontiersman  and  the  latter  perpetuates  the  record  of  Colonel  Benjamin  Steph- 
enson, a  prominent  Illinois  figure  in  the  War  of  1812  and  one  of  the  ter- 
ritorial delegates  to  Congress. 

Murder  of  John  Campbell,  captain  of  the  regulators  of  Ogle  Count}7,  by 
a  member  of  the  notorious  gang  of  outlaws  known  as  the  Banditti  of  the 
Prairies,  at    White  Roek,  on  the  27th  of  June,  1837. 

Janesville  made  the  county  seat  of  Rock  County,  Wis.,  on  December  27,  1837. 

1838 — Congress  appropriated  land  to  endow-  the  University  of  the  Territory 
of  Wisconsin. 

John  Deere,  the  Vermont  blacksmith,  founds  his  plow  works  at  Grand 
Detour,  111. 

In  June  of  this  year  first  courthouse  completed  at  Rock  Island. 

Death  of  Black  Hawk,  at  his  reservation  in  Davis  County,  la.,  on  October 
3,   1838. 

1839 — East  and  West  Rockford,  111.,  incorporated  as  one  town,  on  April 
4th  of  this  year. 

Lee  County  created  February  27th;  named  in  honor  of  Light  Horse  Harry 
Lee  of  Revolutionary  fame. 

Corner  stone  of  Rock  River  Seminary  building  laid  at  Mount  Morris,  Ogle 
County,  111.,  July  4,  1839. 

Lyndon  declared  the  seat  of  justice  of  Whiteside  County,  111.,  September  23d. 

1840 — First  courthouse  of  Stephenson  County  completed. 

Land  office  moved  from  Galena  to  Dixon. 

1841 — First  frame  courthouse  completed  in  Janesville,  east  side  of  the  Rock 
River  in  the  Third  Ward. 

By  legislative  act  of  February  27th  the  name  of  the  town  of  Stephenson 
changed  to  Rock  Island. 

Sterling  made  the  seat  of  justice  for  Whiteside  County  in  June  of  this  year. 

1842 — Town  of  Beloit  chartered  by  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wisconsin 
on  February  17th. 

Stephen  Mack  builds  the  first  bridge  across  the  Rock  River  in  Illinois  at 
Macktown    (Rockton),  111. 


736  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

1843 — First  courthouse  completed  at  Belvidere,  Boone  County,  111. 

Moline   (Milltowii),  111.,  platted  on  June  6th. 

Cambridge,  Henry  County,  111.,  platted  June  9th. 

Margaret  Fuller's  visit  to  Ogle  County,  111.,  summer  of  1843. 

1845 — Colonel  George  Davenport  murdered  at  his  residence  on  Rock  Island, 
July  4th. 

First  dam  completed  at  Rockford,  111.,  in  autumn  of  the  year. 

Seminary  located  at  Rockford  by  trustees  of  Beloit  College,  in  December, 
1845. 

1846 — The  people  of  Wisconsin  voted  in  favor  of  a  State  Government, 
Congress  passed  the  enabling  act,  and  the  first  Constitutional  Convention  opened 
at  Madison,  October  15th  of  this  year. 

Charter  of  Beloit  College  approved  by  governor  of  "Wisconsin  territory, 
February  2d  of  this  year. 

1847 — Rockford  Seminary  chartered  on  February  25th. 

The  first  Wisconsin  constitution  rejected  by  popular  vote,  April  5th.  The 
second  Constitutional  Convention  convenes  at  Madison,  December  15th. 

John  Deere  moves  his  plow  works  from  Grand  Detour  to  Moline. 

Convention  at  Rockford,  on  January  7th,  to  promote  the  building  of  the 
Galena  &  Chicago  Union,  at  which  were  representatives  from  the  counties  of 
Cook,  DeKalb,  McHenry,  Rock,  Ogle,  Boone,  Lee,  Kane,  Stephenson,  Winne- 
bago and  Jo  Daviess. 

Rockford  Seminary  chartered  February  25,  1847. 

1848 — The  second  constitution  of  Wisconsin  adopted  by  popular  vote  on 
.March  13th.  The  State  admitted  into  the  Union  under  act  of  Congress,  ap- 
proved May  29th. 

Mount   Morris   village,   111.,   incorporated,   January   8th. 

1849 — The  construction  of  the  Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  Railroad  begun. 

Anna  P.  Sill  opens  Rockford  Female  Seminary  as  a  preparatory  school 
on  June  11th. 

Wisconsin  Academy  for  the  Education  of  the  Blind  established  at  Janes- 
ville  in  the  fall  of  this  year;  one  of  the  first  benevolent  institutions  to  be 
founded  by  the  new  State  of  Wisconsin. 

1851 — Private  school  of  Anna  P.  Sill  recognized  by  Beloit  College  as  the 
preparatory  department  of  Rockford  Female  Seminary. 

The  first  State  Fair  in  Wisconsin  held  at  Janesville. 

1852 — First  city  election  at  Rockford,  111.,  on  April  19th. 

Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railroad  reaches  East  Rockford,  August  2d. 

Village  of  Pecatonica,  Winnebago  County,  111.,  platted  by  Thomas  D.  Rob- 
ertson and  John  A.  Holland. 

1853 — First  settlement  at  Roehelle   (Hickory  Grove),  Ogle  County,  111. 

Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  Railroad  completed  to  Madison. 

1854 — Kewanee,  Henry  County,  111.,  platted  on  either  side  of  the  Military 
Tract  (C.  B.  &  Q.  Railroad),  on  May  1st. 

1855 — Morrison,  Whiteside  County,  111.,  surveyed;  named  for  Charles  Mor- 
rison, a  New  York  merchant  and  a  friend  of  one  of  the  proprietors. 

Rev.  Stephen  Peet  dies  at  Beloit,  Wis.,  on  March  21,  1855 ;  widely  known 
Presbyterian  missionary  and  founder  of  the  Chicago  Theological  Seminary. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  PALLET  737 

Lurnin<r  <>f  Foci   Armstrong,  Rock  Island,  7th  of  October. 

]s.")i;     l.t-loit   incorporated  as  a  city. 

Janesville  connected  by  rail  with  Chicago. 

Firsl  locomotive  and  cars  of  the  old  Chicago  &  Rock  Island  Railroad  crossed 
the  wooden  bridge  (the  first  structure  to  span  the  Mississippi  River),  from 
Rock  Island,  111.,  to  Davenport,  la.,  on  April  21,  1856. 

Lincoln  delivers  a  speech  at  Oregon,  Ogle  County,  111.,  August  16,  1856. 
A  boulder,  dedicated  in  September,  1904,  marks  the  approximate  locality  where 
the  address  was  delivered. 

1857 — Town  of  Polo,  Ogle  County,  111.,  incorporated,  February  16th. 

Sterling,   Whiteside  County,  111.,  elects  first  city  officers  in  April. 

1858 — Freeport,  Stephenson  County,  111.,  was  the  only  place  in  the  Rock 
River  Valley  where  Lincoln  and  Douglas  met  in  debate,  in  the  fall  of  1858. 
In  the  historic  canvass  for  the  United  States  Senate  they  had  spoken  in  two 
of  the  congressional  districts  of  Illinois,  when  they  arranged  their  joint  debate, 
and  consequently  they  agreed  upon  seven  more,  for  the  remaining  districts 
of  the  State.  The  first  was  held  at  Ottawa,  LaSalle  County,  August  21st; 
the  second  at  Freeport,  August  27th.  A  massive  granite  boulder  marks  the 
historic  locality.  It  was  erected  and  inscribed  by  the  Freeport  Woman's  Club 
in  1902  and  dedicated  by  President  Roosevelt  in  the  following  year. 

1859 — Edward  V.  Whiton,  member  of  Wisconsin  Constitutional  Convention 
of  1M7  and  chief  justice  of  the  state,  died  at  Janesville,  Wis.,  April  12th  of 
this  year. 

1861 — First  regiments  for  the  Civil  war  to  be  mustered  into  the  service 
in  the  Rock  River  Valley,  under  the  Ten  Regiment  act,  on  May  24th — the 
Thirteenth  at  Dixon,  111.,  and  the  15th  at  Freeport,  111. 

Governor  Alexander  W.  Randall,  of  Wisconsin,  issued  a  proclamation  call- 
ing for  volunteers,  on  the  15th  of  April.  Thirty-six  companies  tendered  their 
services  within  one  week.  Sixteen  regiments  were  mustered  from  the  State 
during  the  year. 

1862 — On  April  19th,  Governor  Louis  P.  Harvey,  while  on  a  visit  to  the 
South  to  care  for  Wisconsin  soldiers  wounded  at  Shiloh,  was  drowned  in  the 
Tennessee  River. 

In  April,  about  700  Confederate  prisoners  were  received  at  Camp  Randall, 
Madison. 

By  act  of  Congress,  July  11th  of  this  year,  a  national  arsenal  was  located 
on  Rock  Island  and  $100,000  appropriated  for  buildings. 

1863 — First  permanent  building  of  national  arsenal  erected  at  west  end 
of  the  island,  as  a  storehouse.    Still  standing. 

First  commandant  of  arsenal,  Major  C.  P.  Kingsbury,  assumes  office  July 
27th. 

About  the  same  time  prisoners'  barracks  (military  prison)  built  for  con- 
federates. 

A  soldiers'  hospital,  named  in  honor  of  Governor  Harvey,  was  opened  in 
Madison  through  the  efforts  of  his  widow. 

1864 — Galena  &  Chicago  Union  consolidated  with  other  roads  (June  2d)  as 
the  Chicago  &  North- Western. 

1867 — Ex-Governor  Henrv  Dodge  died  on  the  19th  of  June. 


738  THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

Rock  Falls,  opposite  Sterling,  Whiteside  County,  111.,  founded  bjT  A.  P.  Smith. 

1872 — The  Wisconsin  Dairymen's  Association  was  organized  at  Watertown, 
with  "market  days"  established  for  the  meeting  of  buyers  and  sellers  of  Wis- 
consin cheese. 

Death  of  Alexander  W.  Randall,  Wisconsin's  first  war  governor,  on  July  26th. 

First  election  of  Moline  City,  111.,  officers,  on  August  6th. 

1874 — Collapse  of  the  Truesdell  bridge,  at  Dixon,  causing  the  death  of 
forty-three  persons. 

1875 — The  first  cotton  mills  in  the  State  established  at  Janesville,  Wis. 

1877 — Fall  of  the  Rockford  (111.)  courthouse,  on  account  of  defective  con- 
struction, on  the  11th  of  May,  causing  the  death  of  nine  and  the  wounding 
of  thirteen  persons. 

1878 — On  May  23rd,  a  cyclone  swept  through  Grant,  Iowa,  Dane,  Jeffer- 
son and  territory  farther  east.  Twelve  or  fifteen  persons  were  killed  and  there 
was  a  large  destruction  of  property. 

1879— Mt.  Morris  College   (111.)    opens  August  20th. 

1881 — First  train  over  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad  arrives 
at  Rockford,  111.,  November  21st. 

Death  of  United  States  Senator  Matt.  H.  Carpenter,  on  February  24th. 

1883 — Establishment  of  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  at  Madison 
under  the  auspices  of  the  State  University. 

1884 — Science  Hall,  State  University,  destroyed  by  fire  on  December  1st. 

1888 — First  train  over  the  Illinois  Central  from  the  east  to  reach  Rock- 
ford, 111.,  on  August  5th.     Passenger  depot  opened  at  the  same  time. 

1891 — Death  of  Lyman  C.  Draper,  secretary  of  the  Wisconsin  State  His- 
torical Society  from  1854  to  1886,  on  the  27th  of  August. 

1892 — Name  of  Rockford  Seminary  changed  to  Rockford  College,  in  June. 

Excavations  for  Hennepin  canal  at  western  end  commenced  at  Milan,  White- 
side County,  111.,  in  July. 

1893 — "Old  Sandstone,"  the  Rock  River  Seminary  building,  at  Mount 
Morris,  111.,  razed  in  1893,  and  Ladies'  Hall,  of  the  College,  erected  near  its 
site. 

1898 — Founding  of  the  Artists'  Colony,  at  Eagle's  Nest  bluff,  near  Oregon, 
Ogle  County,  111.,  by  Wallace  Heckman  of  Chicago.  More  than  a  decade  after- 
ward Lorado  Taft  created  the  great  statue  of  Black  Hawk  which  looms  above 
Eagle's  Nest  and  can  be  seen  majestically  standing  against  the  sky  for  many 
miles  up  and  down  the  Rock  River  Valley. 

Spanish-American  war:  Wisconsin  raised  and  equipped  four  regiments 
of  infantry  and  one  battery — 5,469  men  in  all. 

1899 — Third  and  Fourth  regiments  of  Wisconsin  infantry  mustered  out  of 
the  service,  in  January  and  February. 

(See  Chapter  XVI  for  participation  of  Illinois  regiments.) 

1900- — Dedication  of  the  new  State  Historical  Library  building  at  Madi- 
son, Wis.,  on  October  19th. 

1901 — Robert  M.  La  Fbllette  inaugurated  governor  of  Wisconsin  at  Madi- 
son.    He  was  the  first  native-born  executive  of  the  State. 

Death  of  Charles  Kendall  Adams,  former  president  of  the  State  Univer- 
sity, on  the  28th  of  July. 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLKY  739 

1!»03 — Chief  Justice  Orsamus  Cole,  of  Wisconsin,  died  on  .May  5th. 

1904 — On  June  5-9,  the  State  University  of  Wisconsin  celebrated  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  its  first  graduating  class,  and  Charles  R.  Van  Hise,  the  first 
alumnus  to  hold  the  presidency,  was  installed  into  office. 

A  large  part  of  the  State  capitol  at  Madison  was  burned  on  February  27th. 

1905 — Agitation  for  the  removal  of  the  State  capital  to  either  Oshkosh  or 
Milwaukee  was  put  at  rest  by  preliminary  appropriations  for  a  new  capitol. 

1906 — In  January  and  February,  destructive  ice  jam  presses  down  the 
lower  Rock  River  Valley  causing  special  havoc  at  Dixon  and  Sterling,  111. 

Old  Davenport  home  on  Rock  Island  restored  by  the  Rock  Island  Old  Set- 
tlers Association,  assisted  by  the  granddaughters  of   Colonel  Davenport. 

1907 — Legislative  appropriations  were  completed  for  a  new  capitol  at  Madi- 
son to  cost  ultimately  $6,000,000. 

Grand  celebration  of  the  completion  of  the  Hennepin  canal  at  Rock  Falls, 
on  the  24th  of  October. 

1908 — Death  of  former  United  States  Senator  and  Postmaster  General  Wil- 
liam F.  Vilas,  on  the  27th  of  August.  The  will  of  the  deceased  created  a 
trust  fund,  from  which  it  is  hoped  that  ultimately  $30,000,000  will  accrue  to 
the  Wisconsin  State  University. 

1912 — Dixon  State  Colony  for  Epileptics  chartered  by  the  General  Assembly. 

1913 — Rockford  experiences  destructive  tornado  and  cloud  burst  on  July 
8th.  The  city  was  in  the  direct  path  of  the  storm  and  the  loss  to  property 
was  estimated  at  $100,000.     There  was  no  direct  loss  of  life. 

Death  of  Reuben  G.  Thwaites,  secretary  and  superintendent  of  the  Wis- 
consin State  Historical  Society  for  twenty-six  years,  on  the  22nd  of  October, 
this  year. 

Great  fire  at  Janesville,  Wis.,  on  April  1st,  entailing  a  loss  of  $300,000. 

(For  participation  of  the  Rock  River  Valley,  as  a  whole,  in  the  World  war, 
see  Chapter  XVI.) 

1914-18 — During  the  period  that  the  United  States  was  involved  in  the 
World  war,  the  most  notable  manifestation  of  its  activities  in  the  Rock  River 
Valley,  and  one  of  the  greatest  in  the  United  States,  was  centered  in  the  national 
arsenal  at  Rock  Island.  From  August,  1914,  to  November,  1918,  which  cov- 
ered that  period,  the  employees  of  the  arsenal  increased  in  number  from  nearly 
2,000  to  15,000,  and  a  great  city  of  new  buildings  arose  to  carry  on  the  un- 
precedented production  of  war  materials  and  arms.  Perhaps  the  most  important 
production  was  in  rifles,  of  which  nearly  114,000  were  manufactured.  Heavy 
ordnance  stores,  harnesses,  bacon  cans,  knives,  canteen  covers,  haversacks,  pack 
carriers,  and  dozens  of  other  articles  needed  in  the  equipment  of  the  American 
and  European  soldier,  were  turned  out  of  the  great  Rock  Island  Arsenal, 
rightly  called  "war's  greatest  workshop."  More  than  $89, 000,000  was  spent 
of  the  government  appropriations  in  the  operation  of  the  vasl  industry,  and 
the  employees  of  the  arsenal  showed  their  patriotism  by  subscribing  $4,000,000 
for  bonds  and  war  charities. 

1918 — Death  of  Charles  R.  Van  Bise,  famous  geologist  and  president  of 
the  University  of  Wisconsin,  on  November  19th. 

Death  of  William  I).  Hoard,  of  Fort  Atkinson,  ex-governor  and  founder 
of  Hoard's  Dairyman,  on  November  22nd. 

Vol.   1—47 


740 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 


1919 — State  Department  of  Public  Welfare  adds  the  Colony  for  the  Feeble 
Minded  to  the  State  Colony  for  Epileptics  at  Dixon,  111. 

Friends  of  Our  Native  Landscape  appoint  a  special  committee  to  investi- 
gate such  lands  as  are  worthy  of  preservation.  Since  that  year  the  committee 
has  completed  its  survey  and  recommends,  in  an  illustrated  pamphlet,  that 
certain  areas  be  preserved  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  of  Lee,  Ogle  and  Winne- 
bago counties,  111.,  as  well  as  the  white  pine  forest  tract  in  Ogle  County.  The 
special  section  in  the  Rock  River  Valley  indicated  is  that  between  Oregon  and 
Dixon,  generally  known  as  the  Grand  Detour  region.  At  that  village,  midway 
between  Oregon  and  Dixon,  the  Rock  River  takes  a  great  bend  and  returns 
to  within  half  a  mile  of  its  southern  course. 

The  white  pine  tract  in  Ogle  County  is  nine  miles  from  Oregon  and  seven 
from  Polo.  It  is  said  to  be  the  southernmost  extension  of  white  pine  in  this 
section  of  the  United  States,  and  the  recommendation  of  the  committee  there- 
fore is  that  the  tract  be  reserved  as  a  State  Forest. 

Death  of  Ella  Wheeler  (Wilcox),  a  native  of  Lake  Mills,  Wisconsin,  Oc- 
tober 30th  of  the  year  named. 

1924 — In  June,  contracts  let  and  work  begun  on  low-head  hydro-electric 
plant  at  Dixon,  to  be  built  by  the  Illinois  Northern  Utilities  Company  at  a 
cost  of  at  least  $500,000. 

1924 — Defeat  of  Robert  M.  La  Follette,  Wisconsin's  first  candidate  for  the 
presidency.  He  carried  his  own  State  by  a  majority  of  73,968  over  Coolidge 
and  Davis,  and  a  plurality  over  Coolidge  of  14,264. 

1925 — Death  of  La  Follette  on  June  18th  of  this  year. 


MAIN  STEEET,  JUNEAU 


INDEX 


Abundant  evidences  of  prehistoric  occupancy, 
25. 

Adams.  ( 'a ]>t.  John  G.,  113. 

Advance  against    Black    Hawk's  town,   88. 

Agricultural   facts,    [920    census,    by   counties, 
244. 

Agricultural   wealth   of   the  Valley,    243. 

Albany  and  Erie,  652. 

Alden  on  Wisconsin  geology,  18. 

Alexander,  Col.  Milton  K.,  86. 

Allouez   held  Foxes  stingy,   thieving,  42. 

Allouez   impressed   by    Illinois   and    Pottawa- 
tomie, 41. 

Also  "Dad  Joe"  Smith,  609. 

Ambush  at  Kellogg's  Grove,   121. 

"Amusement,"  the  murder  of  a  few  captives 
a  day,  45. 

Anderson,  Lieut.  Robert,  108. 

Anderson,  Mrs.  K.  T.,  143. 

Andrus,  Leonard,  570. 

Another  developmental  year,  1850,  553. 

Ant i  Democratic    sentiment    in    Ogle    County, 
191. 

Appeals  to  Governor  Reynolds,  82. 

Appellate  courts.  Second  district   Valley  resi- 
dents who  have  served   in,   276. 

Armstrong,  Perry  A.,   100. 

Army  hot   on  Indian    trail,   126. 

Army  resumes  advance  up   Valley,  125. 

Arrangement  for  Lincoln-Douglas  debates  of 
1858,  210. 

Arsenal  at  Rock  Island,  facts  about,  713. 

Arsenal    commandants    prior    to    World    war, 
708. 

Arsenal,  pen  picture  of,  720. 

Arsenal  water  power,  since   IS66,  719. 

Artiste'    Colony    near    Oregon,    The,    581. 

As  an   agricultural   county,  679. 
Lets   in   founding  Galva,   070. 
<  Kit  inns   i  1,'iN-k    [aland.),  697. 

Atkinson,  General,  103. 

Attempt   tn    restore    Horicon    Marsh,   252. 

Attempts  to  locate  hostile  [ndians,  125. 
Atwood.   David,  342. 

Angustana  College  and  Theological  Seminary, 
321,    684. 

Allgllstana   Synod  organized,  f>86. 
Automobile  lines,   239. 


B 


Bailey,  Maj.  David,  104. 
Bailey,  Joseph   M.,  276,   289. 


Baker,  E.  D.,  189. 

Hall  game   big  Indian  sport,  29. 

Ball  game   dance,  30. 

Banditti   of  the   prairies,    The,   477. 

Eanks,  Moline's,  726. 

Hanks  of  Beloit,  421. 

Banks  of  Dodge  County,  264;  of  Rock  Coun- 
ty, 266;  of  Dane  County,  268;  of  Jefferson 
County,  268;  of  Winnebago  County,  270; 
of  Stephenson  County,  270;  of  Boone  Coun- 
ty, 272;  of  Ogle  County,  272;  of  Lee 
County,  272;  of  Whiteside  County,  273; 
of  Henry  County,  273;  of  Rock  Island 
County,    274. 

Banks  of  the  Valley  today,  264. 

Baraboo   Air  Line,    224. 

Barbour,  James  J.,  305. 

Bashford,   Robert  M.,  281. 

Battle  of  Campbell's  Island,  65. 

Battle   of  Wisconsin   Heights,   The,   126. 

Beall,  Major,  108. 

Bear,  Raccoon,  Muskrat  skins,  33. 

Beaver  Dam,  Waupun  and  other  Dodge  Coun- 
ty cities,  310. 

Hi  aver  skins,  33. 

Beauties  of  Rock  Island  section,  14. 

Beeswax,   feathers,    tallow,   33. 

Beginnings    of    Augustana    College,    684. 

Beginnings    of    dairying — Emery,    246. 

Belief  in  manitous,  37. 

Bell,   John,  21 +. 

Beloit  Banks,  421. 

Beloit  College,  310;  history  of,  402. 

Beloit  Free  Press  and  Round  Table,  342. 

Beloit 's  part  in  war,  422. 

Belvidere  and  the  county  buildings,  170. 

Belvidero  of  the  present,  536. 

Belvidere  precinct,  father  of  county,  528. 

Belvidere  settled,  528. 

Belvidere  under  corporate  form,  534. 

Bench  and  Bar  of  the  Valley,  27"). 

Benevolent  orders,  etc    (Rock  Island),  697. 

Bennett,    John    R.,    284. 

Pent.   Charles,   352;    and   the    Sentinel,   650. 

Bigelow,    Hiram,   276. 

Birth  and  early  manhood  of  Black  Hawk,  54. 

Birth  and  growth  of  the  Register-Gazette, 
346. 

Hlack  Hawk  on  life  of  Rock  River  Indians, 
28;  on  lovers'  tragedy,  30;  at  close  of 
Revolution,  55;  defeats  Osages,  56;  heir 
to  medicine  bag,  56;  turns  his  back  on 
Americans,  57;  disclaimed  treaty  of  1804, 
59;  fails  to  carry  Ft.  Madison,  61;  war, 
61;    joins    British,    62;    and    Keokuk    con- 


741 


742 


INDEX 


trasted,  62;  eager  to  attack  Taylor,  67; 
confirms  treaty  of  1804,  71;  Flitting 
Shadows  of,  81;  not  in  fear  of  regular 
soldiers,  86;  wrenched  with  conflicting 
emotions,  90;  finally  signs  treaty,  93; 
failed  to  appear  at  Bock  Island,  93;  com- 
ments on  U.  S.  move,  97 ;  in  last  attempt 
to  break  Keokuk's  power,  100;  delivers 
fiery  oration,  100;  recrosses  Mississippi, 
102;  would  protect  Gratiot,  105;  news  of 
his  location,  109;  battling  and  battering, 
110;  routs  Stillman's  command,  112;  with 
500  warriors  against  3,000,  114;  springs, 
118;  repulsed  from.  Apple  Eiver  fort,  122; 
pursued  by  Henry  and  Dodge,  126;  only 
decisive  defeat  of,  129;  in  keeping  of 
Keokuk,  133;  last  days  of,  134;  buried 
in  suit  given  by  President  Jackson,  136; 
fed  at  Dixon's,  150;  war  and  politics,  179; 
war  made  political  fortunes,  180 ;  Statue, 
by  Dorado  Taft,  582.;  on  building  of  fort, 
702, 

Black  Hawk's  watch  tower,  14,  27,  31,  55, 
142. 

Black  Hawk's  crushing  defeat,  131;  Village, 
142. 

Blackwell,  Bobert,  114. 

Blake,  Thatcher,  466. 

Bliss  and  St.  Vrain  demand  surrender  to 
government  of  Indian  leaders,  97. 

Bloody  Indian  reprisals,  96. 

Bloomington   Convention,    The,    204. 

Boards  abolished,  186. 

Boles,  John,  shortens  route,  146. 

Boone  County,  Illinois,  526;  extended  west- 
ward, 531 ;  never  had  county  seat  fight, 
169;  among  first  counties  to  adopt  town- 
ship system,   171. 

Bouquet,  Henry,  51. 

Bovay,  Alvan  E.,   200. 

Bovay  initiated  movement  for  organizing,  and 
named  the  party,   201. 

Boyd,   Charles  S.,  149. 

Boy  takes  message  to  Galena,  124. 

Bradwell,  Myra,   292. 

Brazell,  Christopher  M.,  290. 

Breckenridge,   John   C,  214. 

Bridge  construction  era  starts,  231. 

Brigadier  General  Geo.  W.  Burr,  715. 

Browne,  J.  Stanley,   346. 

Brown,  William,  289. 

Brundage,   Edward   J.,   304. 

Bryant   on  Bock   River,   14. 

Bryant,  William  Cullen,  14,  293. 

Buckmaster,    Maj.    Nathaniel,    87. 

Buffalo  Grove  Half-way  Station  to  Mines, 
572. 

Buffalo  Grove  post  office   and  village,  573. 

Buffalo    Grove   precinct,    The,    157. 

Building  courthouse   (Boone)   slow,  171. 

Building  of  Fort  Armstrong,  700. 

Building  of  dam   and   early  mills,   C21. 

Building   of   Fort    Armstrong,    72. 

I'.m'bank,    Lieut.    Sidney,    107. 


Burchard,  Horatio  C,  559. 
Burlington  Boute,   The,  228. 
Burr,    Brig.    Gen.    Geo.    W.,    715. 
Butterfield    on   Nicolet,    41. 
Byron   and   adjacent   region,   598. 


C 


Gahokias,  40. 

Calumet  dance  most  important  religious  cere- 
mony, 37. 

Cambridge  Chronicle,   354. 

Cambridge,  the  county  seat,  660. 

Campaign  in  Winnebago  County,  The,  190. 

Campaign  of  1856,   The,  206. 

Campaign  of  1860,   The,  213. 

Campbell  couldn't  take  advice,  65. 

Campbell  murdered,   294. 

Canadian    Settlement,    The,    586. 

Cane  from  Henry  Clay  buried  with  Black 
Hawk,  136. 

Captain  Carver  and  the  Sauk,  52. 

Captain  Wilson  introduced  ferry  alarms,  220. 

Capture  and  journey  of  Hall  Sisters,  117. 

Carlin    called    special    session,    186. 

Carl   Sehurz   enters   journalism,    343. 

Carpenter,    Matthew   H.,    283. 

Cartwright,   James  H.,   276,  289. 

Cartwright,    Rev.    Barton   H.,   289. 

Carver,  Capt.  Jonathan,  51,  52 ;  publishes  a 
book,  53;    and  model  Sauk  village,  53. 

Carving  of  Boone  County  from  Winnebago, 
167. 

Casey's  horse  wounded,  124. 

Cassoday,   John   B.,   281,   284. 

Castle  Rock,  11. 

Catfish  River,  6. 

Catlin  on  Indian  ball  game,  29. 

Cedarville,  553. 

Census  (1920)  facts  and  figures,  agricultural, 
243. 

Census  (1920)  figures  on  products,  wages, 
wage-earners,   256. 

Cereals,   by  counties,   245. 

Change  in  county  organization,  534. 

Chequamegon   bay,    41. 

Cherry  Valley,  523. 

Chicago   &  Great  Western,   The,   226. 

Chicago  &  Milwaukee  R.  R.,  224. 

Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ry.   Co.,  224. 

Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  R.  R.,  228. 

Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul,  The,   224. 

Chicago,  St.  Paul  &  Fond  du  Lac  R.  R.  Co., 
223. 

Chief  Justice  Whiton  and  the  Glover  deci- 
sion,   215. 

Chiefs  signing  treaty   in   1816,   71. 

Chiefs  who  signed   treaty    (1831),    94. 

Children's    Home,    519. 

Cholera   and    gold    fever,   The,   667. 

Cholera  in  1850-52,  555. 

Chronology,    1881-1925    (Rockford),   508. 

Chronology  of  Dane  Comity,  44i>. 

Chronology    relating    the    Valley,    72S-740. 


IXDKX 


743 


(  lunch.  I  baa   A..   190. 

Church  History,  Beloit,  400. 

Church,  Judge  S.  M.,  214,  290. 

Churches  and  BchoolB  of  Henry  County,  660. 

Churches  and  Societies,  Moiine,  7  l.'  < ; . 

Churches  of  Buffalo  Grove  and  Dixon,  333. 

Churches  of  the  Valley,  The,  323. 

Circuit  cmrts  and  judges,  The,   276. 

Circuit  judges  of  Winnebago  County, 

(  ity   of    !  .  The,   674. 

Madison,  444. 
City  of  Moiine,  The,  722. 

•  'ity   of  Morrison,  The,   645. 

City  of  tlic   present    (Moiine),   '-'>. 

i  ity   of   Watertown,   455. 

City    plan,   The,   519. 

Civilian   and    military    guard,    715. 

(larks  first  white  on    mainland,    14.'!. 

•  'lark    switched    Indian,    144. 

jes  of  mounds  in  Winnebago  County,  27. 

flay.   -  M..    LM4. 

Clinton,  423. 

t  oaJ  measures  rest,  22. 

Colo.    Cyrenus,    63. 

Cole.  Oraamus,  281. 

Collapse  of  the  campaign,  105. 

Collapse  of  the  internal  improvement  sys- 
tem,   184. 

I  ollege  war  spirit.   The,   370. 

Col.    Henry   Gratiot's   narrow    escape,   105. 

Coining  of  railroads,  The,  636. 

Coming  of  the  Norwegians,  550. 

Command   routed   by  Black   Hawk,   112. 

Commencement  of  county  seat  fight,  632. 

Commission   to  locate  seat   of  justice,   17'.'. 

Commissioners '  government  abandoned  in  Il- 
linois, 175. 

Commissioners,  Lee  County,  173. 

Comparative  dairy  strength  of  Jefferson 
County,  461. 

Conferences   with  the   Prophet,   90. 

Congregationalists,  Baptists  and  other  de- 
nominations, 327. 

Congressional  representatives  from  Bock 
River  Valley,  198. 

Congress  sold  part  of  Island,  706. 

Connecting  Edwin  A.  Olson,  U.  S.  District 
Attorney,  673. 

Constitutional  convention  of  1847,  195. 

Constitution  ratified,   1848,   197. 

Construction  basis  laid  by  Generals  Rodman 
and  Flagler,  708. 

Contact  and  clash   of  races,  39. 

'on test  over  location  of  county  seat,  469. 

Cooke,  George  A.,  276. 

Corn,  oats  and  fodder  crop-,  244. 

i  on  was  staff  of  life,  34. 

Counties  organized  and  stabilized,  155. 

County  buildings    (Whiteside   Co.),   646. 

County  of  Dane  created,  178,  440. 

County  rule  of  commissioners'  court,  619. 

County  seat  and  courthouse  at.  Stephenson, 
682. 

County  seat  contestants,  166. 


( tounty  -i -at   located    i  Boone  '  '<>.,> ,  531. 

Course    of    the    Valley    in    Wisconsin,    6. 

Courthouse  (Boone  Co.),  completed,  531. 

Courthouse   completed    (Bockford),   507. 

(nil. tree,   John   !>.,   276,   289. 

Crawfish    River,    8. 

(  nation   of  a  state  park,   The,   12. 

Creation  of  Boone  County,  530. 

Creation    of    Old    Winnebago    County,    161. 

Crop    acreage,   Rock    County,   438. 


D 


I 'airy    section    of    northwestern    Illinois,    246. 

Dairy  figures  for   1923    (Wis.),   249. 

Dairy  State,   The  premier,  246. 

Dakota,  557. 

lane  County,  agriculturally,  445. 

Dane  County  overshadowed  by  state  politics, 

216. 
Dane  County,  Wisconsin,  439. 
Dane,  Nathan,  178. 
Danforth,    Col.    J.    B.    and    the   Rock    Island 

Argus  and  Union,  354. 
Data    on    the    Valley,    728-740. 
Davenport   and   his   trade,   145. 
Davenport,  George,  72,  100,  143. 
Davenport,  George  L.,  72. 
Davenport  vs.  Clark,   143. 
Davis,  557. 

Davis,   First  Lieut.   Jefferson,   108. 
Davis,  William,  116. 
Davison,  Charles  M.,  282. 
Deacon,  Tyrrell,  204. 
Death  of  Father  Dixon,   624. 
Death   knell   of   organized   crime,   304. 
Dedication   in  1880,   581. 
Deer   skins,   33. 
Deere,   John,   571. 
Delegates  from  valley   counties,   197. 

gates  to  Bloomington  convention,  205. 
Delegation  from  Roek  River  Valley,   195. 
Demands  of  the  Spanish- American  war,  710. 
Dement,   Maj.   John,   124. 
Democratic   Jefferson   County,   217. 
Democrats  father  convention  system,  180. 
Donkmann  Memorial  Library,  The,  690. 
Detroit  massacre  far  from  end  of  Foxes,  45. 
Developmental  agencies,  240. 
Development  of  Belvidere,   The,   533. 
Development    of   creameries,   458. 
I  development   of   Mt.    Morris   College,    592. 
Development  of  present   Rock  Island,   683. 
De  Villiers  would  murder  all   Foxes,   48. 
Difficulties  in  organizing  volunteer  army,  86. 
Disturbances  in   lead   district,  122. 
Dixon,   258. 

Dixon  Collegiate  Institute,  318. 
Dixon,   James  P.,   297. 
Dixon,  John,  147,  206. 
Dixon,  located  as  county  seat,   173. 
Dixon  of  the  present,  The,  626. 
Dixon  political  seat  of  Lee  County,  618. 
Dixon's  Ferry   in  1836-38,   617. 


744 


INDEX 


Dixon,  Sherwood,  founder  of  prominent  law 
firms,    297. 

Dixon  Telegraph  and  other  Lee  County  pa- 
pers, 350. 

Dodge  and  volunteers  to  Hustisford,  119. 

Dodge  County  also  taken  from  Milwaukee, 
176. 

Dodge  County  as  a  whole,  450. 

Dodge    County,    Wisconsin,    446. 

Dodge,   General,   115. 

Dodge  made  governor  by  President  Jackson, 
177. 

Doty,  Elisha,  146. 

Doty,   James   Duane,    177. 

Double-headed   county   seat,   658. 

Douglas  and  Lincoln,  Illinois  leaders,  207. 

Douglas  had  everything  to  lose,  nothing  to 
gain,  210. 

Douglas  opens  his  campaign,  210. 

Douglas  splits  with  Buchanan,   208. 

Douglas,   Stephen  A.,   182. 

Drainage  unsystematic,   7. 

Dred  Scott  decision  withheld,  209. 

Driseolls  shot,  295. 

Driven  ashore  by  winds,  65. 

Drury,   Judge    J.   W.,   300. 

Duncan,   Hon.    Joseph,   86,   104. 

Dunwiddie,  B.   F.,   284. 

Durand,  523. 

Dutoher  named  county  for  Light  Horse  Harry 
Lee,  173. 

Dwight  Foster  public  library,   460. 


E 


Eagle's  Nest,  Ganymede's  Spring  and  Mar- 
garet Fuller  Island,   580. 

Earliest   officials,   see  under  counties. 

Early  church  history,  "Winnebago  County,  482. 

Early  churches  in  Bock   County,  324. 

Early  county  organization,  469. 

Early  efforts  at  improved  transportation, 
476. 

Early   elections,   479. 

Early  lawyers  in  Lee  County,  296. 

Early  manufactures    (Beloit),    399. 

Early  progress  in  Moline  and  Rock  Island, 
321. 

Early  Protestant  churches  of  Rock  Island, 
337. 

Early  religious  bodies  organized,   335. 

Early  schools,  Jefferson  County,  454. 

Early  stage  routes  and  hotels,  473. 

Early    State   Street   in   Beloit,    398. 

Early  steamboats  and   ferries,  218. 

Early  villages  of  Whiteside  County,  638. 

East    Moline,    727. 

Eckels,  James  H.,  119. 

Pklitorial  representatives  from  Valley,  203. 

Educational  progress,  306. 

Education  in  Jefferson,  Ft.  Atkinson  and 
Watertown,  309. 

Edwards,  Ninian,  60. 

Ekorn,  Herman  L.,  282. 


Emery,  J.  Q.,  on  early  dairying  in  Wisconsin, 

246. 
Enrollment  doubles,  504. 
Enter  the  substantial  John  Dixon,  149. 
Epochal  year,    1837,   The,    547. 
Erie,    652. 

Eustace,   John  V.,  289,  298. 
Evansville,  434. 
Everett,    Dr.    Oliver,   620. 
Ewing,  Col.  John,  108. 
Explanation  of  clash  with  whites,  33. 
Expresses  from  Atkinson  sent  back,  103. 


F 


Factories   of   Beloit,   413-421. 

Facts    about  Sterling    and    Rock   Falls,    644. 

Facts  about  the  Valley,  chronologicallv,  728- 

740. 
Facts  and  figures  on  arsenal  production,  713. 
Famous  Dixon  Home,  The,  152. 
Famous  trial  of  the  banditti  of  the  prairies, 

293. 
Farmers'   institutes,   242. 
Farm    improvement    associations,    242. 
Father  Dixon,    the   Indian   trader,   610. 
Feathers,   beeswax,    tallow,   33. 
Ferries  at  Rock  River  crossings,  147. 
Fierce    assault    upon   Apple    River    fort,    123. 
Fired  upon  for  stealing  own  corn,  95. 
First  Baptist  church  of  Belvidere,  329. 
First  bridge  connecting  city  and  island,  230. 
First  call  to  farmers  of  Rock  County,  437. 
First  cheese  factory  in  Wisconsin,  248. 
First  definite  news  of  Black  Hawk 's  location, 

109. 
First   known   settlers    (Rock   Co.),    374. 
First  native  white  child  of  Valley,  72. 
First   newspaper    in    Whiteside    County,    639. 
First    officers  and   legislation,   530. 
First     private     execution     in     Rock     Island 

County,   304. 
First  public  land  sale  in  Winnebago  Countv, 

1839,   472. 
First   religious    services    in    the    Valley,    336. 
First    Republican    convention     in    Janesville, 

215. 
First    Rock    Island    County,    The,    160. 
First   schools   in   Madison,   308. 
First   settlement  of   Beloit,   392. 
First  settlement  of  Janesville,  376. 
First  settlers  of  Stephenson  County,  542. 
First  settlers  on  site  of  Rochelle,  594. 
First  steamboat  to  reach  St.   Louis,   219. 
First    systematic    water-power     development, 

256. 
First  teachers  and  schools  in  Lee  County,  317. 
First  temperance  paper  in  Wisconsin,  344. 
Fish  with  bows  and  arrows,  34. 
Five  forts  to  help  check  Black  Hawk,  107. 
Floor    mats    made    by   Squaws,    33. 
Fodder,  corn,  oats  crops,  244. 
Forbes'   army   advances  westward,   51. 


IXDKX 


745 


Ford,  Thomas,   276;    292;    estimate  of,   193; 

of  spy  battalion,  87. 
Forerunners  of  stability,   137. 
Formation   of   Jefferson    County,    152. 
Forsythe   letter   to  Governor  Clark,  81. 
Fori    (Armstrong)   evacuated,   703. 

Port    Atkinson,   City    of,  4.36. 

Port    Atkinson    Democrat,   460. 

Port   Chart  res,   50. 

Fort    Dearborn,  33. 

Fort   Duquesne,  50. 

Port  Edward,  51. 

Port   Frontenao  burned,  51. 

Port   .Wo  ssity,  50. 

Fort  Niagara  invested  by  British,  52. 

Fort   placed  in  custody,  703. 

Fort  William   Henry,  fall  of,  51. 

Foundation    laid    of    the    Chicago    &    North- 

western  system,  223. 
Foundation  of  Rockford  industries,  The,  482. 
Foundation  of  Wisconsin  system  (education), 

307. 
Founding  of  Mount  Morris,  588. 
Founders  of  the   Bishop  Hill  colony,  661. 
Four-gemmed   necklace  of  lakes,  4. 
Four  lakes  of  Madison,  The,  6. 
Fox   chiefs   spoke  to   the  point,  44. 
Fox  chiefs  signing  treaty  of  1831,  94. 
Fox    massacre   of   1730,   The,   47. 
Foxes    a-    mischief    makers,    43. 

Foxes   besieged  at  Butte  dee   Mortes,  45. 

Foxes    quarrel    with    neighbors,    43. 

Foxes,  Sauk,   Mascoutin  and  Kiekapoos  come 

to  Wisconsin,  31. 
Foxes  still    bar   the  French,  46. 
Preeport,    262. 

•  •it  and  Stephenson  County  institutions, 

315. 
Preeport    incorporated  as  a  town,  554. 
Preeport  of  today,  The,  562. 
Preeport  selected  as  county  seat,  546. 
Preeport'fl   growth   for   forty   years,    559. 
Free-state   men   declined   to   vote,   209. 
Fremont,  John  C,  206. 
French    allowed    "Christianized"   Indians    to 

kill  Foxes,  48. 
French  and  English  clash  in  Ohio  valley,  49. 
French,  Augustus  C,  197. 
French   form   Indian   alliance   against   Foxes. 

46. 
French  in  contact  with  Sioux  and  Illinois,  39. 
From  the  Black  Hawk  war  to  county  organ 

i/ation,    615. 
Frost.    Arthur   H.,   276,   289. 
Fuller,   Judge   Allen   C,   214,   277. 
Fuller,    Charles   E.,    289. 
Fuller,  Margaret,  577-580. 
Fulton  and  Edgerton,  428. 
Futile  compromise,  A,  634. 


Q 


Gaines    and     Reynolds    relieve    Indians'     dis- 
tress,   94. 


Gaines,  Gen.  E.  P.,  85. 

Galena  >*  Chicago   Union  Railroad,  The,  221. 

i  lame  abundant,  28. 

"Ganymede  to  Bis   Eagle,"  580. 

Gkarver,  John  C,  289. 

Genera]  Gaines  calls  a  council  at  Rock  Island, 
92. 

General    Henry,  hero  of  the  war,   131. 

General  shields,  203. 

Ceneseo  replaces   Richmond,  658. 

Geneseo  Republican,  .".54. 

Geological   origin — see  counties. 

Geology  of  Valley,  15  et  seq. 

Gest,  W.  H.,  276. 

Gilbert,   Frank   L.,  282. 

Gill,   Charles  R,,  282. 

Godfather  of  Stephenson  County,  The,  54'_\ 

Goodell,   Lavinia,    284. 

Governor  Ford's  description  of  Fort  Arm- 
strong, 702. 

Governor  Ford  spurns  repudiation,  193. 

Governor    Harvey's  war    work,    427. 

Grand   Detour   region,    The,   10. 

Gratiot's  narrow  escape,   105. 

Graves,    Emery   C,    276. 

Great  crops  of  corn,  oats,  fodder,  244. 

Great  Sauk  village,  The,  32. 

Great  variety  of  wild  animals,   24. 

Green  Bay,  Milwaukee  &  Chicago  R.  R.,  224. 

Grimm,  George,  282. 

H 

' '  Had  been  told.  Americans  could  not  fight, ' ' 
62. 

Hadley,  Charles  W.,  304. 

Hamilton    captured,    55. 

Hamilton   trains  six-pounder  on   entrance,  61. 

Hard  roads,   figures  on,  236. 

Harkness,   Mrs.   Maria,    147. 

Harney,   Wm.   8.,  108. 

Harrison,    William    Henry,    58. 

Hauberg,  John  H.,  55. 

Hazen,   Chester,   248. 

Heard,  Oscar  E.,  276. 

Ileaton,  William  W.,  298. 

Heavy  snow  blocked  trains,  204. 

Henry,   Col.   James  D.,   86. 

Henry    County    and    its    colonies,    320. 

Henry  County  churches — Kewanee,  336. 

Henry  County,  Illinois,  657. 

High  bluffs  around  Janesville  and   Beloit,  8. 

High   speed  and  maximum  production,  713. 

History  of  Beloit  college,  402. 

History  of  the  dairy   industries,  248. 

Hoard   interests.  The,  458. 

Hoard,  W.   D.,   248. 

Hoard's    Dairyman,    460. 

Holmes,  William,  175. 

Home   defense,   The,   367. 

Home  for  Aged   (Winnebago  County),  519. 

Hopkins,  James   C,   282. 

Hostiles  assembled   near  Dixon's  Ferry,   108. 

How  Judge  Ford,  of  Oregon,  became  gov- 
ernor, 192. 


746 


INDEX 


How  the  Freeport  Journal-Standard  came  to 

exist,  346. 
How  the  Valley  came  to  be,  15. 
Hubbard,  Gurdon  S.,  98. 
Huge  log  cabin  at  Springfield,  189. 
Hulett,  Alta  M.,  292. 
Hunter,   Maj.   Gen.  David,   189. 
Hurlbut,   Stephen  A.,  196,   291. 
Hyzer,   Edward,   284. 


Ideas   of  government,   36. 

Illinois   and  Michigan  canal   and  the   second 

Illinois  Central,  187. 
Illinois  &  Wisconsin  B,   B.   Co.,   223. 
Illinois  Central  line  in  the  upper  Eock  Elver 

Valley,  183. 
Illinois   confederacy,   40. 
Illinois  country  refuses  aid  to  Pontiac,  52. 
Illinois  in  the  Civil  war,  358. 
Illinois   leads  in   hard-surfaced   roads,   236. 
Illinois'  participation  in  the  World  war,  362. 
Illinois-  plank  roads,  233. 
Illinois  railroad  system,  228. 
Illinois  school  funds,   The,  312. 
Illinois  state  university  established,  686. 
Illinois  system  of  free  schools,  312. 
Illinois  the  state  champion  of  railroads,  182. 
Improvements  centering  in  Freeport,  1838-40, 

549. 
In  contact  with  the  Sauk  and  Foxes,  42. 
Incorporated  as  a  city   (Morrison),  645. 
Incorporated  as  a  village  (Dixon),  620. 
Incorporated  as  a  town  (Dixon),  621. 
Incorporators  of  canal  company,  220. 
Indian  allies  deserted  French,  52. 
Indian,  drunk,  wanted  to  fight,  144. 
Indian  mounds,  26. 
Indian  naturally  generous,  35. 
Indians  amiable,  honest,  hospitable,  38. 
Indians  eat  bark  of  trees,  129. 
Indians   cruel    to    captives,    36. 
Indians  fond  of  joke,  37. 
Indians  precede  Pilgrims  with   Thanksgiving 

day,  29. 
Indians   shoot  son   of   De  Villiers,  49. 
Indians  taught  self-reliance,  36. 
Indian  traders,  127. 

Indian  treaties  following  War  of  1812,  70. 
Industrial    Beloit    of    yesterday    and    today, 

413. 
Industries   and   banks,   255. 
Inlet  swamp  project,   The,  250. 
Inman,  John,  175. 
Institution    opened    in    Chicago     (Augustana 

college),  686. 
Insubordination  and  success,  129. 
In  the  secession  movement,  474. 
Isaac  Chambers  and  John  Ankney,  148. 


Jackson,    Andrew,   71. 

Jackson  talks  to  Black  Hawk,  133. 


Janesville  incorporated  as  a  city,  382. 

Janesville  in  the  Civil  war,  38o. 

Janesville   development,   378. 

Jansonists   leave   Scandinavia,   664. 

Jean  Nicolet  and   the   Winnebago,  40. 

Jefferson  County  Union,   The,  460. 

Jefferson  County  formed  in  1836,  176. 

Jefferson   County,  .Wisconsin,   452. 

Jenny  Lind  assists,   684. 

John  Dement,  of  Lee  County,  196. 

John  Phelps  and  Oregon  vs.  John  Dixon  and 

Dixon's  Ferry,  574. 
Johnston,  Albert  Sidney,  103. 
Jonathan  Carver  and  Model  Sauk  village,  53. 
Jones,  Burr  W.,  281. 
Jordan,  Col.  Harry  B.,  715. 
Journal-Standard,   The,  346. 
Judge  George  Grimm  on  judicial  conciliation, 

284. 
Judges  and  leading   lawyers   of  Eock  Island 

County,  300. 
Judges   of   election,   157. 
Judiciary   of   Illinois,    The,    276. 
Juneau,  Solomon,  33,  176. 


Kable  Brothers,  The,  348. 

Kane,  Kate,  284. 

Kaskaskias,  40. 

Kellogg  and  Bolles  trails,   The,   573. 

Kellogg,    Oliver   W.,    146,    220. 

Kemble,  John  C,  290. 

Kent,  Germanieus,  466. 

Keokuk  addressed  chiefs,  63 ;  and  the  Sauk 
at  Prairie  du  Chien,  78;  again  America's 
good  Indian  genius,  79 ;  and  Wapello  at 
council,  92;  asks,  "Why  do  you  not  let 
us  fight?"  97;  delivers  speech  that  blocks 
Black  Hawk  scheme,  101. 

Kewanee,  262,  674. 

Kewanee  newspapers  and  the  Star-Courier, 
353. 

Keynote  interior  county,  The,  604. 

Kiala,  Fox  chief,  a  scapegoat,  48. 

Kickapoos  on  Fox  Eiver,  32. 

King,  Angie,   284. 

King,   Col.   D.  M.,  716. 

Knodle  Brothers  found  Eock  Eiver  Eegister, 
347. 

"Know  that  the  Beynard  is  immortal,"  44. 


La  Follette,  Eobert  M.,  283. 

Lake   Koshkonong   reached   July   4,   125. 

Lake  Wingra,   8. 

Land   and   its  making,    The,   3. 

Land  grant  of  140,000  acres,  221. 

Landis,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  119. 

Land  office  moved  from  Galena  to  Dixon,  174. 

Lands  common  property.   35. 

Langlade,   Charles,   51. 

La  Porte,  Pierre,  73. 


IXDKX 


747 


La  Sallier  (La  Bailer),  73,  L38. 

Last  attempt  to  break   Keokuk's  power,  100. 

Last  days  of  the  Sank  warrior,  134. 

I. at haui,  Judge,  147. 

Lathrop,    William,   :290. 

Laws  of  the  colony,  The,  <>70. 

Lawyers   of  Whiteside   and    Henry   counties, 

298. 
Leaders  in  Rock  County,  early,  21 G. 
Lecompton  convention,   Tie',   208. 
Lee  Center   academy,    318. 
Le  Claire,  Antoine,   interpreter,  93. 
Lee  County,  604. 

Lee  County  as  a  supply  of  circuit  judges,  297. 
Lee  County,  last,  political  division  of  Valley, 

171. 
l.i  e    County    whigs    first    propose    Taylor    for 

president,  198. 
Legislative  districting,  198. 
Legislative   representation,    162. 
Leland,  Edward  S.,  292. 
Leverette   on   Illinois   formation,    18. 
Liberty   loans    and    other    contributions,    '.)*'>'>, 

369.' 
Library    and    institutions    (Eockford),    519. 

Col.  Daniel,  87. 
Lincoln,    Abraham,    108. 
Lincoln   in  Ogle  County,  206. 
Lincoln  prevents  murder   of  Indian,    120. 
Lincoln   was  last  speaker,   206. 
Little  Bear  adopts  St.  Vrain,  119. 
Lively  county  seat  contest  in  "Whiteside,  163. 
Live  stock  of  the  Valley,  The,  245. 
Live  stock  facts  and  figures,  by  counties,  244. 
Longfellow  on  four  lakes,  4. 
Long,  Maj.   S.   II.,  77. 
Looney,  John,  304. 
Loop,  James  L.,  291. 

Lorado  Taft's  statue  of  Black   Hawk,  582. 
Lutheranism    in    Winnebago    County,   320. 
Lyndon  again   to   the    front,   634. 
Lyndon   and    Tampico,   652. 


M 


McAdams,    Clark,   27. 

MoCulloch,   Catherine   Waugh,   292. 

Mack,  Stephen,  138,  570. 

Made  principal  chief  of  Sauk  nation,  63. 

Madison  a  natural  religious  center,   324. 

Madison  &  Beloit  R.  R.  Co.,  223. 

Madison    Express,   The,   341. 

Madison,    the    territorial    capital,     founded, 

176. 
Madison,   Wisconsin,  444. 
Madison's  first  newspaper,  341. 
Major  Long  expedition,   The,    77. 
Manlove,   Ja.mes   C,    290. 
Manufactories    of    Beloit,    413-421. 
Manufacturing  centers    of  Valley,   256. 
Manufacturing  growth  of  Rockford,  510. 
Margaret  Puller's  pen  picture,  12. 
Margaret  Fuller's  visit,  to  Oregon,  577. 
Marking    and    signing    highways,    238. 


Marquette,  JacqueB,  42. 

Martin,    Professor,    on    Sahara   river,    16. 

Maryland  colony,  The, 

Massacre  near  mouth  of  Bad  Axe,  129. 

Massacre  of  Foxes  ami  Mascouten,  4:;. 

.Masters,  Capt.  Robert,  176. 

Mats  carried  as  baggage,  35. 

Mats  handsome   and   durable,    33. 

Medicine  men  judge  ball  games,  30. 

Me  se,    William  A.,  205,  300. 

Meeting  at  Freeport,  The,  211. 

Members  of  the  Supreme  Court  from  the  Val- 
ley. 276. 

Memorial  Boulders,  585. 

Methodists    and    pioneer    parsonage,    326. 

Mexican    war   fought    and    won,    197. 

Mexican    war,    The,   357. 

Migration  of  Indians,  31. 

Military   personnel,  Rock  Island  post,  714. 

Military   prison,    The    (1863-5),   708. 

Miller,   Jacob,   190. 

Milton,  432. 

Milwaukee  &  Mississippi  R.  R.,   224. 

Milwaukee  &  Rock  River  canal  project,  220. 

Milwaukee  &  Waukesha  R,  R,  Co.,  224. 

Mink,  otter,  wildcat  skins,  33. 

Minor  points,  Rock  Island  County,  727. 

Missionaries  of  Whiteside  County  at  Propli- 
etstown,  334. 

Missionary  work  of  Rev.  Aratus  Kent  in 
Northwestern  Illinois,  330. 

Mitchigamies,    40. 

Moline,  258. 

Moline  as  a  corporation,  724. 

Moline  churches,   339. 

Moline   Dispatch,   The,   356. 

Moline  newspapers,   725. 

Moline  Water  Power  Co.,  706. 

Montgomery,  Col.  John,  55. 

Morrison,   Charles,   645. 

Morrison  Municipal  building,  648. 

Morrison  of  the  present,  646. 

Moses,  Judge  John,  on  convention  at  Bloom- 
ington,  204. 

Mounds  along  shores  of  Lake  Koshkonong, 
26. 

Mounds  on  Turtle  Creek,  26. 

Mount  Morris,  262. 

Murder  of  Col.   George  Davenport ;   301. 

Murder   of  Eric   Janson,   The,   668. 

Murder  of  St.  Vrain,   119. 

Museum,    The    (Augustana    college),   690. 

Muskrat,  bear,   raccoon   skins,  33. 

Muster  out  of  volunteers,  120. 

' '  My  duty  to  call  volunteers  to  move  In- 
dians,"  85. 

"My  reason  teaches  me  that  land  cannot  be 
sold,"   88. 

N 

Name  and  organization  of  Whiteside  County, 

631. 
Names  of  witnesses,  treaty  of  1831,  94. 
Xeap  ires  British   support,  101. 


748 


INDEX 


New  bridge  between  Bock  Island  and  Daven- 
port, 710. 

New   England   Emigration   Society,    393. 

New  Seminary  buildings,  The  (Augustana 
college),  692. 

Newspapers  and  banks,  Bock  Island,  722. 

Newspapers  of  Polo,  Oregon  and  Boehelle, 
349. 

New  stronghold  in  Mississippi  Valley,  698. 

Newton  academy,  314. 

New  volunteer  army   of  three  thousand,  121. 

Nogle,  David,  284. 

North  Dixon  and  the  Dixon  air  line,  622. 

Northern    Illinois    boundary    disturbs,    155. 

Northern  Illinois  foremost  in  founding  sys- 
tem, 313. 

Northern  Illinois  growing  in  political  in- 
fluence, 202. 

Northwestern  College  and  Jefferson  Institute, 
309. 

Notables  in  legislature   of  1836,  181. 

Notables  who  stopped  at  Dixon  cabin,  150. 

Noted  Bishop  Hill  murder,  The,  299. 

Noted  campaign   of    1840,    The,    187.  ' 

Noted   churches    of    Bock   Island,    336. 

Noted  figures  of  Bock  County  and  the  twelfth 
circuit,  284. 

Not  one   white  survived,  113. 

Now  comes    the  city   of   Dixon,    622. 

Nucleus  of  settlement,  A,  703. 


O 


Oats,  corn,  fodder  crops,  244. 

O'Connor,  James  L.,  282. 

Officers  elected  for  Bock  Island  County,  160. 

Officers   of   pursuit   expedition,   107. 

Ogden,  Wm.  B.,   223. 

Ogee,  Joseph,  147. 

Ogle  a  fine  live  stock  county,  601. 

Ogle    County,    568. 

Ogle  County   formed,   158,   575. 

Ohio   Company,    The,    50. 

Old  and  new  Henry   County,   165. 

Oldest  newspaper  in   the   Valley,   341. 

Old  Henry   County,   657. 

Old  Pottawatomie,   tired   and  hungry,   120. 

Olmstead,  Bobert  W.,  304. 

Olson  succeeds  Janson,  668. 

Oneco,   550. 

One  Hundred  Twenty-third  Heavy  Field  Ar- 
tillery,   364. 

One  of  the  largest  of  Swedish  Lutheran 
churches,  329. 

On  trackless   snow-covered  prairie,  76. 

Opposition  to  slavery  extension  in  Illinois, 
199. 

Orangeville,  550. 

Oregon  as  described   by   Colonel   Sheets,   577. 

Oregon  of  the  present,  584. 

Oregon  selected  as  county  seat,  575. 

Organization  of  Stephenson  County,  545. 

Organizers,   Dairymen 's  association,  248. 

Original  election  precincts,  546. 


Origin  of  republican  party,  199. 

Origin  of  the  waterways,  4. 

Orton,  Harlow  S.,  280. 

Other  cases  and  crimes,  304. 

Other  Madison  newspapers,   342. 

Other  newspapers  in  southern  Wisconsin,  344. 

Other   newspapers   of   Ogle   County,   348. 

Other  pioneers  of  Grand  Detour  region,  571. 

Other   religious  bodies,   325. 

Other  towns  of  Winnebago  County,  524. 

Other  villages,  436. 

Ottawa  appeared  obdurate,  42. 

Otter,   mink,   wildcat   skins,   33. 

Outside  of  Belvidere,  538. 

Outside  of  Kewanee,   676. 


Palmer,  John  M.,  206. 

Palmyra,   Wisconsin,   460. 

Panic  of  1857,   The,   560. 

Paper  town  of  Bansomberg,  The,  543. 

Parade,  scenes  of  east  fill  Black  Hawk  with 
awe,    134. 

Paw  Paw  Grove  and  villages,  616. 

Paxton  period,  The,  687. 

Pecatoniea,   520. 

Pecatonica  river,   7. 

Peck,   George   B.,   284. 

Peck,  George  W.,  344. 

Peck  once  on  Jefferson  County  Bepublican, 
344. 

Pen  picture  by  Margaret  Puller,   12. 

Pen  picture  of  present-day  arsenal,  720. 

People's  Power  Co.,  706. 

Peorias,  40. 

"Perfectionists,"    The,    599. 

Period   leading  to  Dixon 's   cityhood,   619. 

Permanent  settlers  and  settlements,  542. 

Persons,  places,  events,  in  the  Valley,  728-740. 

Physical  features  of  Boone,  526. 

Physical  Lee  County,   606. 

Picture  of  primitive  Indian  life,  34. 

Pierre  Laporte,  137. 

Pike,  Zebulon,  59;  the,  steamboat,  219;  de- 
scribed the  Bocky  Island,  700. 

Pine  Bock,  12. 

Pinney,  Silas  U.,   281. 

Pioneer  Agricultural  Society,   638. 

Pioneer  banks  in  Valley,  264. 

Pioneer  churches,  Jefferson  County,  454. 

Pioneer  churches  of  Grand  Detour  and  Ore- 
gon,   332. 

Pioneer  schools  of  Belvidere,  314. 

Pioneers  of  Jefferson  and  Hickoiy  Groves, 
594. 

Pioneer  steamboat  arrived  at  New  Orleans, 
219. 

Pioneer  Women   lawyers,   284. 

Pleasants,  G.   W.,  276. 

Plot  confessed,  62. 

Plow  City,  The,  723. 

Plow  works  established,  571. 

Polish   claims,    The,   479. 


INI)  E  X 


749 


Political  Dodge  County  and   its  leaders,  216, 

Political     evolution     of     Illinois      Bock     River 

Valley,  156. 
Politics  involved  with   internal   improvements 

plan,    185. 
Politics  of  Southern  Wisconsin,  The,  1214. 
Politics    prior  to  the  Civil   war,    179. 
Politics  since    1  Stil     (Winnebago    Co.),   515. 
Pontine  makes  peace  with   British,  52. 
Pontine  -s    War    of    L761  65,    52. 
PoqiK'tU',  Pierre,   Scout,    125. 
Port  Byron   publications,  356. 
Posey's  brigade  reaches  fort,  125. 
war  acti\  ities  |  arsenal) ,  716. 
Pottawatomi  at  GTeen   Hay,  31. 

Prairie,    with   timber   convenient,    23. 
Prehistoric  occupancy   shown,   25. 
Prehistoric    remains,   27. 
Present    status    and    molding    forces    (Augus- 

tana   College),   695. 
Present  status   i  Arsenal),   716. 

initial  elections  of  the   '50s,   181. 
President  Taylor  orders  sale  of  island,  705. 
Press   of  Belvidere,   The,   350. 
Press  of  the  Valley,  The,  340. 
Primitive    inhabitants   of    Valley,   24. 
Printing   and   publishing   house   of    the    Kable 

brothers.    348. 
Private   claim    to    water    power   not   contested, 

706. 
Proclaims  policy  of  non-resistance,  90. 
Progressive  dissolution,  671. 
Progressive    organization     of    the    townships, 

628. 
Prominence  of  the  Ilitts,  589. 
Prominent     men     from     mining     country     at 

Dixon  's  Perry,  109. 
Prophet    probably    induced    Black    Hawk    to 

commit    overt    act,   97. 
Prophet   saves  Gratiot,  106. 
Prophetstown,   650. 
Prospect    Hock,   11. 
Pyesa  killed,  ."id. 


Q 


Quaife  on  origin  of  Republican  party,  200. 
Quaife 's  account  of  Pox  Massacre,  44. 
Quashquame  and  PashepaJho,  61. 


i; 


Racine,     .!•■ svillo     &     Mississippi     R.     R.     Co., 

224. 
Railroad   saved   by  counties  of  upper   Valley, 

222. 
Raccoon,  muskrat,  bear  skins,  33. 
Radical  change  took  place,  16. 
Railroad    History,    191. 
Rainstorm  raises  siege,  47. 

Ramsay,    Frank    I).,   276. 
Rawlins,   John    A.,   214. 

Real  birth  of  Republicanism,  203. 
Real  permanent  County   Seat,  635. 


Real   pioneers  of  the   Valley,   72. 

Real  town  of   Preeport,  The,  544. 

Reclamation   of   Illinois  overflowed  lands,  249. 

Rector  to  rescue,  66. 

Red   Bird  imprisoned,  79. 

Red  men   of  the  Valley,  28. 

Register-Gazette,   The,   34t>. 

Regulars  and  volunteers  again  organize,  104. 

Regulars  and  volunteers  disperse,  95. 

Regulators   organized,   293. 

Reorganization   of   pursuit  expedition,    106. 

Reorganized  county  government,  The,  481. 

Republican  state  convention  nominates  Lin- 
coln for  Senate,  210. 

Rescue  of  Campbell,  66. 

Respect  for  volunteer   horsemen,  93. 

Reunited  army  under  Atkinson  in  pursuit, 
115. 

Rev.   Barton   Cartwright,   332. 

Rev.   John  G.  Alleman  and  Catholicism,  337. 

Rev.  Moses  Ordway  comes  to  Beaver  Dam, 
325. 

Rev.   N.   J.    Stroh,  332. 

Reward  offered  for  Driscolls,  478. 

Reward    offered   for   Hall    girls,    119. 

Reynolds,  Governor,  104. 

Reynolds,  John,  65. 

Reynolds  sends  rangers  after  Black  Hawk, 
110. 

Riches  of  the  Soil,  The,   240. 

Ridott,  558. 

Riggs,  Lieutenant,  65. 

Riley,   Maj.   Bennet,   107. 

Rival  pioneer  Inn  keepers,  146. 

Rivalry   between   Dtixon   and   Oregon,   158. 

Road  improvements,  470. 

Robison,    John    K.,    150. 

Rochelle,  262. 

Rock  City,  557. 

Rock  County  a  Whig  and  Republican  strong- 
hold,  215. 

Rock  County,  Wisconsin,  371. 

Rock   County,  Wisconsin,   formed,    175. 

Rock  Falls,  639. 

Rockford,  256. 

Rockford   and   music,   516. 

Rockford  Boy's  Club,  519. 

Rockford    female   seminary,    311. 

Rockford  incorporate'!  as  a  village  and  city, 
474. 

Rockford  Morning  Star  and  J.  Stanley 
Browne,  346. 

Rockford  parks  and  recreational  facilities, 
518. 

Rockford 's  pioneer  newspapers  wrecked,  345. 

Rockford   women   lawyers,  2'.il'. 

Rock   Island,   258. 

Rock  Island  &  Peoria  R.  R.,  227. 

Rock    Island    ArgUS    and    I'nion,    .'i.~>4. 

Rock   [sland    Arsenal,  The,  698. 

Rock    Island    County    established    politically, 

682. 
Rock    [sland   County   hotbed   of  abolitionism, 

205. 


750 


INDEX 


Rock  Island  County,  Illinois,  680. 

Rock  Island  newspapers,  pioneers  of  the  Val- 
ley,  354. 

Rock  Island's  schools,  683. 

Roek   River   Assembly,    The,   334. 

Rock  River  drainage,  250. 

Rock  River  drainage  system,  7. 

Rock   River   farms,    The,    603. 

Roek  River  Register,  The,  347. 

Rock  River   Seminary,   589. 

Roek  River  Seminary  and  Mount  Morris  Col- 
lege,   316. 

Roek  River,   Sources  of  the,  4. 

Roek  River  Valley  of  "Wisconsin,  359. 

Rock   River  Valley  Union   Ry.   Co.,   223. 

Rockton,   520. 

Rogers,  Maj.  Robert,  52. 

Roscoe,   522. 

Rosenberry,   Marvin   B.,    279. 

Rush  of  Missionaries  to  Inlet,  Lee  County, 
333. 

S 

St.    Bernard's    Catholic    Church,    Watertown, 

325. 
Sauk  and  Foxes  divided  in  fealty,  58. 
Sauk  camp  in  dispute,   117. 
Sauk  chiefs  who  signed  treaty  (1831),  94. 
Sauk-F'ox    Alliance   cemented,    48. 
Sauk  warriors,  women  and  children  cross  the 

Wisconsin,   129. 
Savanna  Proving  Ground,  The,   714. 
Scalps  of  murdered  families  found  in  village, 

118. 
Schillenberger,   George,   148. 
Scholastic  expansion    (Augustana),  694. 
Schoolcraft  describes  canoe  trip,   78. 
Schools  of  Roekford,  The,  313. 
Scope   of    (Augustana)    Institution,   695. 
Scott  visits  Father  Dixon,  153. 
Semi-Centennial   Celebration,    673. 
Settlement  before  Black  Hawk  war,  608. 
Settlement   grows,    The,    666. 
Siege  of  twenty-three  days,  47. 
Simple  location  of  County  Seat,  658. 
Singular  physical  fact,  3. 
Shabbona    faithful    to   U.    S.    98;    Shabbona 

Grove,   98;    had  fine   memory,   98. 
Shabbona 's   service,   116. 
Shackles,   bolt  and   chain,    171. 
Sheldon,   Benjamin  R.,   288. 
Shopiere,  425. 
Shreve,   Captain,  219. 
Sinews    of   War,    The,    365. 
Sinnissippi   farm,   602. 
Site  of  Bishop  Hill   Colony  selected,  665. 
Sloan,  A.   Scott,  282. 
Sloan,    I.    C,    284. 
Smart,  Josiah,   100. 
Smith,    George    B.,    282. 
Sn  el  ling,   Colonel,   73. 
Snyder,   Capt.   Adam  W.,   192. 
Sobering  effect  on  volunteers,   114. 
Social   and   Benevolent   orders,   697. 


Societies   (Rock  Island),   697. 

Soldiers  would  murder  aged  Indian  with  safe. 

conduct,   120. 
Sold  "Suckers"  goods  and  ferried  them,  145. 
Sources    of   the   Rock   River,   4. 
Southwick,    Edward,    296. 
Southern  Wisconsin,  richest  dairy  country  in 

the  world,   246. 
Spanish-American  War,  The,  361. 
Spencer,  Judge  J.  W.,  145. 
Spy  battalion  sent  to  Kellogg 's  Grove,   124. 
Spy  battalion  surprised  by  the  Sauk,  124. 
Squatter  Sovereignty,  471. 
Star  Courier,  The,  353. 
State   and   County  fairs  attractive,    243. 
State  Militia  promptly  respond,  85. 
State  troops  leave  heavy  baggage  behind,  108. 
State    Trunk    Highway    System    (Wis.),    237. 
State  University    (Wisconsin),    308. 
Steady  growth,  Beloit's,  412. 
Stephen  Mack,  the  first  settler,  463. 
Stephenson  becomes   Rock  Island,   682. 
Stephenson  County,  agriculturally,  566. 
Stephenson  County,  Illinois',  540. 
Sterling  and  Rock  Falls,  260,  639. 
Sterling  Gazette,   The,   352. 
Sterling    holds    the    county    seat    for    eight 

years,   635. 
Sterling  Times,   The,  351. 
Stevens'     account    of    Battle     of     Wisconsin 

Heights,  127. 
Stevens'   "Black   Hawk   War,"   61. 
Stevens,   E.   Ray,   282. 

Story  of  Roekford  Seminary  and  College,  494. 
Stoughton  and  outside  villages,  444. 
Street,  Joseph  M.,  96. 
Strength  of  Illinois  Indians  in  1809,  60. 
Stillman,  Maj.  Isaiah,  104. 
Stillman  starts  for  Old  Man's  Creek,  111. 
Strode,  Col.  Jas.  M.,  114. 
Structural  expansion  at  Rock  Island,  688. 
Stuart,    William,    189. 
Stumbling  blocks  to  original  plan,  704. 
Suspension  of  specie  payments,  183. 
Swamp  lands  of  Whiteside   County,  636. 
Swedish-American  newspapers,   355. 
Swedish  element  in  population,  520. 


Tallow,  feathers,  beeswax,  33. 

Tamaroas,  40. 

Tampico,   652. 

Tampico   Tornado,  The,   353. 

Taxes  and  Wealth   of  Stephenson  Countv   in 

1838,  549. 
Taylor,  Lieut.  Col.   Zachary,  104. 
Taylor's  report  to   General  Howard,   68. 
Then  Sterling  gains  a  point,   632. 
Thiebault,  or  Thiebeau,  141. 
Third  and   Sixth   regiments,   The,  361. 
Thirty-second    Division    at    the    front,    .'567. 
Thirty-third  Division  at  the  front,  The,  363. 
Thomas,  L.  G.,  248. 


IXDKX 


751 


Thompson,  Floyd   B.,  276. 

Three  bullets  hit   Dement,   L24. 

Three  congressional  districts,   L62. 

Three  of  the  outlaws  publicly  bung,  :i02. 

Throckmorton  disregards  white  Hag,  130. 

Through  two  decades,  623. 

Thwaites  on  Nioolet'a  travels,  41. 

Ties  that  bind,  The,  21s. 

Topography  and  drainage  (Book  OOb),  373. 

"To  the  woods,"  76. 

T  wn  platted   <  Belvidere),  529. 

Township   organization    (Whiteside    Oounty), 

635. 
Townships    of   R-ock   Island    County,    727. 
Towns   projected    in    Winnebago   County,   474. 
Tragedy   of  Indian   lover's   spring,    30. 
Tragically   lonesome  woman,   A,   14.". 
Trails  for  the  lead  region,  146. 
Trails  lead  to   Sauk    Village,   32. 
Traveler  of  1836,  A,    1  1. 
Treaties  growing  out  of  the  war,   132. 
Treaties  made   by  the  U.   S.,  463. 
Treaty  of  1804,  The,  58. 
Treaty  signed  June  30,   1831,  93. 
Trenton   limestone   predominates,    19. 
Trials   of   Rock    Island    vice   gang,   304. 
Tribes  and  numbers    (1809),  61. 
Tri-City   organizations,    697. 
Troops    ready    to    force    Black    Hawk     from 

Illinois,   107. 
Turner,   Thomas  J.,  547. 
Turtle  Village,  118. 
Two  cities  in  a  nutshell,  644. 
Two    kinds   of   houses,    :C>. 
Tyrrell,  Squire,  X.  «'.,  205. 

U 

Unique  fifoline  Weekly,  356. 
Upper    Valley    strongly    Whig,    189. 
r.  s.  Commission  to  conclude  peace  treaties, 
70. 


Valley    a   horn    of    plenty,   240. 

Valley    counties'    contributions    to    war    fund, 

365,  369. 
Valley   from   Oregon   to  Dixon,   The,   10. 
Valley    in    four    wars,    The,    357. 
Valley   regiments,   The,  358. 
Van  Buren   Legislature  of  1836,  The,  181. 
Various  railroads  organized  or  built,  225. 
View  0f   Rockford  in    1844,   A,    186. 
Vilas,  William  P.,  283. 
Village  of  Fulton.  The,  638. 
Village  of  Lane,  forerunner  of  Roehelle,  596. 
Village  of   Lena,  The,   556. 
Village  of  Winelow,  The,  552. 

Village    once    a    trade    and     industrial     Cl 

572. 
Village  site  of  <  larramana,  26. 
Villages,  Dane  County,  444. 
Villages    in    the    northern    and    northwi 

sections,  I 


Villages,    Later,    of    Stephenson    County,    558. 

Villages,    Leading  outside,  626. 

Villages,   Other,   436. 

Visiting  Nurse   Association,  519. 

Volunteers  camp  above  Prophetstown,  108. 


W 


Wabokiesshiek,  90. 

Wage  earners,  products,  etc.,  1920  census,  256. 

Wakefield,  Maj.   J.  A.,   108. 

Walking   Turtle,   26. 

Warned,  saved  from  massacre,   61. 

War  fund  contributions,   365,  368. 

Warrior's  defense,   The,  89. 

War  subscriptions,  arsenal  employees,   714. 

Washlburn    (E.   B.)    first  Republican  congres- 
sional candidate,  201. 

Washington    attacked   in    revenge    for    death 
of  de  Villiers,  50. 

Washington's  men  kill  de  Villiers,  50. 

Water  courses  and   drainage,  630. 

Waterloo,  Wisconsin,  460. 

Water  power,  the  decisive  factor,  718. 

Watertown,  455. 

Watertown  Recorder,  The,  343. 

Waterways,  Origin  of  the,  4. 

Weapons   from   animal   bones,   34. 

Webb,  James  Watson,   73. 

Webb's  trip   down   the  Vallev,   73. 

Wells,   Daniel,   176. 

Wentworth,  John,  207. 

Western  Union  Railroad,  224. 

Wet  blankets  on  fort  top,  125. 

What  the  Ford  administration   accomplished, 
194. 

Where  the  river  enters  Illinois,  8. 

Whig  convention  at  Dixon's  Ferry,  191. 

Whigs  criticised  convention  system,   181. 

White  Beaver,   The,   103. 

White  Cloud,  97. 

White  Cloud,  Whirling  Thunder  and  Spotted 
Arm  to  seek  Hall  girls,   119. 

White   Crow   receives   captives,    117. 

White,  Dr.   Horace,   393. 

Whitehead,  John  M.,  284. 

White  pine  woods  of  Ogle  County,  The,  12. 

White  settlers  to  l)e  removed,  59. 

Whiteside    brigadier    general    of    volunt 
108. 

Whiteside,    Captain,    69. 

Whiteside    County,    630. 

Whiteside  County  in   the  forming,  163. 

Whiteside   County    in   the   wars,    653. 

Whiteside    County  *s    earliest    newspapers,    350. 

Whiteside    County    teachers    and    institutions, 
319. 

Whiteside,  Maj.  Samuel,  87. 

Whiteside   Sentinel   and   Charles  Bent,  352, 
Whiteside    Sentinel,   The,   650. 
Whiteside's  standing  agriculturally,  656. 
Whitney,   Charles    II.. 

Whitney,    Daniel     EL,    170. 


752 


INDEX 


Whiton,  Edward  V.,   Chief  Justice,  280. 

"Who  is  Black  Hawk?"  92. 

Wildcat,  mink,   otter  skins,  33. 

Wilkinson,  Ira  O.,  302. 

Wilson  puts  new  boats  in  service,  220. 

Winans,  John,  284. 

Winnebago,  523. 

Winnebago  County,  Illinois,  462. 

Winnebago  Farm  School,   519. 

Winnebago   Indians    (Rock  Co.),  373. 

Winnebago  in  State  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion, 481. 

Winnebagoes  in  disastrous  wars,  31. 

Winnebago   war,   origin   of,    79. 

Witnesses  to  treaty  of  1831,  94. 

Wisconsin  cheese  and  butter  shown  at  Cen- 
tennial  Exposition,   1876,   248. 

Wisconsin   Dairymen's  Ass'n,   248. 

Wisconsin  Department  of  Agriculture,  242. 

Wisconsin  Enquirer,  The,   341. 

Wisconsin   enters  the   World   war,    366. 

Wisconsin  Judiciary,    The,    279. 

Wisconsin's  Constitutional  Convention  solves 
difficulty,   156. 


Wisconsin's    encouragement    of    State    Fairs, 

243. 
Wisconsin's  first  benevolent  institution,   310. 
Wisconsin's  highways,  237. 
Women   superintendents  of   schools,   315. 
Woods   and    groves    of    Ogle    County    attract 

settlement,   570. 
Working   Girls'    Home    (Rockford),   519. 
World  war  contributions   (loans),  365,  369. 
World  war  period,   The   (Augustana  Synod), 

692. 
Worn  out  and  starving,  129. 
Wright,   Robert  W.,   289. 


Yalhara,   The,   6. 

Yarns  from  underwool,  37. 

Yates,  Governor,  277. 

Young  Women's  Christian  Ass'n;  519. 


Zachary  Taylor  in  command  of  regulars,  107. 
Zachary  Taylor's  Expedition  turned  back,  67. 


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